tar

Usage: tar [OPTION...] [FILE]...
GNU 'tar' saves many files together into a single tape or disk archive, and can
restore individual files from the archive.
Examples:
 tar -cf archive.tar foo bar # Create archive.tar from files foo and bar.
 tar -tvf archive.tar # List all files in archive.tar verbosely.
 tar -xf archive.tar # Extract all files from archive.tar.
 Main operation mode:
 -A, --catenate, --concatenate append tar files to an archive
 -c, --create create a new archive
 --delete delete from the archive (not on mag tapes!)
 -d, --diff, --compare find differences between archive and file system
 -r, --append append files to the end of an archive
 --test-label test the archive volume label and exit
 -t, --list list the contents of an archive
 -u, --update only append files newer than copy in archive
 -x, --extract, --get extract files from an archive
 Operation modifiers:
 --check-device check device numbers when creating incremental
 archives (default)
 -g, --listed-incremental=FILE handle new GNU-format incremental backup
 -G, --incremental handle old GNU-format incremental backup
 --hole-detection=TYPE technique to detect holes
 --ignore-failed-read do not exit with nonzero on unreadable files
 --level=NUMBER dump level for created listed-incremental archive
 --no-check-device do not check device numbers when creating
 incremental archives
 --no-seek archive is not seekable
 -n, --seek archive is seekable
 --occurrence[=NUMBER] process only the NUMBERth occurrence of each file
 in the archive; this option is valid only in
 conjunction with one of the subcommands --delete,
 --diff, --extract or --list and when a list of
 files is given either on the command line or via
 the -T option; NUMBER defaults to 1
 --sparse-version=MAJOR[.MINOR]
 set version of the sparse format to use (implies
 --sparse)
 -S, --sparse handle sparse files efficiently
 Local file name selection:
 --add-file=FILE add given FILE to the archive (useful if its name
 starts with a dash)
 -C, --directory=DIR change to directory DIR
 --exclude=PATTERN exclude files, given as a PATTERN
 --exclude-backups exclude backup and lock files
 --exclude-caches exclude contents of directories containing
 CACHEDIR.TAG, except for the tag file itself
 --exclude-caches-all exclude directories containing CACHEDIR.TAG
 --exclude-caches-under exclude everything under directories containing
 CACHEDIR.TAG
 --exclude-ignore=FILE read exclude patterns for each directory from
 FILE, if it exists
 --exclude-ignore-recursive=FILE
 read exclude patterns for each directory and its
 subdirectories from FILE, if it exists
 --exclude-tag=FILE exclude contents of directories containing FILE,
 except for FILE itself
 --exclude-tag-all=FILE exclude directories containing FILE
 --exclude-tag-under=FILE exclude everything under directories
 containing FILE
 --exclude-vcs exclude version control system directories
 --exclude-vcs-ignores read exclude patterns from the VCS ignore files
 --no-null disable the effect of the previous --null option
 --no-recursion avoid descending automatically in directories
 --no-unquote do not unquote input file or member names
 --no-verbatim-files-from -T treats file names starting with dash as
 options (default)
 --null -T reads null-terminated names; implies
 --verbatim-files-from
 --recursion recurse into directories (default)
 -T, --files-from=FILE get names to extract or create from FILE
 --unquote unquote input file or member names (default)
 --verbatim-files-from -T reads file names verbatim (no escape or option
 handling)
 -X, --exclude-from=FILE exclude patterns listed in FILE
 File name matching options (affect both exclude and include patterns):
 --anchored patterns match file name start
 --ignore-case ignore case
 --no-anchored patterns match after any '/' (default for
 exclusion)
 --no-ignore-case case sensitive matching (default)
 --no-wildcards verbatim string matching
 --no-wildcards-match-slash wildcards do not match '/'
 --wildcards use wildcards (default for exclusion)
 --wildcards-match-slash wildcards match '/' (default for exclusion)
 Overwrite control:
 --keep-directory-symlink preserve existing symlinks to directories when
 extracting
 --keep-newer-files don't replace existing files that are newer than
 their archive copies
 -k, --keep-old-files don't replace existing files when extracting,
 treat them as errors
 --no-overwrite-dir preserve metadata of existing directories
 --one-top-level[=DIR] create a subdirectory to avoid having loose files
 extracted
 --overwrite overwrite existing files when extracting
 --overwrite-dir overwrite metadata of existing directories when
 extracting (default)
 --recursive-unlink empty hierarchies prior to extracting directory
 --remove-files remove files after adding them to the archive
 --skip-old-files don't replace existing files when extracting,
 silently skip over them
 -U, --unlink-first remove each file prior to extracting over it
 -W, --verify attempt to verify the archive after writing it
 Select output stream:
 --ignore-command-error ignore exit codes of children
 --no-ignore-command-error treat non-zero exit codes of children as
 error
 -O, --to-stdout extract files to standard output
 --to-command=COMMAND pipe extracted files to another program
 Handling of file attributes:
 --atime-preserve[=METHOD] preserve access times on dumped files, either
 by restoring the times after reading
 (METHOD='replace'; default) or by not setting the
 times in the first place (METHOD='system')
 --clamp-mtime only set time when the file is more recent than
 what was given with --mtime
 --delay-directory-restore delay setting modification times and
 permissions of extracted directories until the end
 of extraction
 --group=NAME force NAME as group for added files
 --group-map=FILE use FILE to map file owner GIDs and names
 --mode=CHANGES force (symbolic) mode CHANGES for added files
 --mtime=DATE-OR-FILE set mtime for added files from DATE-OR-FILE
 -m, --touch don't extract file modified time
 --no-delay-directory-restore
 cancel the effect of --delay-directory-restore
 option
 --no-same-owner extract files as yourself (default for ordinary
 users)
 --no-same-permissions apply the user's umask when extracting permissions
 from the archive (default for ordinary users)
 --numeric-owner always use numbers for user/group names
 --owner=NAME force NAME as owner for added files
 --owner-map=FILE use FILE to map file owner UIDs and names
 -p, --preserve-permissions, --same-permissions
 extract information about file permissions
 (default for superuser)
 --same-owner try extracting files with the same ownership as
 exists in the archive (default for superuser)
 --sort=ORDER directory sorting order: none (default), name or
 inode
 -s, --preserve-order, --same-order
 member arguments are listed in the same order as
 the files in the archive
 Handling of extended file attributes:
 --acls Enable the POSIX ACLs support
 --no-acls Disable the POSIX ACLs support
 --no-selinux Disable the SELinux context support
 --no-xattrs Disable extended attributes support
 --selinux Enable the SELinux context support
 --xattrs Enable extended attributes support
 --xattrs-exclude=MASK specify the exclude pattern for xattr keys
 --xattrs-include=MASK specify the include pattern for xattr keys
 Device selection and switching:
 --force-local archive file is local even if it has a colon
 -f, --file=ARCHIVE use archive file or device ARCHIVE
 -F, --info-script=NAME, --new-volume-script=NAME
 run script at end of each tape (implies -M)
 -L, --tape-length=NUMBER change tape after writing NUMBER x 1024 bytes
 -M, --multi-volume create/list/extract multi-volume archive
 --rmt-command=COMMAND use given rmt COMMAND instead of rmt
 --rsh-command=COMMAND use remote COMMAND instead of rsh
 --volno-file=FILE use/update the volume number in FILE
 Device blocking:
 -b, --blocking-factor=BLOCKS BLOCKS x 512 bytes per record
 -B, --read-full-records reblock as we read (for 4.2BSD pipes)
 -i, --ignore-zeros ignore zeroed blocks in archive (means EOF)
 --record-size=NUMBER NUMBER of bytes per record, multiple of 512
 Archive format selection:
 -H, --format=FORMAT create archive of the given format
 FORMAT is one of the following:
 gnu GNU tar 1.13.x format
 oldgnu GNU format as per tar <= 1.12
 pax POSIX 1003.1-2001 (pax) format
 posix same as pax
 ustar POSIX 1003.1-1988 (ustar) format
 v7 old V7 tar format
 --old-archive, --portability
 same as --format=v7
 --pax-option=keyword[[:]=value][,keyword[[:]=value]]...
 control pax keywords
 --posix same as --format=posix
 -V, --label=TEXT create archive with volume name TEXT; at
 list/extract time, use TEXT as a globbing pattern
 for volume name
 Compression options:
 -a, --auto-compress use archive suffix to determine the compression
 program
 -I, --use-compress-program=PROG
 filter through PROG (must accept -d)
 -j, --bzip2 filter the archive through bzip2
 -J, --xz filter the archive through xz
 --lzip filter the archive through lzip
 --lzma filter the archive through lzma
 --lzop filter the archive through lzop
 --no-auto-compress do not use archive suffix to determine the
 compression program
 --zstd filter the archive through zstd
 -z, --gzip, --gunzip, --ungzip filter the archive through gzip
 -Z, --compress, --uncompress filter the archive through compress
 Local file selection:
 --backup[=CONTROL] backup before removal, choose version CONTROL
 --hard-dereference follow hard links; archive and dump the files they
 refer to
 -h, --dereference follow symlinks; archive and dump the files they
 point to
 -K, --starting-file=MEMBER-NAME
 begin at member MEMBER-NAME when reading the
 archive
 --newer-mtime=DATE compare date and time when data changed only
 -N, --newer=DATE-OR-FILE, --after-date=DATE-OR-FILE
 only store files newer than DATE-OR-FILE
 --one-file-system stay in local file system when creating archive
 -P, --absolute-names don't strip leading '/'s from file names
 --suffix=STRING backup before removal, override usual suffix ('~'
 unless overridden by environment variable
 SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX)
 File name transformations:
 --strip-components=NUMBER strip NUMBER leading components from file
 names on extraction
 --transform=EXPRESSION, --xform=EXPRESSION
 use sed replace EXPRESSION to transform file
 names
 Informative output:
 --checkpoint[=NUMBER] display progress messages every NUMBERth record
 (default 10)
 --checkpoint-action=ACTION execute ACTION on each checkpoint
 --full-time print file time to its full resolution
 --index-file=FILE send verbose output to FILE
 -l, --check-links print a message if not all links are dumped
 --no-quote-chars=STRING disable quoting for characters from STRING
 --quote-chars=STRING additionally quote characters from STRING
 --quoting-style=STYLE set name quoting style; see below for valid STYLE
 values
 -R, --block-number show block number within archive with each message
 
 --show-defaults show tar defaults
 --show-omitted-dirs when listing or extracting, list each directory
 that does not match search criteria
 --show-snapshot-field-ranges
 show valid ranges for snapshot-file fields
 --show-transformed-names, --show-stored-names
 show file or archive names after transformation
 --totals[=SIGNAL] print total bytes after processing the archive;
 with an argument - print total bytes when this
 SIGNAL is delivered; Allowed signals are: SIGHUP,
 SIGQUIT, SIGINT, SIGUSR1 and SIGUSR2; the names
 without SIG prefix are also accepted
 --utc print file modification times in UTC
 -v, --verbose verbosely list files processed
 --warning=KEYWORD warning control
 -w, --interactive, --confirmation
 ask for confirmation for every action
 Compatibility options:
 -o when creating, same as --old-archive; when
 extracting, same as --no-same-owner
 Other options:
 -?, --help give this help list
 --restrict disable use of some potentially harmful options
 --usage give a short usage message
 --version print program version
Mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also mandatory or optional
for any corresponding short options.
The backup suffix is '~', unless set with --suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX.
The version control may be set with --backup or VERSION_CONTROL, values are:
 none, off never make backups
 t, numbered make numbered backups
 nil, existing numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
 never, simple always make simple backups
Valid arguments for the --quoting-style option are:
 literal
 shell
 shell-always
 shell-escape
 shell-escape-always
 c
 c-maybe
 escape
 locale
 clocale
*This* tar defaults to:
--format=gnu -f- -b20 --quoting-style=escape --rmt-command=/usr/sbin/rmt