Linux Backup Tar CPIO Restore

tar - backup/restore/verify mt - handy tape commands	Backup Edge Software

tar

Used to backup/restore files to a tape drive. Tar can be used to archive a group of files into another file or more commonly to write/restore a group of files to a tape drive.

Options	Description
c	create a archive (write to tape)
t	display files on archive (view only)
x	extract from archive (read from tape and write to disk)
v	verbose - display filenames
z	compress files (using gzip)
f	device name or file name to write to
directory or file	directory or file to use

Note: The following examples assume the device name of your tape drive is /dev/st0.

Command	What it does
tar cvf /dev/st0 /	backup the entire system to tape
tar cvzf /dev/st0 /bin	only backup the /bin directory to tape and compress
tar tvf /dev/st0	view the contents of a tape
tar xvf /dev/st0	restore the entire contents of the tape
tar xvf /dev/st0 /etc/sendmail.cf	only restore the file '/etc/sendmail.cf' from tape
tar xvzf /dev/st0 /bin	restore and uncompress the directory /bin from tape

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mt

The mt command can be used to erase, retension or to set compression mode.

Note: The following examples assume the device name of your tape drive is /dev/st0.

Command	What it does
/usr/sbin/mt -f /dev/st0 retension	Retension
/usr/sbin/mt -f /dev/st0 erase	Erase
/usr/sbin/mt -f /dev/st0 datcompression	Turn compress on

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Linux Backup/Restore

tar

mt