tar c [befHLlmoPpqvwX] [B bytes] [file ...]
tar r [befHLlmoPpqvwX] [B bytes] [file ...]
tar x [befHLlmopvwX] [file ...]
tar t [befHLlmopvwX] [file ...]
tar u [befHLlmopqvwX] [B bytes] [file ...]
Interix provides the pax(1) utility to read and write
tar(1)-format files. The pax(1) utility can read and
write files in both the POSIX.2 standard format (USTAR) and the old
Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) 4.3 format. If pax(1)
is invoked as tar(1), it behaves like tar(1). For the
sake of convenience, the tar(1) options are presented in
this topic. For more information on the archive format and the
behavior of the utility, see the pax(1) reference page.
The tar(1) command takes as arguments a function
letter followed by zero or more modifying letters. Each function is
given its own synopsis above; the functions are as follows:
c
Create the new archive; writes specified files starting
at the beginning of the archive instead of appending after the
end.
r
Write the specified file or files to the end of
the archive.
t
Write the archive's Table of Contents to standard
output.
u
Update the archive by adding file or files if
they are not already present or if they have been modified since
they were added to the archive.
x
Extract the named file or files from the archive.
If file is a directory, its contents are extracted
recursively.
These functions can be modified by the following letters. Not
all functions accept all modifiers.
b
Use the first file (or the second, if f has
already been specified) as the blocking factor for tape records.
Only use this modifier with raw magnetic tape archives.
Bbytes
Limit the number of bytes written to a single archive volume to
bytes. The bytes limit can end with m,
k, or b to specify multiplication by 1048576 (1M),
1024 (1K) or 512, respectively. A pair of bytes limits can
be separated by x to indicate a product.
Important
Only use this option when writing an archive to a device that
supports an end-of-file read condition based on last (or largest)
write offset (such as a regular file or a tape drive). The use of
this option with a floppy or hard disk is not recommended.
e
Stop at the first error.
f
Use the first file operand (or the second if b
has already been specified) as the name of the archive. If
file is –, read from standard input or write to
standard output, whichever is appropriate.
H
Follow command-line symbolic links only.
l
Report if links to the files being archived cannot be
resolved.
L
Follow symbolic links.
m
Do not restore the file modification times; instead, mark each
file with the time of extraction.
o
Give the extracted files the user and group identifiers of the
user running tar(1), rather than trying to preserve the
original values.
p
Preserve user identifier (ID), group ID, file mode, access and
modification times.
P
Do not follow symbolic links. This is the default.
q
Suppress the error message indicating that not all Windows
permissions for a file were preserved in the archive.
v
Be verbose; write the operation and the name of each file
processed to standard error. For the functions c, r,
and u, tar(1) writes "a" as the operation; for the
function x, tar(1) writes "x".
w
Wait for confirmation before each action.
X
Do not pass over mount points in the file system. This option
has no effect on Interix.
DIAGNOSTICS
If a file has Windows-specific permissions in the discretionary
access control (DACL) list that are not mapped to UNIX permissions,
tar displays the following error message:
pax: warning: filename has additional permissions not
preserved in archive.
This indicates that these Windows permissions could not be
preserved in the archive.
Sometimes when creating or writing to an archive, the following
message is printed to standard error:
uid nnnnnnn too large to fit in header: substituting 32666
On traditional systems, the user ID and group ID numbers fit
into 16 bits, but on Interix, they can be 32 bits long. The Interix
user identifiers (UIDs) and group identifiers (GIDS) do not fit
into the tar or ustar archive formats. This
implementation substitutes the value 32666 (decimal) for the
original UID or GID.
As a consequence, you can get errors when unpacking tar archives
you created because they do not contain your UID. The solution is
to use ustar format. Substitution is not a problem with the
ustar format. That format records both the numeric and
character string representations of these numbers, and the string
representation takes precedence over the numeric.