/usr/man/cat.1/gwxpax.1.Z
NAME
pax - portable archive interchange
SYNOPSIS
pax [ -r ] [ -v ] [ -f archive ] [ -s /old/new/[glpsu] ] [ -z base ] [
pattern ... ]
pax -w [ -a ] [ -v ] [ -f archive ] [ -s /old/new/[glpsu] ] [ -x format
] [ -z base ] [ pathname ... ]
pax -rw [ -v ] [ -s /old/new/[glpsu] ] [ pathname ... ] directory
DESCRIPTION
pax reads and writes archive files in various formats. There are four
operation modes controlled by combinations of the -r and -w options.
pax -w writes the files and directories named by the pathname arguments
to the standard output together with pathname and status information.
A directory pathname argument refers to the files and (recursively)
subdirectories of that directory. If no pathname arguments are given
then the standard input is read to get a list of pathnames to copy, one
pathname per line. In this case only those pathnames appearing on the
standard input are copied.
pax -r reads files from the standard input that is assumed to be the
result of a previous pax -w command. Only files with names that match
any of the pattern arguments are selected. A pattern is given in the
name-generating notation of sh(1), except that the / character is also
matched. The default if no pattern is given is *, which selects all
files. The selected files are conditionally created and copied rela-
tive to the current directory tree, subject to the options described
below. By default the owner and group of selected files will be that
of the current user, and the permissions and modify times will be the
same as those in the archive. If the -r option is omitted then a table
of contents of the selected files is listed on the standard output.
pax -rw reads the files and directories named in the pathname arguments
and copies them to the destination directory. A directory pathname
argument refers to the files and (recursively) subdirectories of that
directory. If no pathname arguments are given then the standard input
is read to get a list of pathnames to copy, one pathname per line. In
this case only those pathnames appearing on the standard input are
copied. directory must exist before the copy.
The standard archive formats are automatically detected on input. The
default output archive format is implementation defined, but may be
overridden by the -x option described below. pax archives may be con-
catenated to combine multiple volumes on a single tape or file. This
is accomplished by forcing any format prescribed pad data to be null
bytes. Hard links are not maintained between volumes, and delta and
base archives cannot be multi-volume.
A single archive may span many files/devices. The second and subse-
quent file names are prompted for on the terminal input. The response
may be:
!command
Execute command via system(3) and prompt again for file name.
EOF Exit without further processing.
CR An empty input line retains the previous file name.
pathname
The file name for the next archive part.
Basic Options
a For -w, append files to the end of the archive.
f archive
archive is the pathname of the input or output archive, overrid-
ing the default standard input for -r and -rw or standard output
for -w.
s /old/new/[glpu]
File names and symbolic link text are mapped according to the
ed(1) style substitution expression. Any non-null character may
be used as a delimiter (/ shown here). Multiple -s expressions
may be specified; the expressions are applied from left to
right. A trailing l converts the matched string to lower case.
A trailing p causes successful mappings to be listed on the
standard error. A trailing s stops the substitutions on the
current name if the substitution changes the name. A trailing u
converts the matched string to upper case. File names that sub-
stitute to the null string are ignored on both input and output.
The -o physical option inhibits symbolic link text substitution.
v Produces a verbose table of contents listing on the standard
output when both -r and -w are omitted. Otherwise the file
names are listed on the standard error as they are encountered.
x format
Specifies the output archive format. If specified with -rw then
the standard input is treated as an archive that is converted to
a format archive on the standard output. The input format,
which must be one of the following, is automatically determined.
The default output format, named by -, is currently cpio. The
formats are:
ansi ANSI standard label tape format. Only regular files with
simple pathnames are archived. Valid only for blocked
devices.
asc The s5r4 extended cpio(5) character format.
aschk The s5r4 extended cpio(5) character format with header
checksum. This format is misnamed crc in the s5r4 docu-
mentation.
binary The cpio(5) binary format with symbolic links. This for-
mat is obsolete and should not be used on output.
cpio The cpio(5) character format with symbolic links. This
is the default output format.
ibmar EBCDIC standard label tape format. Only regular files
with simple pathnames are archived. Valid only for tape
devices.
posix The IEEE 1003.1b-1990 interchange format, partially com-
patible with the X3.27 standard labeled tape format.
portarch
The s5r2 portable object library format. Valid only on
input.
randarch
The BSD ranlib object library format. Valid only on
input.
tar The tar(5) format with symbolic links.
ustar The POSIX IEEE Std 1003.1-1988 tar format.
vdb The virtual database format used by cia(1) and cql(1).
vmsbackup
ANSI standard label VMS backup savset tape format. Valid
only for input tape devices.
zip The PKZIP format. The gunzip(1) command is used to
uncompress each archive member. Valid only on input.
format Formats can be defined as extensions to the builtin for-
mats. For any non-builtin format format, can be
Extended Options
All options have long string names specified using -o [no]name[=value];
append (-a) For -w, append files to the end of the archive.
atime Preserve the access time of all files.
base=path
(-z) b blocking Set the output blocking size. If no suffix (or
a c suffix) is specified then blocking is in 1 character units.
A b suffix multiplies blocking by 512 (1 block), a k suffix mul-
tiplies blocking by 1024 (1 kilobyte) and an m suffix multiplies
blocking by 1048576 (1 megabyte). blocking is automatically
determined on input and is ignored for -rw. The default block-
ing is 10k for block and character special archive files and
implementation defined otherwise. The minimum blocking is 1c.
exact (-n) For -r the pattern arguments are treated as ordinary file
names. Only the first occurrence of each of these files in the
input archive is read. pax exits with zero exit status after
all files in the list have been read. If one or more files in
the list is not found, pax writes a message to standard error
for each of these files and exits with a non-zero exit status.
The file names are compared before any pathname transformations
are applied.
m File modification times are not retained.
o Restore file ownership as specified in the archive. The current
user must have appropriate privileges.
Compatibility Options
These options provide functional compatibility with the old cpio(1) and
tar(1) commands.
c Complement the match sense of the pattern arguments.
d Intermediate directories not explicitly listed in the archive
are not created.
i Interactively rename files. A file is skipped if a null line is
entered and pax exits if EOF is encountered.
l For -r, existing links are preserved when possible. For -rw,
files are linked rather than copied when possible.
p Preserve the access times of input files after they have been
copied.
t device
device is an identifier that names the input or output archive
device, overriding the default standard input for -r or standard
output for -w. Tape devices may be specified as drive[den-
sityrewind] where drive is a drive number in the range [0-7],
density is one of l, m and h for low (800 bpi), medium (1600 bpi
- default) and high (6250 bpi) tape densities and rewind is n to
inhibit rewinding of the tape device when it is closed. Other
forms for device are implementation defined.
u Copy each file only if it is newer than a pre-existing file with
the same name. This option implies -a.
y Interactively prompt for the disposition of each file. EOF or
an input line starting with q causes pax to exit. Otherwise an
input line starting with anything other than y causes the file
to be ignored.
Extended Options
These options provide fine archive control, including delta archive
operations.
e filter
Run the filter command on each file to be output. The current
name of the file to be output is appended to the filter command
string before the command is executed by the shell.
h Inhibit archive heading and summmary information messages to
stderr.
k For -r continue processing the archive after encountering an
error by attempting to locate the next valid entry. This is
useful for archives stored on unreliable media.
z base Specifies the delta base archive base that is assumed to be the
result of a previous pax -w command. For -w the input files are
compared with the files in base and file delta information is
placed in the output archive using the delta algorithm. For -r
the delta information in the input archive is used to update the
output files with respect to the files in base. For -rw the
delta information in the archive on the standard input is used
to generate an archive on the standard output whose entries are
updated with respect to the files in base. If base is - or an
empty file then the input files are simply compressed. -z -
must also be specified to produce a compressed archive for -rw.
B count
Sets the maximum archive part output character count. pax
prompts for the next archive part file name. Valid only with
-w.
C Archive entries smaller than -B maxout must be contained within
a single part. Valid only with -B.
L Copy a logical view of the input files. Symbolic links are fol-
lowed, causing the pointed to files to be copied rather than the
symbolic link information. This is the default.
M message
Set the end of medium prompt to message. This message is used
to prompt interactively for the next tape reel or cartridge in
cases where the tape runs out before all files have been copied.
message may contain one printf(3) style integer format specifi-
cation that is replaced with the next part number.
P Copy a physical view of the input files. Causes symbolic link
information to be copied as opposed to the default (logical
view) action of following symbolic links and copying the pointed
to files.
R option[value][,option[value]...]
Set record oriented format options. Multiple options may be
concatenated using ,. Some options may be fixed for some for-
mats. The options are:
c Record data is subject to character set conversions.
fformat
Set the output record format to format. The supported
record formats are:
D Variable length with 4 byte record header. The
record size default is 512.
F Fixed length with no record header. The record
size default is 128.
S Spanned variable length with 4 byte record header.
The record size default is 0 (no limit).
U Variable length with no record header. The output
block size matches the size of each output record.
The record size default is 512.
V Spanned variable length with binary 4 byte record
header. The record size default is 0 (no limit).
The D format is preferred.
mpattern
Only those files with input record format matching pat-
tern are processed.
p Partial output blocks are padded to the full blocksize.
ssize Set the output record size to size. size should divide
the output blocking.
vlabel Set the output volume label to label. Some formats may
truncate and/or case-convert label.
S Similar to -l except that symbolic links are created.
U id Set file ownership to the default of the user named id. Valid
only for the super-user.
V Output a `.' as each file is encountered. This overrides the -v
option.
X Do not cross mount points when searching for files to output.
DIAGNOSTICS
The number of files, blocks, and optionally the number of volumes and
media parts are listed on the standard error. For -v the input archive
formats are also listed on the standard error.
EXAMPLES
pax -w -t 1m .
Copies the contents of the current directory to tape drive 1,
medium density.
mkdir newdir
cd olddir
pax -rw . newdir
Copies the olddir directory hierarchy to newdir.
SEE ALSO
ar(1), cpio(1), find(1), gunzip(1), gzip(1), ksh(1), tar(1), tw(1) lib-
delta(3), cpio(5), tar(5)
BUGS
Special privileges may be required to copy special files.
Each archive format has a hard upper limit on member pathname sizes.
Device, user-id and group-id numbers larger than 65535 cause additional
header records to be output. These records are ignored by old versions
of cpio(1) and tar(1).
PAX(1)
Man(1) output converted with
man2html