.\" @(#)tar.1 1.11.1 93/19/22 PJV;
.TH TAR 1 "22 September 1993"
.SH NAME
tar \- The GNU version of the tar archiving utility
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B tar
[
.B \-
]
.B A --catenate --concatenate \||\| c --create \||\| d --diff --compare \||\| r --append \||\| t --list \||\| u --update \||\| x -extract --get
[
.B --atime-preserve
]
[
.B -b, --block-size N
]
[
.B -B, --read-full-blocks
]
[
.B -C, --directory DIR
]
[
.B --checkpoint	
]
[
.B -f, --file [HOSTNAME:]F
]
[
.B --force-local	
]
[
.B -F, --info-script F --new-volume-script F
]
[
.B -G, --incremental
]
[
.B -g, --listed-incremental F
]
[
.B -h, --dereference
]
[
.B -i, --ignore-zeros
]
[
.B --ignore-failed-read
]
[
.B -k, --keep-old-files
]
[
.B -K, --starting-file F
]
[
.B -l, --one-file-system
]
[
.B -L, --tape-length N
]
[
.B -m, --modification-time
]
[
.B -M, --multi-volume
]
[
.B -N, --after-date DATE, --newer DATE
]
[
.B -o, --old-archive, --portability
]
[
.B -O, --to-stdout
]
[
.B -p, --same-permissions, --preserve-permissions
]
[
.B -P, --absolute-paths
]
[
.B --preserve	
]
[
.B -R, --record-number
]
[
.B --remove-files
]
[
.B -s, --same-order, --preserve-order
]
[
.B --same-owner
]
[
.B -S, --sparse
]
[
.B -T, --files-from F
]
[
.B --null	
]
[
.B --totals	
]
[
.B -v, --verbose
]
[
.B -V, --label NAME
]
[
.B --version	
]
[
.B -w, --interactive, --confirmation
]
[
.B -W, --verify	
]
[
.B --exclude FILE
]
[
.B -X, --exclude-from FILE
]
[
.B -Z, --compress, --uncompress
]
[
.B -z, --gzip, --ungzip	
]
[
.B --use-compress-program PROG
]
[
.B --block-compress
]
[
.B -[0-7][lmh]	
]
.TP
.I filename1 [ filename2, ... filenameN ] 
.TP
.I directory1 [ directory2, ...directoryN ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.LP
This manual page documents the GNU version of
.B tar
, an archiving program designed to store and extract files from 
an archive file known as a 
.IR tarfile.
A 
.IR tarfile 
may be made on a tape drive, however, it is also common
to write a
.IR tarfile
to a normal file. 
The first argument to 
.B tar
must be one of the options:
.BR Acdrtux ,
followed by any optional functions.
The final arguments to 
.B tar
are the names of the files or directories which should be archived. The use
of a directory name always implies that the subdirectories below should be
included in the archive.
.SH "FUNCTION LETTERS"
.TP
.B One of the following options must be used:
.TP
.B -A, --catenate, --concatenate
append tar files to an archive
.TP
.B -c, --create	
create a new archive
.TP
.B -d, --diff, --compare
find differences between archive and file system
.TP
.B --delete		
delete from the archive (not for use on mag tapes!)
.TP
.B -r, --append		
append files to the end of an archive
.TP
.B -t, --list		
list the contents of an archive
.TP
.B -u, --update		
only append files that are newer than copy in archive
.TP
.B -x, --extract, --get		
extract files from an archive
.SH "OTHER OPTIONS"
.TP
.B --atime-preserve	
don't change access times on dumped files
.TP
.B -b, --block-size N	
block size of Nx512 bytes (default N=20)
.TP
.B -B, --read-full-blocks	
reblock as we read (for reading 4.2BSD pipes)
.TP 
.B -C, --directory DIR	
change to directory DIR
.TP 
.B --checkpoint		
print directory names while reading the archive
.TP
.B -f, --file [HOSTNAME:]F	
use archive file or device F (default /dev/rmt0)
.TP
.B --force-local		
archive file is local even if has a colon
.TP 
.B -F, --info-script F --new-volume-script F 
run script at end of each tape (implies -M)
.TP
.B -G, --incremental	
create/list/extract old GNU-format incremental backup
.TP
.B -g, --listed-incremental F 
create/list/extract new GNU-format incremental backup
.TP 
.B -h, --dereference	
don't dump symlinks; dump the files they point to
.TP
.B -i, --ignore-zeros	
ignore blocks of zeros in archive (normally mean EOF)
.TP
.B --ignore-failed-read	
don't exit with non-zero status on unreadable files
.TP
.B -k, --keep-old-files	
keep existing files; don't overwrite them from archive
.TP
.B -K, --starting-file F	
begin at file F in the archive
.TP
.B -l, --one-file-system	
stay in local file system when creating an archive
.TP
.B -L, --tape-length N	
change tapes after writing N*1024 bytes
.TP
.B -m, --modification-time	
don't extract file modified time
.TP
.B -M, --multi-volume	
create/list/extract multi-volume archive
.TP
.B -N, --after-date DATE, --newer DATE	
only store files newer than DATE
.TP
.B -o, --old-archive, --portability	
write a V7 format archive, rather than ANSI format
.TP
.B -O, --to-stdout		
extract files to standard output
.TP
.B -p, --same-permissions, --preserve-permissions 
extract all protection information
.TP
.B -P, --absolute-paths	
don't strip leading `/'s from file names
.TP
.B --preserve		
like -p -s
.TP
.B -R, --record-number	
show record number within archive with each message
.TP 
.B --remove-files		
remove files after adding them to the archive
.TP
.B -s, --same-order, --preserve-order	
list of names to extract is sorted to match archive
.TP
.B --same-owner		
create extracted files with the same ownership 
.TP
.B -S, --sparse		
handle sparse files efficiently
.TP 
.B -T, --files-from F	
get names to extract or create from file F
.TP
.B --null			
-T reads null-terminated names, disable -C
.TP
.B --totals		
print total bytes written with --create
.TP
.B -v, --verbose		
verbosely list files processed
.TP
.B -V, --label NAME	
create archive with volume name NAME
.TP 
.B --version		
print tar program version number
.TP
.B -w, --interactive, --confirmation	
ask for confirmation for every action
.TP
.B -W, --verify		
attempt to verify the archive after writing it
.TP
.B --exclude FILE		
exclude file FILE
.TP
.B -X, --exclude-from FILE	
exclude files listed in FILE
.TP
.B -Z, --compress, --uncompress      	
filter the archive through compress
.TP 
.B -z, --gzip, --ungzip		
filter the archive through gzip
.TP
.B --use-compress-program PROG
filter the archive through PROG (which must accept -d)
.TP
.B --block-compress	
block the output of compression program for tapes
.TP
.B -[0-7][lmh]		
specify drive and density