Tar

Main operation mode:

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

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

  -c, --create            create a new archive

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

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

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

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

      --concatenate       same as -A

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

Operation modifiers:

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

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

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

      --keep-newer-files     don't replace existing files that are newer

                             than their archive copies

      --overwrite            overwrite existing files when extracting

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

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

      --recursive-unlink     empty hierarchies prior to extracting directory

  -S, --sparse               handle sparse files efficiently

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

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

  -g, --listed-incremental=FILE

                             handle new GNU-format incremental backup

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

      --occurrence[=NUM]     process only the NUMth 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 -T option.

                             NUM defaults to 1.

Handling of file attributes:

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

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

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

      --atime-preserve         don't change access times on dumped files

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

      --same-owner             try extracting files with the same ownership

      --no-same-owner          extract files as yourself

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

  -p, --same-permissions       extract permissions information

      --no-same-permissions    do not extract permissions information

      --preserve-permissions   same as -p

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

      --preserve-order         same as -s

      --preserve               same as both -p and -s

Device selection and switching:

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

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

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

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

  -[0-7][lmh]                    specify drive and density

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

  -L, --tape-length=NUM          change tape after writing NUM x 1024 bytes

  -F, --info-script=FILE         run script at end of each tape (implies -M)

      --new-volume-script=FILE   same as -F FILE

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

Device blocking:

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

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

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

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

Archive format selection:

      --format=FMTNAME               create archive of the given format.

                                     FMTNAME is one of the following:

                                     v7        old V7 tar format

                                     oldgnu    GNU format as per tar <= 1.12

                                     gnu       GNU tar 1.13 format

                                     ustar     POSIX 1003.1-1988 (ustar) format

                                     posix     POSIX 1003.1-2001 (pax) format

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

      --posix                        same as --format=posix

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

                                     control pax keywords

  -V, --label=NAME                   create archive with volume name NAME

              PATTERN                at list/extract time, a globbing PATTERN

  -j, --bzip2                        filter the archive through bzip2

  -z, --gzip, --ungzip               filter the archive through gzip

  -Z, --compress, --uncompress       filter the archive through compress

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

Local file selection:

  -C, --directory=DIR          change to directory DIR

  -T, --files-from=NAME        get names to extract or create from file NAME

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

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

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

      --anchored               exclude patterns match file name start (default)

      --no-anchored            exclude patterns match after any /

      --ignore-case            exclusion ignores case

      --no-ignore-case         exclusion is case sensitive (default)

      --wildcards              exclude patterns use wildcards (default)

      --no-wildcards           exclude patterns are plain strings

      --wildcards-match-slash  exclude pattern wildcards match '/' (default)

      --no-wildcards-match-slash exclude pattern wildcards do not match '/'

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

  -h, --dereference            dump instead the files symlinks point to

      --no-recursion           avoid descending automatically in directories

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

  -K, --starting-file=NAME     begin at file NAME in the archive

      --strip-path=NUM         strip NUM leading components from file names

                               before extraction

  -N, --newer=DATE-OR-FILE     only store files newer than DATE-OR-FILE

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

      --after-date=DATE        same as -N

      --backup[=CONTROL]       backup before removal, choose version control

      --suffix=SUFFIX          backup before removal, override usual suffix

Informative output:

      --help            print this help, then exit

      --version         print tar program version number, then exit

  -v, --verbose         verbosely list files processed

      --checkpoint      print directory names while reading the archive

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

      --totals          print total bytes written while creating archive

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

      --utc             print file modification dates in UTC

  -R, --block-number    show block number within archive with each message

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

      --confirmation    same as -w

Compatibility options:

  -o                                 when creating, same as --old-archive

                                     when extracting, same as --no-same-owner

  --allow-name-mangling              when extracting, allow GNUTYPE_NAMES mangli                                                                             ng -- considered dangerous

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:

  t, numbered     make numbered backups

  nil, existing   numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise

  never, simple   always make simple backups

ARCHIVE may be FILE, HOST:FILE or USER@HOST:FILE; DATE may be a textual date

or a file name starting with `/' or `.', in which case the file's date is used.

*This* `tar' defaults to `--format=gnu -f- -b20'.

Create archive.tar from files foo and bar.

tar -cf archive.tar foo bar

List all files in archive.tar verbosely. 

tar -tvf archive.tar

Extract all files from archive.tar.

tar -xf archive.tar

If a long option shows an argument as mandatory, then it is mandatory

for the equivalent short option also.  Similarly for optional arguments.