


CPIO(1L)						 CPIO(1L)


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]	[--quiet]
       [--force-local]	 [--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]  [--force-local]	[--no-absolute-filenames]
       [--sparse]  [--only-verify-crc] [--quiet] [--help] [--ver-
       sion] [pattern...] [< archive]

       cpio	 {-p|--pass-through}	   [-0adlmuvLV]	      [-R
       [user][:.][group]] [--null] [--reset-access-time] [--make-
       directories] [--link] [--quiet]	[--preserve-modification-
       time]  [--unconditional]	 [--verbose]  [--dot] [--derefer-
       ence]  [--owner=[user][:.][group]]   [--no-preserve-owner]
       [--sparse]  [--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  file  name, 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



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CPIO(1L)						 CPIO(1L)


       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
       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



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CPIO(1L)						 CPIO(1L)


	      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.

       -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).





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       --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.

       -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.




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       -L, --dereference
	      Dereference  symbolic  links  (copy  the files that
	      they point to instead of copying the links).

       -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-absolute-filenames
	      In  copy-in  mode, create all files relative to the
	      current directory, even if they  have  an	 absolute
	      file name in the archive.

	--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).

	--only-verify-crc
	      When  reading a CRC format archive in copy-in mode,
	      only verify the CRC's of each file in the	 archive,
	      don't actually extract the files.

       -p, --pass-through
	      Run in copy-pass mode.

       --quiet
	      Do not print the number of blocks copied.



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       -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.

       --sparse
	      In  copy-out  and copy-pass modes, write files with
	      large blocks of zeros as sparse files.

       -s, --swap-bytes
	      In copy-in mode, swap the bytes  of  each	 halfword
	      (pair of bytes) in the files.

       -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.












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