CPIO(1) CPIO(1)
NAME
cpio - copy files to and from archives
SYNOPSIS
cpio {-o|--create} [-0acvABLV] [-C bytes] [-H format] [-M message] [-O [[user@]host:]archive] [-F [[user@]host:]archive] [--file=[[user@]host:]archive] [--format=format] [--message=message] [--null] [--reset- access-time] [--verbose] [--dot] [--append] [--block- size=blocks] [--dereference] [--io-size=bytes] [--help] [--version] < name-list [> archive] cpio {-i|--extract} [-bcdfmnrtsuvBSV] [-C bytes] [-E file] [-H format] [-M message] [-R [user][:.][group]] [-I [[user@]host:]archive] [-F [[user@]host:]archive] [--file=[[user@]host:]archive] [--make-directories] [--nonmatching] [--preserve-modification-time] [--numeric- uid-gid] [--rename] [--list] [--swap-bytes] [--swap] [--dot] [--unconditional] [--verbose] [--block- size=blocks] [--swap-halfwords] [--io-size=bytes] [--pat- tern-file=file] [--format=format] [--owner=[user][:.][group]] [--no-preserve-owner] [--mes- sage=message] [--help] [--version] [pattern...] [< archive] cpio {-p|--pass-through} [-0adlmuvLV] [-R [user][:.][group]] [--null] [--reset-access-time] [--make- directories] [--link] [--preserve-modification-time] [--unconditional] [--verbose] [--dot] [--dereference] [--owner=[user][:.][group]] [--no-preserve-owner] [--help] [--version] destination-directory < name-list
DESCRIPTION
This manual page documents the GNU version of cpio. cpio copies files into or out of a cpio or tar archive, which is a file that contains other files plus information about them, such as their pathname, owner, timestamps, and access permissions. The archive can be another file on the disk, a magnetic tape, or a pipe. cpio has three operating modes. In copy-out mode, cpio copies files into an archive. It reads a list of filenames, one per line, on the standard input, and writes the archive onto the standard output. A typical way to generate the list of filenames is with the find command; you should give find the -depth option to minimize problems with permissions on directories that are unwritable or not searchable. In copy-in mode, cpio copies files out of an archive or lists the archive contents. It reads the archive from the standard input. Any non-option command line arguments are shell globbing patterns; only files in the archive whose names match one or more of those patterns are copied from 1 CPIO(1) CPIO(1) the archive. Unlike in the shell, an initial `.' in a filename does match a wildcard at the start of a pattern, and a `/' in a filename can match wildcards. If no pat- terns are given, all files are extracted. In copy-pass mode, cpio copies files from one directory tree to another, combining the copy-out and copy-in steps without actually using an archive. It reads the list of files to copy from the standard input; the directory into which it will copy them is given as a non-option argument. cpio supports the following archive formats: binary, old ASCII, new ASCII, crc, HPUX binary, HPUX old ASCII, old tar, and POSIX.1 tar. The binary format is obsolete because it encodes information about the files in a way that is not portable between different machine architec- tures. The old ASCII format is portable between different machine architectures, but should not be used on file sys- tems with more than 65536 i-nodes. The new ASCII format is portable between different machine architectures and can be used on any size file system, but is not supported by all versions of cpio; currently, it is only supported by GNU and Unix System V R4. The crc format is like the new ASCII format, but also contains a checksum for each file which cpio calculates when creating an archive and verifies when the file is extracted from the archive. The HPUX formats are provided for compatibility with HPUX's cpio which stores device files differently. The tar format is provided for compatability with the tar program. It can not be used to archive files with names longer than 100 characters, and can not be used to archive "special" (block or character devices) files. The POSIX.1 tar format can not be used to archive files with names longer than 255 characters (less unless they have a "/" in just the right place). By default, cpio creates binary format archives, for com- patibility with older cpio programs. When extracting from archives, cpio automatically recognizes which kind of archive it is reading and can read archives created on machines with a different byte-order. Some of the options to cpio apply only to certain operat- ing modes; see the SYNOPSIS section for a list of which options are allowed in which modes. OPTIONS -0, --null In copy-out and copy-pass modes, read a list of filenames terminated by a null character instead of a newline, so that files whose names contain new- lines can be archived. GNU find is one way to pro- duce a list of null-terminated filenames. 2 CPIO(1) CPIO(1) -a, --reset-access-time Reset the access times of files after reading them, so that it does not look like they have just been read. -A, --append Append to an existing archive. Only works in copy- out mode. The archive must be a disk file speci- fied with the -O or -F (--file) option. -b, --swap In copy-in mode, swap both halfwords of words and bytes of halfwords in the data. Equivalent to -sS. Use this option to convert 32-bit integers between big-endian and little-endian machines. -B Set the I/O block size to 5120 bytes. Initially the block size is 512 bytes. --block-size=BLOCK-SIZE Set the I/O block size to BLOCK-SIZE * 512 bytes. -c Use the old portable (ASCII) archive format. -C IO-SIZE, --io-size=IO-SIZE Set the I/O block size to IO-SIZE bytes. -d, --make-directories Create leading directories where needed. -E FILE, --pattern-file=FILE In copy-in mode, read additional patterns specify- ing filenames to extract or list from FILE. The lines of FILE are treated as if they had been non- option arguments to cpio. -f, --nonmatching Only copy files that do not match any of the given patterns. -F, --file=archive Archive filename to use instead of standard input or output. To use a tape drive on another machine as the archive, use a filename that starts with `HOSTNAME:'. The hostname can be preceded by a username and an `@' to access the remote tape drive as that user, if you have permission to do so (typ- ically an entry in that user's `~/.rhosts' file). --force-local With -F, -I, or -O, take the archive file name to be a local file even if it contains a colon, which would ordinarily indicate a remote host name. 3 CPIO(1) CPIO(1) -H FORMAT, --format=FORMAT Use archive format FORMAT. The valid formats are listed below; the same names are also recognized in all-caps. The default in copy-in mode is to auto- matically detect the archive format, and in copy- out mode is "bin". bin The obsolete binary format. odc The old (POSIX.1) portable format. newc The new (SVR4) portable format, which sup- ports file systems having more than 65536 i- nodes. crc The new (SVR4) portable format with a check- sum added. tar The old tar format. ustar The POSIX.1 tar format. Also recognizes GNU tar archives, which are similar but not identical. hpbin The obsolete binary format used by HPUX's cpio (which stores device files differ- ently). hpodc The portable format used by HPUX's cpio (which stores device files differently). -i, --extract Run in copy-in mode. -I archive Archive filename to use instead of standard input. To use a tape drive on another machine as the archive, use a filename that starts with `HOST- NAME:'. The hostname can be preceded by a username and an `@' to access the remote tape drive as that user, if you have permission to do so (typically an entry in that user's `~/.rhosts' file). -k Ignored; for compatibility with other versions of cpio. -l, --link Link files instead of copying them, when possible. -L, --dereference Dereference symbolic links (copy the files that they point to instead of copying the links). 4 CPIO(1) CPIO(1) -m, --preserve-modification-time Retain previous file modification times when creat- ing files. -M MESSAGE, --message=MESSAGE Print MESSAGE when the end of a volume of the backup media (such as a tape or a floppy disk) is reached, to prompt the user to insert a new volume. If MESSAGE contains the string "%d", it is replaced by the current volume number (starting at 1). -n, --numeric-uid-gid In the verbose table of contents listing, show numeric UID and GID instead of translating them into names. --no-preserve-owner In copy-in mode and copy-pass mode, do not change the ownership of the files; leave them owned by the user extracting them. This is the default for non- root users, so that users on System V don't inad- vertantly give away files. -o, --create Run in copy-out mode. -O archive Archive filename to use instead of standard output. To use a tape drive on another machine as the archive, use a filename that starts with `HOST- NAME:'. The hostname can be preceded by a username and an `@' to access the remote tape drive as that user, if you have permission to do so (typically an entry in that user's `~/.rhosts' file). -p, --pass-through Run in copy-pass mode. -r, --rename Interactively rename files. -R [user][:.][group], --owner [user][:.][group] In copy-out and copy-pass modes, set the ownership of all files created to the specified user and/or group. Either the user or the group, or both, must be present. If the group is omitted but the ":" or "." separator is given, use the given user's login group. Only the super-user can change files' own- ership. -s, --swap-bytes In copy-in mode, swap the bytes of each halfword (pair of bytes) in the files. 5 CPIO(1) CPIO(1) -S, --swap-halfwords In copy-in mode, swap the halfwords of each word (4 bytes) in the files. -t, --list Print a table of contents of the input. -u, --unconditional Replace all files, without asking whether to replace existing newer files with older files. -v, --verbose List the files processed, or with -t, give an `ls -l' style table of contents listing. In a verbose table of contents of a ustar archive, user and group names in the archive that do not exist on the local system are replaced by the names that corre- spond locally to the numeric UID and GID stored in the archive. -V --dot Print a "." for each file processed. --version Print the cpio program version number and exit. 6
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