(tar)How to Create Archives

How to List Archives

Tutorial

Tutorial

How to Create Archives
======================

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   To create a new archive, use the `--create' (`-c') option to `tar'.
You can use options to specify the name and format of the archive (as
well as other characteristics), and you can use file name arguments to
specify which files and directories are to be put in the archive.

FIXME: xref Creating
   , for more information about the `--create' (`-c') operation.

   To create a new archive, use the `--create' (`-c') option to `tar'.
You should generally use the `--file=ARCHIVE-NAME' (`-f ARCHIVE-NAME')
option to specify the name the `tar' archive will have.  Then specify
the names of the files you wish to place in the new archive.  For
example, to place the files `apple', `angst', and `asparagus' into an
archive named `afiles.tar', use the following command:

     tar --create --file=afiles.tar apple angst asparagus

   The order of the arguments is not important when using mnemonic
option style.  You could also say:

     tar apple --create angst --file=afiles.tar asparagus

   This order is harder to understand however.  In this manual, we will
list the arguments in a reasonable order to make the commands easier to
understand, but you can type them in any order you wish.

   If you don't specify the names of any files to put in the archive,
then `tar' will create an empty archive.  So, the following command
will create an archive with nothing in it:

     tar --create --file=empty-archive.tar

   Whenever you use `--create' (`-c'), `tar' will erase the current
contents of the file named by `--file=ARCHIVE-NAME' (`-f ARCHIVE-NAME')
if it exists.  To add files to an existing archive, you need to use a
different option.
FIXME: xref Adding to Archives, for information on how to do this.

   When an archive is created through `--create' (`-c'), the member
names of the members of the archive are exactly the same as the file
names as you typed them in the `tar' command.  So, the member names of
`afiles' (as created by the first example above) are `apple', `angst',
and `asparagus'.  However, suppose an archive were created with this
command:

     tar --create --file=bfiles.tar ./balloons baboon ./bodacious

   Then, the three files `balloons', `baboon', and `bodacious' would
get placed in the archive (because `./' is a synonym for the current
directory), but their member names would be `./balloons', `baboon', and
`./bodacious'.

   If you want to see the progress of `tar' as it writes files into the
archive, you can use the `--verbose' (`-v') option.

   If one of the files named with `--create' (`-c') is a directory, then
the operation of `tar' is more complicated.
FIXME: xref Tar and Directories,
FIXME: the last section of this tutorial, for more information.

   If you don't specify the `--file=ARCHIVE-NAME' (`-f ARCHIVE-NAME')
option, then `tar' will use a default.  Usually this default is some
physical tape drive attached to your machine.  If there is no tape
drive attached, or the default is not meaningful, then `tar' will print
an error message.  This error message might look roughly like one of
the following:

     tar: can't open /dev/rmt8 : No such device or address
     tar: can't open /dev/rsmt0 : I/O error

   If you get an error like this, mentioning a file you didn't specify
(`/dev/rmt8' or `/dev/rsmt0' in the examples above), then `tar' is
using a default value for `--file=ARCHIVE-NAME' (`-f ARCHIVE-NAME').
You should generally specify a `--file=ARCHIVE-NAME' (`-f
ARCHIVE-NAME') argument whenever you use `tar', rather than relying on
a default.

   To create a new archive, use the `--create' (`-c') option to `tar'.
You can use options to specify the name and format of the archive (as
well as other characteristics), and you can use file name arguments to
specify which files to put in the archive.  If you don't use any
options or file name arguments, `tar' will use default values.
FIXME: xref Creating Example
   , for more information about the `--create' (`-c') option.

Creating Archives of Files bis

Using tar in Verbose Mode bis

How to Archive Directories

Creating an Archive of a Subdirectory bis

Compare bis

Using Compare from the Superior Directory bis