tar [-] A --catenate --concatenate | c --create | d --diff --compare | --delete | r --append | t --list |
    --test-label | u --update | x --extract --get [options] [pathname ...]

-A, --catenate, --concatenate
      append tar files to an archive

-c, --create
      create a new archive

-d, --diff, --compare
      find differences between archive and file system

--delete
      delete from the archive (not on mag tapes!)

-r, --append
      append files to the end of an archive

-t, --list
      list the contents of an archive

--test-label
      test the archive volume label and exit

-u, --update
      only append files newer than copy in archive

-x, --extract, --get
      extract files from an archive

-a, --auto-compress
      use archive suffix to determine the compression program

--add-file=FILE
      add given FILE to the archive (useful if its name starts with a dash)

--anchored
      patterns match file name start

--no-anchored
      patterns match after any `/' (default for exclusion)

--atime-preserve
      preserve access times on dumped files, either by restoring the times

--no-auto-compress
      do not use archive suffix to determine the compression program

-b, --blocking-factor BLOCKS
      BLOCKS x 512 bytes per record

-B, --read-full-records
      reblock as we read (for 4.2BSD pipes)

--backup
      backup before removal, choose version CONTROL

-C, --directory DIR
      change to directory DIR

--check-device
      check device numbers when creating incremental archives (default)

--no-check-device
      do not check device numbers when creating incremental archives

--checkpoint
      display progress messages every NUMBERth record (default 10)

--checkpoint-action=ACTION
      execute ACTION on each checkpoint

--delay-directory-restore
      delay setting modification times and permissions of extracted

--no-delay-directory-restore
      cancel the effect of --delay-directory-restore option

--exclude=PATTERN
      exclude files, given as a PATTERN

--exclude-backups
      exclude backup and lock files

--exclude-caches
      exclude contents of directories containing CACHEDIR.TAG,

--exclude-caches-all
      exclude directories containing CACHEDIR.TAG

--exclude-caches-under
      exclude everything under directories containing CACHEDIR.TAG

--exclude-tag=FILE
      exclude contents of directories containing FILE, except

--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

-f, --file ARCHIVE
      use archive file or device ARCHIVE

-F, --info-script, --new-volume-script NAME
      run script at end of each tape (implies -M)

--force-local
      archive file is local even if it has a colon

--full-time
      print file time to its full resolution

-g, --listed-incremental FILE
      handle new GNU-format incremental backup

-G, --incremental
      handle old GNU-format incremental backup

--group=NAME
      force NAME as group for added files

-h, --dereference
      follow symlinks; archive and dump the files they point to

-H, --format FORMAT
      create archive of the given formatFORMAT is one of the following:

--format=gnu
      GNU tar 1.13.x format

--format=oldgnu
      GNU format as per tar <= 1.12

--format=pax
      POSIX 1003.1-2001 (pax) format

--format=posix
      same as pax

--format=ustar
      POSIX 1003.1-1988 (ustar) format

--format=v7
      old V7 tar format

--hard-dereference
      follow hard links; archive and dump the files they refer to

-i, --ignore-zeros
      ignore zeroed blocks in archive (means EOF)

-I, --use-compress-program PROG
      filter through PROG (must accept -d)

--ignore-case
      ignore case

--no-ignore-case
      case sensitive matching (default)

--ignore-command-error
      ignore exit codes of children

--no-ignore-command-error
      treat non-zero exit codes of children as error

--ignore-failed-read
      do not exit with nonzero on unreadable files

--index-file=FILE
      send verbose output to FILE

-j, --bzip2

-J, --xz

-k, --keep-old-files
      don't replace existing files when extracting

-K, --starting-file MEMBER-NAME
      begin at member MEMBER-NAME in the archive

--keep-newer-files
      don't replace existing files that are newer than their archive copies

-l, --check-links
      print a message if not all links are dumped

-L, --tape-length NUMBER
      change tape after writing NUMBER x 1024 bytes

--level=NUMBER
      dump level for created listed-incremental archive

--lzip

--lzma

--lzop

-m, --touch
      don't extract file modified time

-M, --multi-volume
      create/list/extract multi-volume archive

--mode=CHANGES
      force (symbolic) mode CHANGES for added files

--mtime=DATE-OR-FILE
      set mtime for added files from DATE-OR-FILE

-n, --seek
      archive is seekable

-N, --newer, --after-date DATE-OR-FILE
      only store files newer than DATE-OR-FILE

--newer-mtime=DATE
      compare date and time when data changed only

--null
      -T reads null-terminated names, disable -C

--no-null
      disable the effect of the previous --null option

--numeric-owner
      always use numbers for user/group names

-O, --to-stdout
      extract files to standard output

--occurrence
      process only the NUMBERth occurrence of each file in the archive;

--old-archive, --portability
      same as --format=v7

--one-file-system
      stay in local file system when creating archive

--overwrite
      overwrite existing files when extracting

--overwrite-dir
      overwrite metadata of existing directories when extracting (default)

--no-overwrite-dir
      preserve metadata of existing directories

--owner=NAME
      force NAME as owner for added files

-p, --preserve-permissions, --same-permissions
      extract information about file permissions (default for superuser)

-P, --absolute-names
      don't strip leading `/'s from file names

--pax-option=keyword[[:]=value][,keyword[[:]=value]]...
      control pax keywords

--posix
      same as --format=posix

--preserve
      same as both -p and -s

--quote-chars=STRING
      additionally quote characters from STRING

--no-quote-chars=STRING
      disable quoting for 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

--record-size=NUMBER
      NUMBER of bytes per record, multiple of 512

--recursion
      recurse into directories (default)

--no-recursion
      avoid descending automatically in directories

--recursive-unlink
      empty hierarchies prior to extracting directory

--remove-files
      remove files after adding them to the archive

--restrict
      disable use of some potentially harmful options

--rmt-command=COMMAND
      use given rmt COMMAND instead of rmt

--rsh-command=COMMAND
      use remote COMMAND instead of rsh

-s, --preserve-order, --same-order
      sort names to extract to match archive

-S, --sparse
      handle sparse files efficiently

--same-owner
      try extracting files with the same ownership as exists in the archive (default for superuser)

--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)

--no-seek
      archive is not seekable

--show-defaults
      show tar defaults

--show-omitted-dirs
      when listing or extracting, list each directory that does not match search criteria

--show-transformed-names, --show-stored-names
      show file or archive names after transformation

--sparse-version=MAJOR[.MINOR]
      set version of the sparse format to use (implies --sparse)

--strip-components=NUMBER
      strip NUMBER leading components from file names on extraction

--suffix=STRING
      backup before removal, override usual suffix ('~' unless overridden by environment variable
      SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX)

-T, --files-from FILE
      get names to extract or create from FILE

--to-command=COMMAND
      pipe extracted files to another program

--totals
      print total bytes after processing the archive;

--transform, --xform EXPRESSION
      use sed replace EXPRESSION to transform file names

-U, --unlink-first
      remove each file prior to extracting over it

--unquote
      unquote filenames read with -T (default)

--no-unquote
      do not unquote filenames read with -T

--utc
      print file modification times in UTC

-v, --verbose
      verbosely list files processed

-V, --label TEXT
      create archive with volume name TEXT; at list/extract time, use TEXT as a globbing pattern for volume
      name

--volno-file=FILE
      use/update the volume number in FILE

-w, --interactive, --confirmation
      ask for confirmation for every action

-W, --verify
      attempt to verify the archive after writing it

--warning=KEYWORD
      warning control

--wildcards
      use wildcards (default for exclusion)

--wildcards-match-slash
      wildcards match `/' (default for exclusion)

--no-wildcards-match-slash
      wildcards do not match `/'

--no-wildcards
      verbatim string matching

-X, --exclude-from FILE
      exclude patterns listed in FILE

-z, --gzip, --gunzip --ungzip

-Z, --compress, --uncompress