The tar (tape archiver) application can be used to make backup copies of your data.
A practical example seems to be the best way to start this small essay. In order to make a backup copy of the /etc directory a user should type:
Later the archive can be compressed with gzip or bzip2. Bzip2's algorithms are more efficient, therefore its use is encouraged over gzip.
The parameter ' -9 ' instructs the archiver to achieve the best compression it can.
Both archiving and compression can be achieved in one step:
Additionally you can also save the absolute access paths and the file access rights:
One nice thing to do would be to automatically generate the name of the backup file from the current date:
When inflating the archive, the owners of the files can be restored with the '--same-owner' parameter. For the superuser this is the default behaviour:
Additionally the "--verbose" parameter can be specified in order to get more information about the executing operation.
For a detailed explanation of tar's parameters you should check the info manual - 'info tar'.
If you wish to add something feel free to use the forums.
