The -c option to the tar command creates an
archive. In this example we use the option -f /dev/rmt0 to
write the archive to the tape drive. The archive contains all
the files and directories below the present working directory (nc in this example):
%tar -cvf file.tar * Create archive of all directories into file file.tar. %tar -cvf /dev/rmt0 nc Create archive of nc on device rmt0. %tar -cv -f /dev/rmt0 nc Alternative form for above. a nc/About, 3320 bytes, 7 tape blocks. The ``a'' is for ``add.'' a nc/doc/mknewsrc.1, 3106 bytes, 7 tape blocks. a nc/doc/ncc.1, 6503 bytes, 13 tape blocks. a nc/doc/append.mm, 91031 bytes, 178 tape blocks. a nc/Makefile, 1464 bytes, 3 tape blocks. a nc/READ.ME, 2626 bytes, 6 tape blocks. a nc/License, 4082 bytes, 8 tape blocks.
Note that the path names of the files in the archive
begin at the directory nc specified on the command line. This
means at the time the archive is untarred, the directory nc
will be created in the current user's directory and all archived
files will be placed in it. In contrast, if we had stated the full
path name of the nc directory, the files in the archive would
have an absolute path name, for example,
%tar -cvf /dev/rmt0 /usr/src/nc Full path name. a /usr/src/nc/About, 3320 bytes, 7 tape blocks. a /usr/src/nc/doc/mknewsrc.1, 3106 bytes, 7 tape blocks. a /usr/src/nc/doc/ncc.1, 6503 bytes, 13 tape blocks. a /usr/src/nc/doc/append.mm, 91031 bytes, 178 tape blocks. a /usr/src/nc/Makefile, 1464 bytes, 3 tape blocks. a /usr/src/nc/READ.ME, 2626 bytes, 6 tape blocks. a /usr/src/nc/License, 4082 bytes, 8 tape blocks.
Now with the full path name specified, the untarred files will be placed in that directory regardless of the current one.
You may create an archive containing more than one directory by just
listing the additional files or directories on the command line as
well:
%tar -cvf /dev/rmt0 weather asroot Create archive. a weather/README 9 blocks. a weather/how2ftp 5 blocks. a weather/pricing 7 blocks. a weather/catds 101 blocks. a weather/datav.1 15 blocks. a asroot/str.c 2 blocks. a asroot/Makefile 1 blocks. a asroot/asroot.c 8 blocks. a asroot/asrbsd.c 8 blocks. a asroot/asr.c 8 blocks.
As we have said before, multi-diskette tars should be avoided if you wish to read the tar on a different system. Some systems allow multi-diskette or multi-volume tar archives, but many do not. To prevent your tar from spilling over onto a second medium, include a smaller number of files on the tar command, and use several tar's.