NAME

     star - unique standard tape archiver


SYNOPSIS

     star  command [ options ] file1 ... filen
     ustar command [ options ] file1 ... filen
     tar   command [ options ] file1 ... filen
     star  -copy   [ options ] file1 ... directory


DESCRIPTION

     Star is a very fast tar(1) like tape archiver with  improved
     functionality.

     Star archives and extracts multiple files to and from a sin-
     gle  file  called a tarfile. A tarfile is usually a magnetic
     tape, but it can be any file.  In all cases, appearance of a
     directory  name  refers  to the files and (recursively) sub-
     directories of that directory.

     Star's actions are controlled by the mandatory command flags
     from  the  list below.  The way star acts may be modified by
     additional options.

     Note that unpacking tar archives  may  be  a  security  risk
     because  star  may  overwrite  existing files.  See SECURITY
     NOTES for more information.


FEATURES

     Star includes the first free implementation of  POSIX.1-2001
     extended  tar headers. The extended tar headers define a new
     standard way for going beyond the limitations  of  the  his-
     toric  tar format.  They allow (among others) to archive all
     UNIX time stamps in sub-second resolution,  files  of  arbi-
     trary  size  and  filenames  without length limitation using
     UNICODE UTF-8 coding for best exchange compatibility.

     Star by default uses a fifo to optimize  data  flow  from/to
     tape.  This  results in a normally streaming tape during the
     whole backup.  See -fifo and fs= option to  get  information
     on how to find the best fifo size.

     Star includes a pattern matcher to control the list of files
     to  be  processed.  This  gives  a  convenient interface for
     archiving and restoring complex lists of files. In  conjunc-
     tion with the -w flag it is easy to merge a tar archive into
     an existing file tree. See also -U option.  In  create  mode
     use the pat= option to specify either select or exclude pat-
     terns (depending on the -V flag). In extract  or  list  mode
     all  file  type arguments are interpreted as select patterns
     while the patterns specified with the  pat=  option  may  be
     used  as  select  or  exclude  patterns (depending on the -V
     flag).  Have a look at the description of the -C  option  to
     learn  how fetch files from a list of directories (in create
     mode) or to distribute files to a list  of  directories  (in
     extract  mode).   A substitute option allows ed(1) like pat-
     tern substitution in file names.

     Star includes a sophisticated  diff  command.  Several  diff
     options allow user tailorable functionality. Star won't show
     you differences you are not interested in.  Check  the  dif-
     fopts= option for more details.

     Star has no limitation on  filename  length.  Pathnames  and
     linknames  up  to  PATH_MAX (1023 bytes with old OS versions
     and 4095 bytes with POSIX.1-2001)  may  be  archived.  Later
     versions may be able to deal with longer pathnames.

     Star deals with all 3 times, available  for  files  on  UNIX
     systems if the archive format is either chosen from the star
     specific formats or  is  a  format  that  uses  POSIX.1-2001
     extended  headers.  This is either done in second resolution
     by using a star specific POSIX.1-1988  compatible  extension
     or  in  sub second resolution by using POSIX.1-2001 extended
     headers.  Star is able to store  and  restore  all  3  times
     (mtime,  atime and even ctime). On Solaris 2.x systems, star
     is able to do backups without changing  any  of  the  3  the
     times.

     If used with the H=ustar option, or if called  as  ustar  or
     tar  while the H=headertype option is not used, star is 100%
     POSIX compliant.

     Star's default format (if called as star) is xstar and is as
     posix  compliant  as  possible. Enhancements to the standard
     that prevent correct extraction of single files when using a
     different  tar implementation that is only POSIX.1-1988 com-
     pliant may occur, but they only affect single files  with  a
     pathname that is longer than 100+130 chars or when archiving
     sparse files with the -sparse option in effect.   All  other
     files  will  extract correctly.  See the description for the
     H=headertype option below for more  information  on  archive
     formats and possible archive interchange problems.

     Star makes it easy to repair corrupted filesystems. After  a
     fsck  -y  has  been  run  on the filesystem, star is able to
     restore only the missing files automatically. Use then  star
     -diff to check for differences (see EXAMPLES for more infor-
     mation).

     Star automatically recognizes the type of the archive.  Star
     therefore  is able to handle features and properties of dif-
     ferent archive types in their native mode, if it knows about
     the peculiarities of the archive type.  See the H=headertype
     option for more details.  To be able to do this,  star  adds
     hidden  fingerprints  to  the  archive header that allows to
     recognise all star specific archive  formats.  The  GNU  tar
     format  is  recognised by the way it deviates from the stan-
     dard.

     Star  automatically  recognizes  and  handles  byte  swapped
     archives.  There is no option to manually control byte swap-
     ping.

     Star  automatically  recognizes   and   handles   compressed
     archives inside plain files.

     Star is able to archive and restore Access Control Lists for
     files using POSIX.1-2001 extended headers.


COMMAND

     In native mode, star is compatible to the command line  syn-
     tax  of  a typical POSIX command and for this reason expects
     commands and options to start with a  single  dash  (-).  In
     this case, commands and options may be specified separately,
     all boolean or  increment  type  options  may  be  specified
     either  separately  or combined.  For compatibility with GNU
     programs, long options may alternatively start with a double
     dash.  In compatibility mode to POSIX tar, star expects com-
     mands and options to appear as one single string  that  does
     not  start  with  a  dash.  In POSIX tar compatibilitx mode,
     additional non POSIX  options  may  be  specified  but  must
     appear  after  the  POSIX options and their args and need to
     start with a dash.

     -c   Create a new tarfile and write  named  files  into  it.
          Writing  starts  at  the  beginning  of tarfile. See -v
          option for information on  how  to  increase  verbosity
          while the archive is written.

     -copy
          Copy named files to the target directory which  is  the
          last  file  type  argument.   The target directory must
          exist.  The shorthand  -cx  instead  of  -copy  is  not
          allowed because this could be a result of a typo.

          If the option -diff has  been  specified  in  addition,
          star performs a one pass directory tree compare instead
          of copying files.  The shorthand -c  -diff  instead  of
          -copy -diff is also allowed.

          On operating  systems  with  slow  file  I/O  (such  as
          Linux),  it  may help to use -no-fsync in addition, but
          then star is unable to detect all error conditions;  so
          use with care.

          If the option -t has been specified  in  addition,  the
          last  file  type argument is not a target directory and
          star is performing a one pass listing instead of  copy-
          ing  files.   This makes sense as the listing from star
          may be better readable than the  output  from  ls  -lR.
          The  shorthand -c -t or -ct instead of -copy -t is also
          allowed.

          The job is by default done in the  best  archive  mode.
          This implies that it defaults to H=exustar -dump.  When
          in -copy mode, star forks into two processes  and  data
          exchange  is  done via the shared memory from the FIFO.
          This gives  the  best  possible  performance.   Without
          FIFO, the -copy mode will not work.

          The list= option, patterns and substitutions apply only
          to the create side of the copy command.

     -diff
          Compare the content and the  attributes  of  the  files
          from  the  archive  in tarfile to the filesystem.  This
          may also be used to  compare  two  file  trees  in  the
          filesystem.   If  you  use  a set of diffopts that fits
          your needs, it will give - in many cases - a more read-
          able  output  than  diff  -r.   If  you use star's dump
          extensions for the tar archive, the -diff option allows
          to find even if the directory in the file tree contains
          more files than the archive. This way, it  is  possible
          to compare all properties of two file trees in one run.
          See diffopts for more details.  Adding one or  more  -v
          options  increases  the  verbosity. With -vv and above,
          the directory content is  compared  also  if  in  -dump
          mode.

     -n   No extraction. Show what star would do, in case the  -x
          command had been specified.

     -r   Replace files in a tarfile. The named files are written
          to  the  end  of  tarfile. This implies that later, the
          appropriate files will be found more than once  on  the
          tarfile.

     -t   Table of contents.  List the contents of  the  tarfile.
          If  the  -v flag is used, the listing is similar to the
          format of ls -l output.  With this  option,  the  flags
          -a,  -atime  and -ctime have a different meaning if the
          archive is in star, xstar, xustar, exustar, or pax for-
          mat.   The  option  -a  or -atime lists the access time
          instead of the modification  time,  the  option  -ctime
          lists  the  file creation time instead of the modifica-
          tion time.  The option -tpath may be used  in  addition
          to  modify  the  output  so  it  may  be  used in shell
          scripts.

     -u   Update a tarfile. The named files are  written  to  the
          end  of tarfile if they are not already there or if the
          files are newer than the files of the same  name  found
          in the archive.  The -r and -u command only work if the
          tar archives is a regular file or if the tar archive is
          an unblocked tape that may backspace.

     -x   Extract  the  named  files  from  the  tarfile.  If  no
          filename  argument  or pattern is specified, the entire
          content of the tarfile is restored.  If the -U flag  is
          not used, star extracts no file which is older than the
          corresponding file on disk.

          On operating  systems  with  slow  file  I/O  (such  as
          Linux),  it  may help to use -no-fsync in addition, but
          then star is unable to detect all error conditions;  so
          use with care.

     Except for the shorthands documented above, exactly  one  of
     the commands above must be specified.

     If one or more patterns or substitution commands  have  been
     specified,  they  apply  to any of the command listed above.
     In copy mode, all patterns and substitute commands apply  to
     the create side.



OPTIONS

     -help
          Print a summary  of  the  most  important  options  for
          star(1).

     -xhelp
          Print a summary  of  the  less  important  options  for
          star(1).

     -/   Don't  strip  leading  slashes  from  file  names  when
          extracting  an  archive.  Tar archives containing abso-
          lute pathnames are usually a bad idea. With  other  tar
          implementations,  they  may possibly never be extracted
          without clobbering existing files. Star for  that  rea-
          son,  by  default strips leading slashes from filenames
          when in extract mode.   As  it  may  be  impossible  to
          create  an  archive  where  leading  slashes  have been
          stripped while retaining correct path names, star  does
          not strip leading slashes in create mode.

          See SECURITY NOTES for more information.

     -..  Don't skip files that contain /../  in  the  name.  Tar
          archives  containing  names  with /../ could be used to
          compromise the system. If they  are  unpacked  together
          with a lot of other files, this would in most cases not
          even be noticed. For this reason, star by default  does
          not extract files that contain /../ in the name if star
          is not in interactive mode (see -w option).

          See SECURITY NOTES for more information.

     -0

     -1

     -2

     -3

     -4

     -5

     -6

     -7   Select an archive entry  from  /etc/default/star.   The
          format  for the archive entries is the same as the for-
          mat in /etc/default/tar in Solaris.

     -acl Handle Access Control List (ACL) information in  create
          and  extract mode.  If -acl has been specified, star is
          in create mode and the header  type  is  exustar,  star
          will   add   ACL   information  to  the  archive  using
          POSIX.1-2001 extended headers.  If -acl has been speci-
          fied  and  star  is  in  extract mode, star will try to
          restore ACL information. If there is no ACL information
          for  one  or  all files in the archive, star will clear
          the ACL information for the specific file.   Note  that
          if  -acl  has  not been specified, star will not handle
          ACL information at all and files may inherit ACL infor-
          mation from the parent directories.  If the -acl option
          has been specified, star assumes that the -p option has
          been specified too.

     -ask_remove
          obsoleted by -ask-remove

     -ask-remove
          Ask to remove non writable  files  on  extraction.   By
          default,  star  will  not overwrite files that are read
          only.  If this option  is  in  effect,  star  will  ask
          whether  it  should  remove  these  files  to allow the
          extraction of a file in the following way:

               remove 'filename' ? Y(es)/N(o) :

     -atime, -a
          Reset access time of files after storing them  to  tar-
          file.  On  Solaris  2.x, (if invoked by root) star uses
          the _FIOSATIME ioctl to do this. This enables star  not
          to  trash  the  ctime  while resetting the atime of the
          files.  If the -atime option  is  used  in  conjunction
          with  the  list command, star lists access time instead
          of modification time. (This works only  in  conjunction
          with the star, xstar, xustar, exustar, and with the pax
          format.)  Another option to retain the access time  for
          the  the  files  that  are  going  to be archives is to
          readonly mount a UFS snapshot and to archive files from
          the mount point of the UFS snapshot.

     -B   Force star to perform multiple reads (if necessary)  to
          fill a block.  This option exists so that star can work
          across the Ethernet, since  pipes  and  sockets  return
          partial  blocks even when more data is coming.  If star
          uses stdin as archive file, star behaves as if  it  has
          been  called  with the -B option.  For this reason, the
          option -B in practice is rarely needed.

     -block-number
          Print the archive block number (archive offset  /  512)
          at  the  beginning  of  each line when in verbose mode.
          This allows to write backup scripts  that  archive  the
          offsets for files and that use

               mt fsr blockno

          to skip to the tape block number of interest in a  fast
          way if a single file needs to be restored.

     blocks=#, b=#
          Set the blocking  factor  of  the  tarfile  to  # times
          512 bytes (unless a different multiplication factor has
          been specified - see bs= option for posible multiplica-
          tion factors).  Changing the blocking factor only makes
          sense when the archive is located on a real tape device
          or  when  the  archive  is accessed via the remote tape
          protocol (see f= option below).  The default is to  use
          a blocking factor of 20 i.e. 10 kBytes.  Increasing the
          blocksize will speed up the  backup.   For  portability
          with  very  old tar implementations (pre BSD 4.2 or pre
          AT&T SVR4),  blocksize  should   not   be   more   than
          10 kBytes.   For  POSIX.1-1988 compatibility, blocksize
          should be no more  than  10 kBytes.   For  POSIX.1-2001
          compatibility,   blocksize   should  be  no  more  than
          32 kBytes.  Most systems also have a  hardware  limita-
          tion  for  the  blocksize,  32 kBytes and 63 kBytes are
          common limits on many systems.  The upper limit in  any
          case  is  the size of the buffer RAM in the tape drive.
          Make a test if you want to make sure  that  the  target
          system  will handle the intended blocksize.  If you use
          star for data exchange via tape, it is a good  idea  to
          use  a  blocksize of 10 kBytes unless you are sure that
          the reading system will handle a larger blocksize.   If
          you  use  star for backup purposes with recent hardware
          (e.g. DLT  tape  drives),  a  blocksize  of  256 kBytes
          results  in  sufficient  speed  and  seems to be a good
          choice.  Star allows block sizes up to 2 GByte  if  the
          system does not impose a smaller limit.  If you want to
          determine the blocking factor when reading  an  unknown
          tar  archive on tape, specify a blocking factor that is
          higher than the supposed blocking factor of  the  tape.
          Star then will determine the blocking factor by reading
          the first record of the tape and print a message:

               star: Blocksize = # records.

          Where # is the blocking  factor  in  multiples  of  512
          bytes.   The  blocks=  option  and  the  bs= option are
          equivalent methods to specify the tape block size.  The
          blocks=  option  is preferred by people who like to use
          an option that behaves similar to the interface of  the
          historic tar(1) implementations.

     bs=# Set output block size to  #.   You  may  use  the  same
          method as in dd(1) and sdd(1).  The number representing
          the size is taken in bytes unless otherwise  specified.
          If  a  number  is  followed directly by the letter `.',
          `w', `b', `k', `m', `g', `t', or `p', the size is  mul-
          tiplied  by 1, 2, 512, 1024, 1024*1024, 1024*1024*1024,
          1024*1024*1024*1024  or  1024*1024*1024*1024*1024.   If
          the  size  consists of numbers separated by `x' or `*',
          multiplication of the two numbers is  performed.   Thus
          bs=7x8k  will specify a blocksize of 56 kBytes.  Block-
          size must be a multiple of 512  bytes.   See  also  the
          description  of  the blocks= option for more details on
          blocksizes.  The option bs= is preferred by people  who
          like  to  use  an  option  that  behaves similar to the
          interface used by dd(1) and sdd(1).

     -bsdchdir
          Switch the behavior of the C= option to BSD style.  The
          default behavior of star is to stay in a working direc-
          tory until a new C= is seen.   With  BSD  tar,  the  C=
          option is only related to the next file type argument.

     -bz  run the input or output through  a  bzip2  pipe  -  see
          option  -z  -Z  and -j below.  As the -bz the -j the -Z
          and the -z option are non standard, it makes  sense  to
          omit  the  -bz  the  -j  the -Z and the -z inside shell
          scripts if  you  are  going  to  extract  a  compressed
          archive  that  is  located  inside a plain file as star
          will auto  detect  compression  and  choose  the  right
          decompression option to extract.

     C=dir
          Perform a chdir(2) operation to dir before  storing  or
          extracting  the  next  files.   In all cases, star will
          perform the chdir(2) operation relative to the  current
          working directory of the shell.

          o    In list mode (with the -t flag), star ignores  all
               -C options.

          o    In create mode (with the -c, -r and -u flag), star
               walks  through  all -C options and file type argu-
               ments.  While a BSD derived tar(1)  implementation
               goes  back  to the current working directory after
               storing one file argument that immediately follows
               the  -C option, star changes the directory only if
               a new -C option follows.  To emulate the  behavior
               of  a BSD derived tar(1), add a -C .  option after
               the file argument.

          o    In extract mode (with the -x, -n and -diff  flag),
               star   builds   a   pattern   list  together  with
               corresponding  directories  from  previous   C=dir
               options and performs a chdir(2) to the correspond-
               ing directory of a  matching  pattern.   All  pat=
               options  that  do  not  follow  a C=dir option are
               interpreted as if they were preceded  by  a  -C  .
               option.  See EXAMPLES for more information.

     compress-program=name
          Set  a  named  compress  program.   The  program   must
          compress  in  a pipe when called without parameters and
          decompress when run with the -d option in a pipe.  This
          option is otherwise similar to the -z the -j the -Z and
          the -bz option.

     -copylinks
          This option allows to copy hard/symlinks targets rather
          than creating a link.  It helps to extract tar files on
          systems that do not implement links  (e.g.  OS/2).   To
          extract  and  copy all symlinks correctly, you may need
          to call star twice  as  star  cannot  copy  files  that
          appear  in the archive later than a symlink pointing to
          them.

     -ctime
          If used with the list command, this lists ctime  rather
          than  mtime  if the archive format is star, xstar, xus-
          tar, exustar, or pax.  If used with the extract command
          and  the  same  archive  formats, this tries to restore
          even the ctime of a file  by  generating  time  storms.
          You  should not do this when in multi user mode because
          this may confuse programs like cron and the  news  sys-
          tem.   If used with the create command this changes the
          behavior of the newer= option. Star, in this case  com-
          pares  the ctime of all files to the mtime of the stamp
          file rather then comparing the mtimes of both files.

     -D   Do not descend directories.   Normally,  star  descends
          the  whole  tree if it encounters a directory in in its
          file parameters.  The option -D is in effect by default
          if  the  list=file option is used.  If you like star to
          descend directories found in the  list  file,  use  the
          -dodesc option (see below).

     -d   Do not store/create directories.  Old versions  of  tar
          such  as published with the seventh edition of UNIX are
          not able to deal with directories in tar archives. If a
          tar  archive  is  generated  without  directories  this
          avoids  problems  with  tar  implementations  found  on
          SYSVr3 and earlier.

     -debug
          Print debug messages. Among other  things,  this  gives
          debug  messages  for  header type recognition, tar type
          properties, EOF recognition, opening of remote archives
          and fifo internals.

     diffopts=optlst
          Comma separated list of  diffopts.   Valid  members  in
          optlst are:

          help      Print a summary of possible  members  of  the
                    diffopts list.

          !         Invert the meaning of the  following  string.
                    No  comma  is  needed  after  the exclamation
                    mark.

          not       Invert the meaning of all members in the dif-
                    fopts  list  i.e. exclude all present options
                    from an initially complete set compare  list.
                    When  using csh(1) you might have problems to
                    use ! due to its strange parser.  This is why
                    the not alias exists.

          perm      Compare file permissions. With this option in
                    effect,  star  compares the low order 12 bits
                    of the st_mode field.

          mode      Same as perm.
          type      Compare file type. Note that star cannot com-
                    pare the file type in case of a hard link.

          nlink     Compare link count on hardlinks.   This  only
                    works if the archive is in exustar format and
                    contains star's dump extensions.

          uid       Compare numerical user id of file.

          gid       Compare numerical group id of file.

          uname     Compare ASCII version of  user  id  of  file.
                    The   user   name  is  mapped  via  the  file
                    /etc/passwd.

          gname     Compare ASCII version of group  id  of  file.
                    The   group  name  is  mapped  via  the  file
                    /etc/group.

          id        Shorthand for:  uid,gid,uname,gname.  Compare
                    all  user/group  related  info of file.  Note
                    that this will always find differences if the
                    source  and  target system use different user
                    or group mappings.

          size      Compare file size.   Note  that  star  cannot
                    compare the file size in case of a hard link.

          data      Compare content of  file.   If  star  already
                    found  that  the size of the files differ, it
                    will not compare the content anymore.

          cont      Same as data.

          rdev      Compare major/minor numbers for device nodes.

          hardlink  Compare target of hardlinks.

          symlink   Compare target of  symlinks.  This  evaluates
                    the value returned by the readlink(2) call.

          sparse    Compare if either both files  are  sparse  or
                    not.  If  only  one  of both files is sparse,
                    then a  difference  is  flagged.   This  only
                    works  with  if  the  archive format is star,
                    xstar, xustar, exustar, or gnutar.

          atime     Compare access time of file. This only  works
                    with  if  the  archive format is star, xstar,
                    xustar, exustar, or pax.

          mtime     Compare modification time of file.
          ctime     This only works with if the archive format is
                    star, xstar, xustar, exustar, or pax.

          times     Shorthand for:  atime,mtime,ctime.

          dir       Compare the  content  of  directories.   This
                    only  works if the archive is in exustar for-
                    mat  and  contains  star's  dump  extensions.
                    Together  with  increased verbose level (-vv)
                    this will print a list of files that are only
                    in  the  archive and a list of files that are
                    only on the current filesystem.

          If optlst starts with a ! the meaning of all members in
          optlst is inverted as with the not optlist member.

          If diffopts are not specified, star compares everything
          but the access time of the files.

     -dirmode
          If in create mode (i.e. when storing files to archive),
          star  stores  directories past the corresponding files.
          This  guarantees  that  even  old  tar  implementations
          without  a  directory cache will be able to restore the
          correct times  of  directories.   The  option  -dirmode
          should  only  be  used  if  the  archive  needs  to  be
          extracted by an old tar implementation. If star is used
          to  extract an archive that has been created with -dir-
          mode the directories will not get  an  old  time  stamp
          unless  the  option  -U  is  used  while extracting the
          archive.

     -dodesc
          Force star to descend directories found in a list=file.
          See also the -D option above.

     -dump
          Allows to create  archives  with  the  same  number  of
          attributes as an archive that has been created with the
          level= option but without the restrictions  that  apply
          to a true dump.

          The resultant archive may be seen as a level-less  dump
          which includes similar attributes as a level 0 dump but
          may span more than a single file system  and  does  not
          need to use a -C option.  It has been originally intro-
          duced to make it easier to  implement  a  star  version
          that supports true incremental dumps, but it is kept as
          it gives additional benefits.  Star currently sets  the
          archive  type to exustar and, in addition archives more
          inode meta data inside POSIX.1-2001  extended  headers.
          See  also  level=  option  for more information on true
          incremental dumps.

     errctl= name
          Use the file name as error control  file.   The  reason
          for  using  an error control file is to make star quiet
          about error conditions that are known to be  irrelevant
          on the quality of the archive or restore run. A typical
          reason to use error control  is  to  suppress  warnings
          about  growing log files while doing a backup on a life
          file system.

          The error control file contains a set  of  lines,  each
          starting  with a list of error conditions to be ignored
          followed by white space followed by a file name pattern
          (see match(1) or patmatch(3) for more information).  If
          the file name pattern needs to start with white  space,
          use  a  backslash to escape the start of the file name.
          It is not possible to have new line characters  in  the
          file  name  pattern.   Whenever  an  error situation is
          encountered, star checks the lines in the error control
          file  starting from the top.  If the current error con-
          dition is listed on a line in the error  control  file,
          then star checks whether the pattern on the rest of the
          line matches the current file name.   If  this  is  the
          case, star ignores the current error condition.

          The list of error conditions to be ignored may use  one
          or  more  (in  this  case separated by a '|' character)
          identifiers from the list below:

          STAT        Suppress  warnings  that  star  could   not
                      stat(2) a file.

          GETACL      Suppress warnings about files on which star
                      had  problems  to retrieve the ACL informa-
                      tion.

          OPEN        Suppress warnings about  files  that  could
                      not be opened.

          READ        Suppress warnings read errors on files.

          WRITE       Suppress warnings write errors on files.

          READLINK    Suppress  warnings  readlink(2)  errors  on
                      symbolic links.

          GROW        Suppress warnings about files that did grow
                      while they have been archived.

          SHRINK      Suppress  warnings  about  files  that  did
                      shrink while they have been archived.

          MISSLINK    Suppress warnings  about  files  for  which
                      star was unable to archive all hard links.

          NAMETOOLONG Suppress warnings about  files  that  could
                      not  be  archived  because  the name of the
                      file is too long for the archive format.

          FILETOOBIG  Suppress warnings about  files  that  could
                      not  be  archived  because  the size of the
                      file is too big for the archive format.

          SPECIALFILE Suppress warnings about  files  that  could
                      not  be  archived  because the file type is
                      not supported by the archive format.

          GETXATTR    Suppress warnings about files on that  star
                      could not retrieve the extended file attri-
                      bute information.

          SETTIME     Suppress warnings about files on that  star
                      could  not  set the time information during
                      extraction.

          SETMODE     Suppress warnings about files on that  star
                      could  not  set  the  access  modes  during
                      extraction.

          SECURITY    Suppress warnings  about  files  that  have
                      been  skipped  on  extraction  because they
                      have been considered to be a security risk.
                      This  currently  applies  to all files that
                      have a '/../' sequence inside when -..  has
                      not been specified.

          LSECURITY   Suppress warnings  about  links  that  have
                      been  skipped  on  extraction  because they
                      have been considered to be a security risk.
                      This  currently  applies  to all link names
                      that  start  with  '/'  or  have  a  '/../'
                      sequence inside when -secure-links has been
                      specified.  In this  case,  star  tries  to
                      match  the link name against the pattern in
                      the error control file.

          SAMEFILE    Suppress warnings  about  links  that  have
                      been  skipped  on extraction because source
                      and target of the link are pointing to  the
                      same  file.   If  star would not skip these
                      files, it would end up  with  removing  the
                      file  completely.  In this case, star tries
                      to match the link name against the  pattern
                      in the error control file.

          BADACL      Suppress  warnings  access   control   list
                      conversion problems.

          SETACL      Suppress warnings about files on that  star
                      could  not  set  the ACL information during
                      extraction.

          SETXATTR    Suppress warnings about files on that  star
                      could  not  set the extended file attribute
                      information during extraction.

     If a specific error condition is  ignored,  then  the  error
     condition  is  not  only  handled  in  a silent way but also
     excluded from the error statistics that are printed  at  the
     end of the star run.

     Be very careful when using error control as you  may  ignore
     any  error  condition.  If you ignore the wrong error condi-
     tions, you may not be able to see real problems anymore.

     -F,-FF ...
          Fast and simple exclude option for create  mode.   With
          one  -F  argument,  star ignores all directories called
          SCCS and RCS.  With two -F arguments, star in  addition
          ignores all files called core errs a.out all files end-
          ing with .o.  OBJ/.   With  three  -F  arguments,  star
          ignores  all  sub  trees starting from a directory that
          includes a file .mirror  or  .exclude  and  all  object
          files and files called core errs a.out all files ending
          with .o.  With four -F arguments, star ignores all  sub
          trees  starting  from  a directory that includes a file
          .mirror or .exclude the latter files are  excluded  too
          as  well  as and all object files and files called core
          errs a.out all files ending  with  .o.   With  five  -F
          arguments,  star  in addition again excludes all direc-
          tories called SCCS and RCS.

     -fifo
          Use a fifo to optimize data flow from/to tarfile.  This
          option  is  in  effect by default (it may be changed at
          compile time).  The default fifo size is  8  MBytes  on
          all platforms except Linux versions that do not support
          mmap() (4 MB because kernels before 2.4 did not  handle
          big  shared memory areas) and Sun/mc68000 (1 MB).  This
          will star make even work on a tiny machine like  a  Sun
          3/50.  The  fifo  size  may  be  modified  with the fs=
          option. A rule of dumb for the fifo size is to use more
          than  the  buffer  size of the tape drive and less then
          half of the real memory of the machine.  A good  choice
          would be to use a fifo size between 8 and 256 MB.  This
          may increase backup speed up  to  5%  compared  to  the
          speed  achieved  with  the default fifo size. Note that
          with a DLT drive that gives  12MB/s  transfer  rate,  a
          fifo of 256 MB size will keep the tape at least stream-
          ing in units of 20 seconds.   All  options  that  start
          with  the  -f  sequence are sensitive to typo problems,
          see BUGS section for more information.

     -fifostats
          Print fifo statistics at the end of a star run when the
          fifo  has  been in effect.  All options that start with
          the -f sequence are sensitive  to  typo  problems,  see
          BUGS section for more information.

     file=tarfilename, f=tarfilename
          Use tarfilename  as  the  name  for  the  tar  archive.
          Currently  up to 100 file= options are possible. Speci-
          fying more then one file= option make  sense  in  multi
          volume  mode.  In this case star will use the next name
          in the list every time a media change  is  needed.   To
          make  star behave consistent with the single file case,
          star loops over the list of known archive files.   Note
          that  if star is installed suid root and the first tar-
          file is a remote archive, only the connection  to  this
          archive  will  be  created with root privileges.  After
          this connection has  been  established  as  root,  star
          switches  back  to the id of the caller.  If any of the
          other archives in the list is located  on  a  different
          host,  star will not be able to open this archive later
          on, unless run by root.

          Star normally uses stdin/stdout  for  the  tar  archive
          because  the most common way to use star is in conjunc-
          tion with pipes.  If star is installed suid root or  if
          it  has  been  called  by  root,  tarfilename may be in
          remote syntax: user@host:filename as in rcp(1) even  if
          invoked  by  non  root  users.  See SUID NOTES for more
          information.

          To make a file local although it includes a colon  (:),
          the filename must start with:  '/', './' or '../'

          Note that if star talks  to  an  old  rmt  remote  tape
          server  that  does  not support symbolic open modes, it
          does not open a remote tape with the O_CREAT open  flag
          because  this would be extremely dangerous.  If the rmt
          server on the other side is the rmt server  that  comes
          with  star or the GNU rmt server, star may use the sym-
          bolic mode for the open flags.  Only the symbolic  open
          modes  allow to send all possible open modes in a port-
          able way to remote tape servers.

          It is recommended to use the rmt server that comes with
          star.   It  is  the only rmt server that gives platform
          independent compatibility with BSD,  Sun  and  GNU  rmt
          clients  and  it includes security features that may be
          set up in /etc/default/rmt.   All  options  that  start
          with  the  -f  sequence are sensitive to typo problems,
          see BUGS section for more information.

          See ENVIRONMENT section for information on how  to  use
          ssh(1) to create a remote tape server connection.

     -force_hole
          obsoleted by -force-hole

     -force-hole
          Try to extract all files with holes.  This  even  works
          with files that are created without the -sparse option.
          Star, in this case examines the content of the files in
          the  archive  and  replaces  writes to parts containing
          binary zeroes with seeks. This option  should  be  used
          with  extreme care because you sometimes get in trouble
          when files get  unattended  holes.   All  options  that
          start  with the -f sequence are sensitive to typo prob-
          lems, see BUGS section for more information.

     -force_remove
          obsoleted by -force-remove

     -force-remove
          Force to remove non writable files on  extraction.   By
          default,  star  will  not overwrite files that are read
          only.  If this option is in effect, star will  silently
          remove  these  files to allow the extraction of a file.
          All options that start with the -f sequence are  sensi-
          tive to typo problems, see BUGS section for more infor-
          mation.

     fs=# Set fifo size to #.  See bs= for the  possible  syntax.
          The  default size of the fifo is 1 Mbyte on Sun mc68000
          systems, 4 Mbytes on non mmap() aware Linux systems and
          8  Mbytes  on  all other systems.  See -fifo option for
          hints on using the right fifo size.

     H=headertype
          Generate a tape archive in headertype format.  If  this
          option is used in extract/list mode this forces star to
          interpret the headers to be of type headertype. As star
          even  in case of a user selected extract archive format
          does format checking, it may be that you  will  not  be
          able  to  unpack  a  specific archive with all possible
          forced archive formats. Selecting the  old  tar  format
          for  extraction will always work though.  Valid parame-
          ter for headertype are:

          help      Print a help message  about  possible  header
                    types.

          tar       Old UNIX tar format. This archive format  may
                    only  store plain files, directories and sym-
                    bolic links.  Pathnames or  linknames  longer
                    than  99 chars may not be archived.  See also
                    the -d option as a note to  some  even  older
                    tar implementations.

                    If the tar format  has  been  selected,  star
                    will not use enhancements to the historic tar
                    format.  File size is limited to  2  GB  -  2
                    bytes,  uid/gid is limited to 262143.  Sparse
                    files will be filled up with zeroes.

          star      Old  star  standard  format.   This   is   an
                    upward/downward compatible enhancement of the
                    old (pre Posix) UNIX tar format.  It has been
                    introduced in 1985 and therefore is not Posix
                    compliant.  The star format allows to archive
                    special  files  (even  sockets)  and  records
                    access time and  creation  time  besides  the
                    modification  time. Newer versions of the old
                    star  format  allow   very   long   filenames
                    (100+155 chars  and  above),  linknames > 100
                    chars and sparse files.  This format is  able
                    to  copy  the device nodes on HP-UX that have
                    24 bits in the minor device number, which  is
                    more  then the 21 bits that are possible with
                    the POSIX-1003.1-1988 archive format.

                    The nonstandard extensions are located in the
                    space  between  the  link  name and the POSIX
                    file name prefix.  As the  star  format  does
                    not  use a POSIX magic string, the extensions
                    do not interfere with the POSIX tar  formats.
                    The  last 4 bytes of the tar header contain a
                    'tar\0' signature.

          gnutar    This is a commonly  used,  but  unfortunately
                    not  Posix compliant (although designed after
                    1987) enhancement to the old tar format.  The
                    gnutar  format  has been defined between 1989
                    and 1994.  Do not use the gnutar archive for-
                    mat  unless you want to create an archive for
                    a target system that is known  to  have  only
                    the  gnutar  program  available.   The gnutar
                    archive format violates basic rules  for  any
                    (even   the  historic)  tar  archive  format.
                    Using the gnutar archive format causes a high
                    risk  that  the resulting archive may only be
                    read by gnutar or by star.   The  implementa-
                    tion of the gnutar archive format within star
                    is not complete, but sufficient for most gnu-
                    tar  archives.   See  NOTES for more informa-
                    tion.

          ustar     IEEE/Posix1003/IEC-9945-1-1988 Standard  Data
                    Interchange  format.   With  this  option  in
                    effect, star will generate 100%  POSIX.1-1988
                    compliant tar archives.  Files with pathnames
                    longer than 100+155 chars or linknames longer
                    than  100 chars may not be archived.  If star
                    is called as ustar the default archive format
                    is ustar.

                    If the ustar format has been  selected,  star
                    will not use enhancements to the POSIX.1-1988
                    tar format, the archive will be strictly con-
                    forming.   File  size  is  limited  to  8 GB,
                    uid/gid/major/minor is  limited  to  2097151.
                    Sparse files will be filled up with zeroes.

          pax       The IEEE/Posix1003/IEC-9945-1-1988  successor
                    is the POSIX-1003.1-2001 Standard Data Inter-
                    change format.  It is called the pax  archive
                    format.

                    If the pax format  has  been  selected,  star
                    will not use enhancements to the POSIX.1-2001
                    tar format, the archive will be strictly con-
                    forming.     File    size    is    unlimited,
                    uid/gid/uname/gidname      is      unlimited,
                    major/minor  is  limited  to 2097151.  Sparse
                    files will be filled up with zeroes.

          xstar     The extended standard  tar  format  has  been
                    introduced  in 1994. Star uses the xstar for-
                    mat as default archive  format.  This  is  an
                    upward/downward compatible enhancement of the
                    IEEE/Posix1003/IEC-9945-1    Standard    Data
                    Interchange  format.   It allows among others
                    very long filenames (100+130 chars and above)
                    and records access time and creation time.

                    The access time and creation time are  stored
                    at  the  end  of  the  POSIX file name prefix
                    (this limits the prefix to 130 chars).  These
                    extensions  do  not  interfere with the POSIX
                    standard as the fields for  mtime  and  ctime
                    field  are  always  separated  from the POSIX
                    file name prefix by a null byte.  The last  4
                    bytes  of  the  tar  header contain a 'tar\0'
                    signature.

                    The xstar format is the default  format  when
                    star  is  neither called as tar nor called as
                    ustar.

          xustar    A new format introduced 1998, that omits  the
                    'tar\0'  signature  at  the  end  of  the tar
                    header. It  is  otherwise  identical  to  the
                    xstar format.  As some tar implementations do
                    not follow the POSIX rules  and  compute  the
                    checksum  for  less than 512 bytes of the tar
                    header, this format may help to  avoid  prob-
                    lems  with  these broken tar implementations.
                    The main other difference to the xstar format
                    is  that  the xustar format uses POSIX.1-2001
                    extended headers to overcome  limitations  of
                    the  historic tar format while the xstar for-
                    mat uses proprietary extensions.  The  xustar
                    format  is  the  default  format when star is
                    called as tar.

                    File size is unlimited, uid/gid/uname/gidname
                    is   unlimited,   major/minor  is  unlimited.
                    Sparse files will be archived correctly.

          exustar   A format similar to  the  xustar  format  but
                    with  forced  POSIX.1-2001  extended headers.
                    If this format is used together with the -acl
                    option,  star  records  Access  Control Lists
                    (ACLs) in POSIX.1-2001 extended headers.

                    File size is unlimited, uid/gid/uname/gidname
                    is   unlimited,   major/minor  is  unlimited.
                    Sparse files will be archived correctly.

          suntar    The extended header format found  on  Solaris
                    7/8/9. This format is similar to the pax for-
                    mat but does not handle atime and  ctime  and
                    in  addition uses 'X' as the typeflag for the
                    extended headers instead of the standard 'x'.

                    File size is unlimited, uid/gid/uname/gidname
                    is   unlimited,   major/minor  is  unlimited.
                    Sparse files will be filled up with zeroes.

          bin       The cpio UNIX V7 binary format.   This  is  a
                    format  with  big  interoperability problems.
                    Try to avoid this format.  It is only present
                    to make the scpio command SVr4 compliant.

          cpio      The POSIX.1-1988  cpio  format.  This  format
                    uses octal ascii headers. A similar format is
                    created by calling cpio -o -c on  pre  SYSVr4
                    systems  and  by  calling  cpio  -o  -Hodc on
                    SYSVr4 systems.  The POSIX.1-1988 cpio format
                    allows  a file name length up to 262142 char-
                    acters and allows to archive nearly any  file
                    type.    File   size  is  limited  to  8  GB,
                    uid/gid/st_dev is limited to 262143.  The way
                    major  and  minor  device  numbers are stored
                    inside the  st_dev  field  is  implementation
                    dependent.

                    Even though this archive format is covered by
                    the  POSIX.1-1988  standard,  it  has a lower
                    portability than the  ustar  format.  Try  to
                    avoid the cpio archive format.

          odc       This archive format is  similar  to  the  The
                    POSIX.1-1988  cpio  format  but the file name
                    length is limited to 255 characters  and  the
                    socket   file  type  is  not  allowed.   This
                    archive format has been introduced  to  allow
                    non  POSIX  cpio  implementations such as the
                    cpio program on SYSV to accept  the  archive.
                    Use  this format whenever you are not sure if
                    the target system offers a fully  POSIX  com-
                    pliant cpio program.

                    Even though this archive format is covered by
                    the  POSIX.1-1988  standard,  it  has a lower
                    portability than the  ustar  format.  Try  to
                    avoid the odc archive format.

          asc       Tell star to create a  cpio  archive  in  the
                    ascii  format that is created with cpio -o -c
                    on SYSVr4 systems.  It uses extended (32 bit)
                    numbers  for  uid's, gid's and device numbers
                    but limits the file size to 2 GB  -  2  bytes
                    although  the format has been specified after
                    the POSIX.1-1988 cpio format.  Try  to  avoid
                    the  asc  archive format because of it's lim-
                    ited portability.

          crc       This format is similar to the asc cpio format
                    but  in  addition  uses  a  simple byte based
                    checksum called CRC.  Try to  avoid  the  crc
                    archive format because of it's limited porta-
                    bility.


          All tar archive formats  may  be  interchanged  if  the
          archive  contains  no files that may not be archived by
          using the old tar format. Archives in the xstar  format
          may be extracted by any 100% POSIX compliant tar imple-
          mentation if  they  contain  no  files  with  pathnames
          > 100+130 chars  and  if  they  contain no sparse files
          that have been archived by using the -sparse option.

     -h, -L
          Follow symbolic links as if they were files.   Normally
          star  will  not  follow symbolic links but stores their
          values in tarfile. See also the -L option.

     -hardlinks
          In extract mode, this  option  tells  star  to  try  to
          create  a hardlink whenever a symlink is encountered in
          the archive.  In create mode, this option tells star to
          try to archive a hardlink whenever a symlink is encoun-
          tered in the file system.

     -hpdev
          Allow 24 bits for the minor device number using 8 octal
          digits.   Note  that  although  it allows to create tar
          archives that can be read with HP-UX tar, this  creates
          tar  archives  which violate POSIX.1-1988.  This option
          is only needed if you like to use a POSIX.1-1988  based
          archive  format  that  does not include extensions.  If
          you use the xstar format, star  will  use  a  base  256
          extension  that  allows  bigger  major/minor numbers by
          default, if you use the xustar or  the  exustar  format
          there  is  no  limitation  at  all as these formats use
          POSIX.1-2001   extended   headers   to   archive    the
          major/minor numbers by default.

     -i   Ignore checksum errors on tar headers.  If this  option
          is specified, star will not exit if a header with a bad
          checksum is found but search for the next valid header.

     -j   run the input or output through  a  bzip2  pipe  -  see
          option  -z  -Z and -bz below.  As the -bz the -j the -Z
          and the -z option are non standard, it makes  sense  to
          omit  the  -bz  the  -j  the -Z and the -z inside shell
          scripts if  you  are  going  to  extract  a  compressed
          archive  that  is  located  inside a plain file as star
          will auto  detect  compression  and  choose  the  right
          decompression option to extract.

     -keep_old_files
          obsoleted by -keep-old-files

     -keep-old-files, -k
          Keep existing files rather  than  restoring  them  from
          tarfile.  This saves files from being clobbered even if
          tarfile  contains  a  more  recent   version   of   the
          corresponding file.

          See SECURITY NOTES for more information.

     -L, -h
          Follow symbolic links as if they were files.   Normally
          star  will  not  follow symbolic links but stores their
          values in tarfile. See also the -h option.

     -l   Do not print a warning message if not all links to hard
          linked  files could be dumped. This option is evaluated
          in the opposite way to historic tar(1)  implementations
          and  to  POSIX.1.   POSIX.1 requests that by default no
          warning messages will be printed  and  -l  will  enable
          warning messages when not all links could be archived.

     level=dumplevel
          Set level for incremental dumps.  This option  is  used
          to switch star into true incremental dump mode.

          In true incremental dump mode, a  -C  option  which  is
          followed  by  the name a mount point and a dot ('.') as
          starting directory name is required. Only a single file
          system may be handled at a time.

          By default, the tardumps database is not written.   See
          also the tardumps=name and -wtardumps options.

     -link-dirs
          When in create mode, try to  find  hard  linked  direc-
          tories.  Using -link-dirs will force star to keep track
          of all directories that will go into  the  archive  and
          thus  causes  a lot more memory to be allocated than in
          the default case.

          If you like to extract a  cpio  archive  that  contains
          hard  linked  directories,  you  also  need  to specify
          -link-dirs in extract or diff  mode.   This  is  needed
          because many cpio implementations create buggy archives
          with respect to hard links.  If  star  would  look  for
          hard  linked  directories in all cases, it would detect
          many pseudo hard links to directories.  Use  -link-dirs
          with care if you extract cpio archives.

          Note that not all filesystem allow to create hard links
          to  directories.  Also note that even though a non-root
          user is able detect  and  archive  hard  linked  direc-
          tories, all known operating systems require the extrac-
          tion to be done as root in order to be able  to  create
          or  remove  hard links to directories.  For this reason
          its only recommended to  use  this  option  when  doing
          accurate backups and when hard links to directories are
          expected.

          When the option -link-dirs is not used and  hard  links
          to directories are present, the appendant sub-tree will
          appear more than once on  the  archive  and  star  will
          print  Linkcount  below zero warnings for non directory
          hard links inside the sub-tree.

     list=filename
          Read  filenames  for  store/create/list  command   from
          filename.  The  file  filename  must  contain a list of
          filenames,  each  on  a  separate  line.   This  option
          implies the -D option.  To force star to descend direc-
          tories, use the -dodesc option in this case.

     -lowmem
          Try to run  with  reduced  memory  requirements.   This
          causes star to default to 1 MB of FIFO memory.  Instead
          of allocating memory to hold the directory content  and
          reading the directory at once, star reads the directory
          name by name. This may cause star to close  the  direc-
          tory if it rans out of file descriptors because of dee-
          ply nested directories. If a directory  then  does  not
          support telldir(3)/seekdir(3), star will fail.

     -M   Do not descend mount points.  This is useful when doing
          backups  of  complete  filesystems.  See NOTES for more
          information.

     -m   Do not restore access and  modification  time.  (Access
          time  is only available if star is reading star, xstar,
          xustar, exustar, or pax  archives).  If  star  extracts
          other  archive  types,  the  -m flag only refers to the
          modification time.


     maxsize=#
          Do not store files in tarfile if they are  bigger  than
          #.   See  bs= for the possible syntax.  By default, the
          number is multiplied by 1024, so the  value  counts  in
          units  of  kBytes.   If  the size specifier ends with a
          valid multiplication character (e.g '.'  for  bytes  or
          'M' for MB) the specified size is used as specified and
          not multiplied by 1024.  See bs= option for all  possi-
          ble multipliers.

     -meta
          In create mode, -meta causes star to archive  all  meta
          data  of  the file (e.g. uid, permissions, ...) but not
          the file content. In extract mode, it  causes  star  to
          restore  all  meta  data  but  not the file content. In
          addition, in extract mode no plain file,  special  file
          or directory will be created.  Meta files are needed to
          support incremental backups.

          Warning: Do not try to extract star archives containing
          meta  files using other tar implementations if they are
          not aware of the meta file extensions  of  star.   Star
          tries  to  force  all  tar implementations that are not
          standard compliant to abort.  Star also tries  to  make
          all  non  POSIX.1-2001  compliant  tar  implementations
          unable to find a valid  filename.  However  when  other
          POSIX.1-2001  aware  tar  implementations  come  up and
          don't know about meta files, they will destroy files on
          disk.

          The problems result from the only current  fallback  in
          the  POSIX  standard  that tells tar implementations to
          treat all unknown file types  as  if  they  were  plain
          files.  As  meta files are needed for incremental back-
          ups, I am looking for people and companies who like  to
          support  me  to be able to add the meta file concept to
          the POSIX.1-2005 standard.

     -modebits
          This options allows you to  create  tar  archives  that
          include  more  than  12  bits  from  st_mode. Note this
          create tar archives that violate  POSIX  but  some  tar
          implementations  insist  in  reading  such  nonstandard
          archives.

     -multivol
          Switch to multi volume mode.   In  multi  volume  mode,
          there  will be no logical EOF marker written to the end
          of a single tape. If -multivol is used in read mode,  a
          hard  EOF  on  input (if not preceded by a logical EOF)
          triggers a medium change operation.

          Specifying -multivol tells star to split  files  across
          volumes  if  needed.   This  way,  a virtual archive is
          created that spans more than one medium.  Multi  volume
          mode is needed whenever it is not possible to split the
          archiving or extracting into several logically indepen-
          dent   tasks.   This   is  true  for  e.g.  incremental
          dump/restore operations where inode numbers need to  be
          traced for the whole task.

          When tsize=# has been specified, but  star  is  not  in
          multi   volume  mode,  files  cannot  be  split  across
          volumes.

          When  -multivol  has  been  specified  in  create  mode
          together  with tsize=# then a media change is initiated
          exactly after an amount of tsize data has been written.
          When  -multivol  has  been specified in create mode and
          tsize=# has not been specified, then the medium  change
          is  triggered  by  a  EOT  condition  from  writing the
          medium. This allows to use media where the size  cannot
          be  known in advance (e.g. tapes with build in compres-
          sion); it does not work if the  EOT  condition  is  not
          returned  in sync with the related write operation. For
          this reason, it is expected that data buffering  inside
          a device driver cannot be used.

          Depending on the selected archive format, star writes a
          volume  header  at  the beginning of a new medium. This
          medium header allows to verify the correct volume after
          a  change  during  read back.  It is recommended to use
          the exustar format for best results.  In  create  mode,
          -multivol  is  only  supported  for archives types that
          allow to write reliable multi  volume  header  informa-
          tion.

          See tsize=# option for more information.

     newer=filename
          Do not store files to  tarfile  if  their  modification
          time  is  not  newer  than  the  modification  time  of
          filename. See -ctime option for changing this behavior.

     -newest
          In conjunction with the list  command  this  lists  you
          only the newest file in tarfile.

     -newest_file
          obsoleted by -newest-file

     -newest-file
          In conjunction with the list  command  this  lists  you
          only the newest regular file in tarfile.

     new-volume-script=script
          Call script at end of each  tape  if  in  multi  volume
          mode.   If  this option is not in effect, star will ask
          the user to confirm the volume change.  The  script  is
          called with two parameters.  The first parameter is the
          next volume number and the second parameter is the next
          archive file name.

     -nodump
          If this option is set, star will not  dump  files  that
          have the nodump flag set. Note that this currently only
          works on BSD-4.4 derivates and  on  Linux.   On  Linux,
          using  this option will cause a performance degradation
          (the system time  increases  by  10%)  because  of  the
          unlucky kernel interface.

     -no-dirslash
          Do not add a slash to the end  of  directory  names  if
          writing  to  an  archive.  Historic tar archive formats
          did only allow to specify plain files and  hard  links.
          Around 1980, BSD added a feature to specify a directory
          on tape by adding a slash  to  the  end  of  the  name.
          POSIX.1-1988  defined  the  first  official tar archive
          format that had a clean method to specify the type of a
          directory.  As old tar formats need the slash to recog-
          nize a directory,  -no-dirslash  may  not  be  used  if
          archives should be compatible with the old tar format.

     -no_fifo
          obsoleted by -no-fifo

     -no-fifo
          Don't use a fifo to optimize data flow from/to tarfile.
          Currently  the  -fifo  option is used as default. (This
          may be changed at compile time.)

     -no-fsync
          Do not call  fsync(2)  for  each  file  that  has  been
          extracted  from  the archive. Using -no-fsync may speed
          up extraction on operating systems with slow  file  I/O
          (such  as  Linux),  but includes the risk that star may
          not be able to detect extraction  problems  that  occur
          after  the  call to close(2).  A typical cause for such
          problems is a NFS file system that fills up before  the
          buffer  cache  is  synced  or a write error that occurs
          while the buffer cache is synced.  There may  be  other
          reasons.  Use with extreme care.

     -nochown, -o
          Do not restore owner and group of files.  This  may  be
          used  if  super user privileges are needed to overwrite
          existing files but the local ownership of the  existing
          files should not change.

     -no_statistics
          obsoleted by -no-statistics

     -no-statistics
          Do not print statistic messages at the end  of  a  star
          run.

     -no-xheader
          Do not create or extract POSIX.1-2001 extended headers.
          This  option may be used if you like to read an archive
          with broken extended headers.

     -not, -V
          Invert the meaning of the pattern list. i.e. use  those
          files which do not match any of the pattern.  Note that
          this option only applies to  patterns  that  have  been
          specified   via   the  pattern=pattern  or  pat=pattern
          option. Patterns specified as file type arguments  will
          not be affected.

     -notarg, -pax-c
          Match all file or archive members except  those  speci-
          fied by the pattern or file operands.

     -nowarn
          Do not print warning messages.  This sometimes is  use-
          ful  to  make  the output more readable (e.g. when hun-
          dreds of files that are going to be extracted  are  not
          newer in the archive then on the filesystem).

     -numeric
          Use the numeric user/group fields in the listing rather
          than the default.  The default allows to list the ASCII
          version of user/group of the file and  to  extract  the
          owners of the files based on numeric values rather than
          the names.  In create mode, no  user/groups  names  are
          put  on  the archive.  The -numeric option also applies
          when ACLs are going to be archived or extracted.

     -O   Be compatible to old  versions  of  tar.   If  star  is
          invoked with this option, star generates archives which
          are fully compatible with old UNIX tar archives. If  in
          extract  mode,  star ignores any additional info in the
          headers.  This implies neither that archives  generated
          with  this  option  are binary equal with archives gen-
          erated by old tar versions nor that star is  trying  to
          comprehend all bugs that are found in old tar versions.
          The bug in old tar versions that cause a reversal of  a
          space  and  a  NULL  byte  in the checksum field is not
          repeated. If you want to have signed checksums you have
          to specify the -singed-checksum option too. If you want
          directories not to be archived in order to be  compati-
          ble  to  very  old  historic  tar archives, you need to
          specify the -d option too.

          This option is superseeded by the H=headertype option.

     -o, -nochown
          Do not restore owner and group of files.  This  may  be
          used  if  super user privileges are needed to overwrite
          existing files but the local ownership of the  existing
          files should not change.

     -onull, -nullout
          Do not actually write to the archive  but  compute  and
          add  the  sizes.   This is useful when trying to figure
          out if a tape may hold the current backup.  Please only
          use the -onull option as it is a similar option as used
          by the sdd(1) command.

     -P   Allow star to  write  a  partial  record  as  the  last
          record. Normally, star writes each record with the same
          size.  This option is useful on  unblocked  tapes  i.e.
          cartridge tapes like QIC tapes as well as with archives
          that are located in files.  If you use this  option  on
          local  files,  the size of the archive will be smaller.
          If you use this option on  cartridge  tapes,  is  makes
          sure  that  later - in extract mode - star will read up
          to the end of file marker on the tape and the next call
          to  star  will  read  from the next archive on the same
          tape.

     -p   Restore filemodes of directories. Without  this  option
          directories are created using the present umask(2).  If
          the archive contains Access  Control  Lists  (ACLs)  in
          POSIX.1-2001  extended  headers,  star will restore the
          access control lists from the archive for files if  the
          -acl  option  is specified.  If the option -acl has not
          been specified, ACLs are not restored at all.

     pattern=pattern, pat=pattern
          Set matching pattern  to  pattern.  A  maximum  of  100
          pattern=pat  options  may be specified. As each pattern
          is unlimited in length, this is no real limitation.  If
          more  than  one pattern is specified, a file matches if
          any of the specified pattern matches.  Patterns may  be
          used in create mode to select or exclude files from the
          list of file type arguments or the files located  in  a
          sub tree of a file type argument directory.  In extract
          or list mode, all file type arguments  are  interpreted
          to  be  select pattern and all option type patterns may
          be either select or exclude patterns depending  on  the
          presence  or  absence  of  the -not option.  If you use
          file type select patterns, they work exactly  like  the
          method  used by other (non pattern aware) tar(1) imple-
          mentations.  File type select  patterns  do  not  offer
          pattern  matching  but  allow  to restore subtrees.  To
          extract a complete sub tree from the directory dir with
          star  using the pattern= option, use pattern= dir/\* if
          you like to select a  subtree  by  using  the  historic
          method,  use  dir/  as  file type argument.  See manual
          page for match(1)  for  more  details  of  the  pattern
          matcher.    All  patterns  are  selection  patterns  by
          default. To make them exclude patterns, use the -not or
          the -V option.

     -pax-c, -notarg
          Match  all  file  or  archive  members   except   those
          specified by the pattern or file operands.

     -pax-H
          Follow symbolic links that have been encountered on the
          command  line.   If the referenced file does not exist,
          the file information and type  will  be  for  the  link
          itself.   If  the  link is referencing a file type that
          cannot be archived with the current archive format, the
          file information and type will be for the link itself.

     -pax-i
          Do interactive renaming in a way that has been  defined
          for  POSIX  pax.  Star will print the original filename
          and prompt for a reply.  If you type just RETURN,  than
          the  file is skipped.  If you type '.', then the origi-
          nal file name is retained.  If you type anything  else,
          then this is taken as the new file name.

     -pax-L
          Follow symbolic links.  If the referenced file does not
          exist,  the  file  information and type will be for the
          link itself.  If the link is referencing  a  file  type
          that  cannot  be archived with the current archive for-
          mat, the file information and type will be for the link
          itself.

     -pax-ls
          Switch listing format to the format defined  for  POSIX
          pax and ls.

     -pax-match
          Allow file type arguments to be recognised  as  regular
          expressions  in  a  way that has been defined for POSIX
          pax.

     -pax-n
          Allow each pattern to match only once.   If  a  pattern
          matches  a  directors,  then the whole sub tree matches
          the pattern.

     -pax-p string
          PAX style privileges string.  Several characters  (each
          has  it's  own  meaning).  The following characters are
          defined:

          a    Do not preserve file access times.  This option is
               currently ignored.

          e    Preserve the user ID, group ID,  file  mode  bits.
               This   is  equivalent  to  calling  star  -p  -acl
               -xfflags.

          m    Do not preserve file modification times.  This  is
               currently equivalent to calling star -m.

          o    Preserve the user ID and group ID.   This  is  the
               default for star if called as root.

          p    Preserve the file mode bits.  This  is  equivalent
               to calling star -p.

     -qic24
          Set tape volume size  to  61440  kBytes.   See  tsize=#
          option for more information.

     -qic120
          Set tape volume size to  128000  kBytes.   See  tsize=#
          option for more information.

     -qic150
          Set tape volume size to  153600  kBytes.   See  tsize=#
          option for more information.

     -qic250
          Set tape volume size to  256000  kBytes.   See  tsize=#
          option for more information.

     -qic525
          Set tape volume size to  512500  kBytes.   See  tsize=#
          option for more information.

     -refresh_old_files
          obsoleted by -refresh-old-files

     -refresh-old-files

     -refresh
          Do not create new files. Only  already  existing  files
          may  be  overwritten  from tarfile if either newer ver-
          sions are present in the archive or if the -U  flag  is
          used.  This  allows  to  overwrite files by more recent
          files from an archive that contains more files than the
          target    directory   should   contain.    The   option
          -refresh-old-files is the same as the -refresh option.

     -remove_first
          obsoleted by -remove-first

     -remove-first
          Remove files before extraction.  If this option  is  in
          effect, star will remove files before extracting a file
          from the archive.  This is needed if you want to change
          the  file type or if you need to break a hard link.  If
          you do not  use  either  -ask-remove  or  -force-remove
          together with -remove-first, this option is useless and
          no files will be removed.

     -remove_recursive
          obsoleted by -remove-recursive

     -remove-recursive
          Remove files recursive.  If removing of a file is  per-
          mitted, star will only remove files, specials and empty
          directories.  If this option is in effect, star will be
          allowed  to  recursively  removes non empty directories
          too.

     -restore
          switches star into true  incremental  retore  mode.   A
          file  named  star-symtable  and a directory named star-
          tmpdir is created in the root  directory  of  the  file
          system  where  the  extraction takes place.  See level=
          option for more information.

     -S   Do not store/create special files.  A special files  is
          any  file except plain files, symbolic links and direc-
          tories.  You need to be super user to  extract  special
          files.

     -s replstr
          Modify file or archive member names named by a  pattern
          according  to the substitution expression replstr.  The
          format of replstr is:

               -s /old/new/[gp]

          The old pattern may use regular expressions and the new
          string may contain the special character '&'. The char-
          acter '&' is substituted by the string that matches the
          old  pattern.   The  optional trailing 'g' means global
          substitution. If 'g' is not used, a  substitution  pat-
          tern  is  only  used  once  on a name.  If the optional
          trailing 'p' is used, the substitution  is  printed  to
          standard error.

          Up to 100 substitute options may be used. If more  than
          one  substitute  option  has  been specified, star will
          loop over all substitute patterns until one matches.

          If the name substitutes to the empty string,  the  file
          is skipped.

     -secure-links
          Do not extract hard links or symbolic links if the link
          name  (the  target of the link) starts with a slash (/)
          or if /../ is contained in the link name.  Tar archives
          containing  such  links could be used to compromise the
          system. If they are unpacked together  with  a  lot  of
          other files, this may not even be noticed.

          As the usability of a tar archiver would be limited  if
          -secure-links  checking  would be done by default, star
          makes link checking optional.

          If you unpacked a tar archive using  the  -secure-links
          and  did  not  get a security warning at the end of the
          star run, all files and links have been extracted.   If
          you  get  a  warning,  you  should unpack the archive a
          second time and specify the options -k, -w and  -nowarn
          in addition to the options used for the first run.  See
          SECURITY NOTES for more information.

     -shm Use System V shared memory for fifo. Normally  star  is
          compiled to use mapped /dev/zero pages for the fifo, if
          the operating system supports this.  If  star  is  com-
          piled to have both code for mapped pages and for System
          V shared memory, star will use shared memory instead of
          the  default.   If the -help menu doesn't show the -shm
          flag you have no choice.  When using  System  V  shared
          memory,  you  may  have  to raise the system's internal
          limit for shared memory resources to get enough  shared
          memory for star.

     -signed_checksum
          obsoleted by -signed-checksum

     -signed-checksum
          Use signed chars to calculate checksums. This  violates
          the  tar specs but old versions of tar derived from the
          seventh edition of UNIX are implemented  in  this  way.
          Note:  Only  filenames  and  linknames containing chars
          with the most significant  bit  set  may  trigger  this
          problem  because  all  other  fields only contain 7 bit
          ASCII characters, octal digits or binary zeroes.

     -silent
          Suppress informational messages like foobar is sparse.

     -sparse
          Handle files with holes  effectively  on  store/create.
          Note  that sparse files may not be archived this way if
          the archive format is tar, ustar, pax, or  suntar.   On
          Solaris-2.3   ...  Solaris-2.5.1  there  is  a  special
          ioctl() called _FIOAI that allows root to get the allo-
          cation  info more efficiently.  Other operating systems
          lack support to get the real allocation list and  force
          star  to  scan  the  files to look for blocks that only
          contain null characters.  This may star to assume  more
          holes  to  be  present  than  the  number that the file
          really contains.

     -symlinks
          This option tells star in extract mode to try to create
          a  symlink  whenever  a  hardlink is encountered in the
          archive.

     -T   If the option file= or f= is omitted and the -T  option
          is  present,  star will use the device indicated by the
          TAPE environment variable, if set.

     tardumps=name
          Set the file name for tar dump dates database to  name.
          The  default name is /etc/tardumps.  Use in combination
          with the  level=  option  to  create  true  incremental
          dumps.  See also -wtardumps option.

     -time
          Print timing info.  See DIAGNOSTICS for  more  informa-
          tion.

     -to_stdout
          obsoleted by -to-stdout

     -to-stdout
          Extract files to stdout. This option  may  be  used  to
          extract  tarfiles  containing  tarfiles  (see  examples
          below).

     -tpath
          Use this option together with the -t option or with -cv
          (verbose create) to get only a list of the pathnames of
          the files in the archive.  This may be  used  in  shell
          scripts to generate a name list.  If used together with
          the -diff option, star will only print the names of the
          files  that  differ.   A second run of star may then be
          used to restore all files that had differences  to  the
          archive.   Use the list= option to specify the namelist
          in this case.

     tsize=#
          Set tape volume size to # to enable multi  volume  tape
          support.  See bs= for the possible syntax.  By default,
          the number is multiplied by 512, so the value counts in
          units  of  512 byte blocks.  If the size specifier ends
          with a valid  multiplication  character  (e.g  '.'  for
          bytes  or  'M'  for  MB)  the specified size is used as
          specified and not multiplied by 512.  With this  option
          in effect, star is able to archive filesystems that are
          bigger then the  tape  size.   If  the  option  tsize=#
          without  -multivol  then  no  file will be split across
          volumes and each volume may  in  theory  be  read  back
          separately.  Files that do not fit on a single tape may
          not be stored in this  mode.   If  -multivol  has  been
          specified  in  addition, star will split files when the
          maximum allowed tape size has  been  reached.   If  the
          tape  volume  size  is not a multiple of the tape block
          size, the tape volume size is silently rounded down  to
          a value that is a multiple of the tape block size.

          See -multivol option for more information.

     -U   Restore files unconditionally.  By  default,  an  older
          file  from the archive will not replace a corresponding
          newer file on disk.

     -v   Increment verbose level by one.  This normally  results
          in  more  output  during  operation.   See  also in the
          description for the -t flag.  Normally, star  does  its
          work  silently.   If the verbose level is 2 or more and
          star is in create or update mode, star will  produce  a
          listing to the format of the ls -l output.

     -V, -not
          Invert the meaning of the pattern list. i.e. use  those
          files which do not match any of the pattern.  Note that
          this option only applies to  patterns  that  have  been
          specified   via   the  pattern=pattern  or  pat=pattern
          option. Patterns specified as file type arguments  will
          not be affected.

     -version
          Print version information and exit.

     VOLHDR=name
          Use name to generate a volume header.

     -w   Do interactive creation, extraction  or  renaming.  For
          every  file  that matches the list of patterns and that
          has a more recent modification time in the tar  archive
          (if in extract mode and the -U option is not specified)
          star prints its name and asks:

               get/put ? Y(es)/N(o)/C(hange name) :

          You may answer either `N' for No or  <Return>  to  skip
          this  file.  If you answer `Y' the file is extracted or
          archived on tape with its original name.  If you answer
          `C', you are prompted for a new name. This name is used
          for the filename on disk if star is in extract mode  or
          for the archive name if star is in create mode.

     See SECURITY NOTES for more information.
     -wready
          This option tells Star to wait up to  two  minutes  for
          the drive to become ready.  It has been added as a hack
          for a bug in the SunOS/Solaris st device  driver.  This
          driver has problems to sense the loading time with Exa-
          byte drives with factory settings.  It also makes sense
          to  use -wready if multiple remote backups are made. In
          this case, the remote connection is  closed  while  the
          remote  tape  server  is still writing a file mark.  If
          another remote  backup  is  initiated  before  the  old
          remote  server  did  finish  to write the file mark, it
          would be impossible to  open  the  tape  driver  unless
          -wready is specified to tell star to wait for the drive
          to become ready again.

     -wtardumps
          Tell star to update the file that contains the tar dump
          dates   data   base   if   in   dump  mode.   See  also
          tardumps=name option.

     -xattr

     -xattr-linux
          Store and extract extended file attributes as found  on
          Linux  systems.   This  option  only  makes  sense when
          creating or extracting exustar archives as it is  based
          on POSIX.1-2001 extended tar headers.

          The method used in the current implementation could  be
          used to store and extract extended file attributes from
          BSD too.  Note that the current implementation  is  not
          generic  enough  to  cover  more  general extended file
          attribute implementations as found on Solaris.  If star
          starts  to implement a method that covers extended file
          attributes on Solaris, the new method will be used then
          -xattr  has  been specified and -xattr-linux will refer
          to the old method.  The method used  with  -xattr-linux
          may go away in the future.

     xdebug=#, xd=#
          Set extended debug level to #.

     -xdir
          Extract directories even if  the  corresponding  direc-
          tories  on  the  archive are not newer.  This is useful
          when for some  reason,  the  directories  are  recorded
          after  their content (see -dirmode option), or when the
          permissions of some directories  must  be  set  in  any
          case.

     -xdot
          Unconditionally extract  the  first  directory  in  the
          archive  if the name of this directory is either '.' or
          './'.  This helps to extract archives  in  an  expected
          way  if  the  target directory is a newly created empty
          directory. As this directory  is  newer  than  the  top
          level directory in the archive, star would usually skip
          this directory during extraction.  The effect  of  this
          directory  is  as  if  -xdir  has been specified but is
          switched off after the first directory has been found.

     -xfflags
          Store and extract extended file flags as found  on  BSD
          and  Linux  systems.  This option only makes sense when
          creating or extracting exustar archives as it is  based
          on POSIX.1-2001 extended tar headers.

     -Z   run the input or output through a compress pipe  -  see
          option -z below.

     -z   run the input or output through a gzip pipe.   This  is
          currently  a  quick  and  dirty  hack, that mainly will
          cover the most common usage to compress the tar  output
          if  it  is a file.  No reblocking will be done, so this
          option will currently only make sense on  plain  files.
          The  environment  variable As the -bz the -j the -Z and
          the -z option are non standard, it makes sense to  omit
          the  -bz  the -j the -Z and the -z inside shell scripts
          if you are going to extract a compressed  archive  that
          is located inside a plain file as star will auto detect
          compression and choose the right  decompression  option
          to  extract.  STAR_COMPRESS_FLAG may be used to specify
          one option for  gzip.   If  you  want  to  write  write
          compressed archives to tape, you should use
          star  -c  .  |  gzip  |  sdd   ibs=4k   obs=32k   -fill
          of=/dev/rmt/1bn
          or
          star -c . | gzip | sdd ibs=4k obs=32k -fill  ovsize=60m
          of=/dev/rmt/1bn
          if the tape can hold 60 MB.



SIGNALS

     If star handles a signal, it first  prints  the  statistics.
     Star handles the following signals:

     SIGINT    usually generated by ^C from the controlling  tty.
               Upon  receipt  of a SIGINT, star prints statistics
               and exits. If in create mode i.e. storing files to
               archive,  star  finishes  with the current file to
               ensure that no partial  file  is  written  to  the
               archive, write an eof record and then exits.

     SIGHUP    not to be generated from a tty.  The  actions  are
               the same as upon receipt of a SIGINT.

     SIGQUIT   usually generated by ^\ from the controlling  tty.
               Upon  receipt of a SIGQUIT, star prints statistics
               and continues with the current operation. This  is
               useful to watch the progress of the current opera-
               tion.



EXAMPLES

     To get a listing in a way similar to ls -l one might use:

          example% star -tv f=/dev/rmt/1bn

     The same command as listed above in a POSIX tar command line
     syntax compliant way is:

          example% star tvf /dev/rmt/1mbn

     To copy the directory tree in /home/someuser to  the  direc-
     tory /home/fs use:


          example% (cd /home/someuser; star -c .) | (cd /home/fs ; star -xp)

     or by using the change directory option of star:


          example% star -c -C /home/someuser . | star -xp -C /home/fs

     To copy a  file  tree  including  the  Access  Control  List
     entries for all files use:


          example% star -c -Hexustar -acl -C /home/someuser . | star -xp -acl -C /home/fs

     To compare the content of a tape to the filesystem one might
     use:

          example% star -diff -v f=/dev/rmt/1bn

     To compare two directory trees one might use:


          example% star -c . | star -C todir -diff -v diffopts=!times

     To compare all properties of two file trees, use:


          example% star -c -dump -C fromdir . | star -C todir -diff -vv


     To extract a backup of  the  /usr  tree  without  all  files
     residing below /usr/openwin one might use:

          example% star -xp -V pat=openwin/\* f=/dev/rmt/1bn

     To extract all .c files to src, all .o files to obj and  all
     other files to /tmp one might use:


          example% star -xp -C src '*.c' -C obj '*.o' -C /tmp '*' f=/dev/rmt/1bn

     To extract files from a zipped tar archive that  is  located
     on a read only filesystem e.g. a CD while having the shell's
     working directory on the CD one might use:

          example% star -zxp -C /tmp f=star-1.1.tar.gz

     to extract the files from the tar archive to the /tmp direc-
     tory.

     To backup a list of files generated by the find(1) command:


          example% find . find_options -print | star -c list=- f=/dev/rmt/1bn

     Note that this does not work if the file names  from  output
     of the find command include new line characters.

     To extract a tarfile that contains a tarfile one might use:


          example% star -x -to-stdout f=/dev/rmt/1bn pat=pat | star -xp

     Pat, in this case should match the tarfile in the tarfile on
     tape that should be extracted.

     To make a backup of the root filesystem to a tape drive con-
     nected to a remote machine, one might use:

          example# cd /
          example# star -cM fs=128m bs=63k f=tape@remotehost:/dev/rmt/1bn .

     You need a line in /etc/passwd like the following to  enable
     this:

          tape:NP:60001:60001:Tape:/etc/tapehome:/opt/schily/sbin/rmt

     And  a .rhosts file in /etc/tapehome to allow remote connec-
     tions from the appropriate hosts.  Make sure that  the  file
     /etc/default/rmt  exists  and  allows  remote  access to the
     requested tape drive.

     To use a ssh(1) connection for a backup  to  a  remote  tape
     server, one might use:

          example# env RSH=/usr/bin/ssh star -cM  fs=128m  bs=63k
          f=tape@remotehost:/dev/rmt/1bn .


     To repair a corrupted filesystem for which no recent  backup
     exists, do the following:

          example# fsck -y /filesys
          example# mount /filesys
          example# cd /filesys
          example# star -xpk f=/dev/rmt/1bn
          example# mt -f /dev/rmt/1bn rewind
          example# star -diff -v diffopts=!times f=/dev/rmt/1bn

     Now check the differences  and  decide  whether  to  restore
     additional files. This may be done by generating a list con-
     taining the needed filenames and using the list=  option  or
     by using the interactive mode (see -w option).

     If you want a list that only  contains  all  filenames  from
     files with differences you may use:

          example#    star    -diff    -tpath     diffopts=!times
          f=/dev/rmt/1bn

     If you are looking for files that changed the  type  or  the
     access  permission  because  this  is a common case on still
     corrupted files, use:

          example#   star   -diff    -tpath    diffopts=type,perm
          f=/dev/rmt/1bn



ENVIRONMENT

     STAR_COMPRESS_FLAG
          If you like star to always create compressed files that
          use  maximum  compression,  you may set the environment
          variable STAR_COMPRESS_FLAG to -9.

     STAR_FIFOSIZE
          If you like to by default let star use a different fifo
          size,  set  this  environment  variable  to the desired
          size.

     TAPE Unlike other tar(1) implementations, star  defaults  to
          use  stdin/stdout for the archive.  If you like star to
          use the file name from the  TAPE  environment  instead,
          you need to specify the -T option too.

     RSH  If the RSH environment is present, the  remote  connec-
          tion will not be created via rcmd(3) but by calling the
          program pointed to by RSH.  Use  e.g.  RSH=/usr/bin/ssh
          to create a secure shell connection.

          Note that this forces star to  create  a  pipe  to  the
          rsh(1)  program  and  disallows star to directly access
          the network socket to the remote server.  This makes it
          impossible  to  set up performance parameters and slows
          down  the  connection  compared  to  a  root  initiated
          rcmd(3) connection.

          See BUGS section for more information.

     RMT  If the RMT environment  is  present,  the  remote  tape
          server will not be the program /etc/rmt but the program
          pointed to by RMT.  Note that the  remote  tape  server
          program  name  will  be  ignored if you log in using an
          account that has been created with a remote tape server
          program as login shell.


FILES

     /etc/default/star
          Default values can be set for the following options  in
          /etc/default/star.  For example:  CDR_FIFOSIZE=64m

          STAR_FIFOSIZE
               Sets the default size of the FIFO (see  also  fs=#
               option).

          STAR_FIFOSIZE_MAX
               Sets the maximum size of the FIFO (see  also  fs=#
               option).      Setting     STAR_FIFOSIZE_MAX     in
               /etc/default/star  allows  to   overwrite   global
               values  from backup scripts for machines with less
               memory.

          archive0=

          archive2=

          archive3=

          archive4=

          archive5=

          archive6=

          archive7=

          archive0=
               Archive entries for the -[0..7] option.

               A correct archive?= line has 3..4 space  separated
               entries.   The  first  is  the  device entry (e.g.
               archive0=/dev/tape).  The second is  the  blocking
               factor  in  512 byte units.  The third is the max-
               imum media size in 1024 byte units.  If this entry
               contains  a  0,  then the media size is unlimited.
               The fourth entry is optional. It if contains a 'n'
               or a 'N', then the archive device is not a tape.

               Examples:

               archive0=/dev/tape 512 0 y
               archive1=/dev/fd0 1 1440 n
               archive2=/dev/rmt/0mbn 512 0

               If the default file does not  need  to  be  shared
               with  the tar program from Solaris, any number may
               be used like a generic size option like bs=.

               Example:

               archive0=/dev/tape 256k 40G y

     /etc/tardumps
          The default  name  for  the  dump  level  archive.  The
          default  name is used whenever the tardumps=name option
          has not been specified.  The file is written or updated
          when  -wtardumps  is  used.  The file holds one or more
          lines, each specifying a dump level entry.   Each  dump
          level  entry starts with a mount point name followed by
          a TAB and one or more spaces, followed by  the  decimal
          dump  level,  a space and the dump time.  The dump time
          itself includes the decimal representation of  the  UTC
          seconds  since  Jan  01  1970,  a space and the textual
          local time representation of the dump time.  The numer-
          ical decimal dump time representatin may be followed by
          a dot and a sub second value.  The textual  local  time
          representation  is for informational use by humans only
          and not evaluated by star.

     /dev/tty
          Is used for the intercative user interface.


SEE ALSO

     spax(1),  suntar(1),  scpio(1),  tar(1),  cpio(1),   pax(1),
     rcp(1),  mt(1),  rmt(1),  match(1),  dd(1),  sdd(1), rsh(1),
     ssh(1), star(4/5), rcmd(3), fssnap(1m)


DIAGNOSTICS

     star: f records + p bytes (total of x bytes = d.nnk).
     The number of full records, the number of bytes  in  partial
     records and the total amount of data in KBytes.

     star: Total time x.yyysec (z kBytes/sec)

     The time used and the transfer speed from/to the archive.

     If there have been non fatal errors during the archive  pro-
     cessing,  star  will  display a delayed error summary before
     exiting.



NOTES

     The command line syntax for the tar command (as  defined  in
     SUSv2  -  UNIX-98)  deviates  from  the  command line syntax
     defined for all other commands. While the POSIX command line
     syntax  requests  all  options  to start with a dash (-) and
     allows to either write options separately  or  combined  (in
     case of boolean flags), the tar command line syntax requires
     all options to be combined into a single  string  that  does
     not  start  with  a dash.  Star by default assumes a command
     line syntax like a typical POSIX command and includes a com-
     patibility mode that allows to specify a command line syntax
     as documented for the UNIX-98 tar command.  If  you  believe
     that  you  found  a  bug  in the way star parses the command
     line, please first check your command line  for  correctness
     before you make a bug report for star.

     If you like to write portable shell scripts that  call  tar,
     use  the  UNIX-98  tar  command  line  syntax (i.e. a single
     option string and no dash), choose the commands and  options
     from  the  following set of characters ( rxtuc vxfblmo ) and
     check the shell script with both, your local  tar  and  star
     for  correct behavior. It you expect the script to call gnu-
     tar, do not include the -o option as gnutar implements  this
     option in a way that violates UNIX-98.

     Star strips leading ./ sequences from pathnames.  This  lets
     star  in many cases store longer pathnames than other imple-
     mentations.

     The POSIX.1-1988 method (ustar format) of storing files with
     pathnames  that  are  longer than 100 chars has some limita-
     tions:

          The name field (100 chars) an inserted slash (`/')  and
          the  prefix  field  (155 chars) produce the pathname of
          the file. When recreating the original  filename,  name
          and prefix are concatenated, using a slash character in
          the middle. If a pathname does not  fit  in  the  space
          provided  or  may  not be split at a slash character so
          that the parts will fit into 100 + 155 chars, the  file
          may  not  be  archived. Linknames longer than 100 chars
          may not be archived too.

     The star, xstar, xustar, exustar, pax,  and  gnutar  archive
     formats  don't  have  these limitations. While gnutar uses a
     method that makes it impossible for  other  tar  implementa-
     tions  (except  star)  to  restore filenames that are longer
     than 100 chars, the xstar, xustar, exustar and  pax  archive
     format  uses  a method that allows an POSIX.1-1988 compliant
     way of storing filenames, if the POSIX  method  would  allow
     this.   When  the  archive  format is xustar, exustar or pax
     very long filenames are stored using extended  headers  from
     the POSIX.1-2001 standard.

     Some  buggy  tar  implementations  will  generate  incorrect
     filenames during a restore operation if the archive contains
     pathnames or linknames of exactly 100 chars length.

     Star adds a tar signature in the last four bytes of each tar
     header  if  the archive format is star or xstar.  This is no
     problem with the star archive format as it is  an  extension
     of  the old pre POSIX.1-1988 tar format.  On the other side,
     the xstar archive format claims to be as  POSIX.1-1988  com-
     pliant  as possible. Inserting this tar signature is a minor
     deviation from the standard that has the last  12  bytes  of
     each  header reserved for future use. On the other side, tar
     implementations such as some pax implementations  that  only
     compute  checksums  on the first 500 bytes of the header are
     violating the standard that requests the checksum to be com-
     puted  on all 512 bytes of the tar header. All tar implemen-
     tations that are  100%  Posix  compliant  will  be  able  to
     extract xstar archives as long as no new standard is defined
     that claims the last 12 bytes of the header for a  different
     use.   But  then  the ustar version number should be changed
     from `00' to `01'.  Now, that the  POSIX-2001  standard  has
     been accepted, it is even predictable that all extensions to
     the standard  tar  format  will  go  into  the  POSIX.1-2001
     extended headers which are extensible to include any feature
     without future limitation.  The only known  tar  implementa-
     tion  that  also uses the last 12 bytes of the tar header is
     Sun's tar which uses these 12 bytes for files that are split
     over  several  archives.  Such archives created by Sun's tar
     are not readable by the buggy pax  implementation  too.  The
     Sun  extension  is  not  incompatible  to the star signature
     because Sun expects an octal number at the beginning of  the
     12 byte field which is a null character in the star case.

     Star uses these four bytes since 1985 without problems.   If
     you need a 100% POSIX.1-1988 and 100% POSIX.1-2001 compliant
     tar archive, you may use the  xustar,  exustar  or  the  pax
     archive  format.  The probability of falsely detecting other
     tar formats as xustar or exustar format however is higher.
     There is no way to ask for the n-th occurrence of a file.

     The way EOF is handled by star differs, whether the fifo  is
     in effect or not.  If the fifo is not used, star stops read-
     ing the archive if it encounters a logical EOF record in the
     archive.  If  the fifo is used, star may read until the fifo
     is full or until the real EOF mark on tape is reached.   How
     much data star actually reads depends on the star foreground
     process sends a fifo shutdown signal to the background  fifo
     read process.

     Gnu tar often creates tar archives  with  incorrect  logical
     EOF  marks.   The standard requires two blocks that are com-
     pletely zeroed, whereas gnutar often only adds one of them.

     Old versions of tar found on SYSVr3 and earlier cannot  read
     tar archives with a blocksize greater than 10 kBytes.

     The method of storing sparse files currently used  with  the
     star  and xstar format is not guaranteed to be used in later
     versions of star.  If the  author  decides  to  change  this
     method,  later  versions  of star may not be able to restore
     sparse files from tar archives made by the  current  version
     of star.

     Some tar implementations violate the standard in using  only
     the  first 500 Bytes of the header for checksum computation.
     These tar implementations will not  accept  star  and  xstar
     type tar archives.

     Sun's Solaris 2.x  tar  implementation  violates  the  Posix
     standard.  Tar archives generated by star cause Sun's tar to
     print tar: impossible file type  messages.  You  may  ignore
     these messages.

     Gnutar's dumpdirs are non standard  and  are  currently  not
     implemented.

     If gnutar archives sparse files with more than  four  holes,
     it produces archives that violate the standard in a way that
     prevents other tar implementations to read  these  archives.
     Star  knows  about  that  and is able to handle these gnutar
     archives.

     The filetype N (LF_NAMES) from gnutar (an obsolete method of
     storing long names) will never be implemented.


SECURITY NOTES

     If you unpack a tar archive in a non  empty  directory,  any
     file in that directory may be overwritten unless you specify
     the -k option.  If the archive contains  symbolic  links  or
     hard  links,  star  may  even  overwrite  files  outside the
     current directory.  As many other commands, star usually has
     all  possible  permissions  when  run  as  root.   Unpacking
     archives as root thus may have fatal results to any file  on
     your  system.   Be  very  careful when you try to extract an
     archive that has not been created by you. It is possible  to
     create hand crafted tar archives that may overwrite critical
     files (like /etc/passwd) on your system.   In  addition  all
     tar  archives  that  have been created with the list= option
     and tar archives where  the  C=  option  was  not  specified
     before all file type arguments may be critical.

     A good advise is to extract all  doubtful  archives  as  non
     root  in an empty directory and to specify the -secure-links
     option.  If you get a warning, you should unpack the archive
     a  second time and specify the options -k, -w and -nowarn in
     addition to the options used for the first run.


SUID NOTES

     If star is installed suid root, star is able to make connec-
     tions to remote archives for non root users. This is done by
     using the rcmd(3) interface to get a connection to a  rmt(1)
     server.

     Star resets its effective uid  back  to  the  real  user  id
     immediately  after  setting  up the remote connection to the
     rmt server and before opening any other file.

     If star has not been installed suid root and not  called  by
     root, it will try to create the remote connection via rsh(1)
     or ssh(1) (in case the environment RSH has been set to ssh).
     Note  that  in  this case, the throughput to the remote tape
     server will be much lower than with a  connection  that  has
     been initiated via rcmd(3).


LIMITATIONS

     If star is running on a large file aware platform,  star  is
     able  to handle files up to 8 GB in a mode that is compliant
     to the POSIX.1-1988 ustar format. With  a  nonstandard  star
     specific  extension,  up  to 95 bits may be used to code the
     filesize.  This will handle  files  up  to  200,000,000  TB.
     With  the new POSIX.1-2001 extended headers used by the xus-
     tar, exustar and pax format, any filesize may be archived.


BUGS

     The fact that the -f option has to be implemented in  a  way
     that  is  compatible  with  old  tar  implementations  gives
     several  problems.   The  options  -fifostats,  -force-hole,
     -force-remove and -fifo interfere with the -f option and the
     fact that they exist prevents  users  from  using  filenames
     like  e.g.  ifo using the traditional way where the filename
     directly follows the string -f without any space between the
     option name and the file name.  However, there is no problem
     to use a file named ifo by by calling -f ifo, f=ifo,  -f=ifo
     or  -f=  ifo.   Be  careful not to make typos with the above
     options. The result could be that a file  is  created  as  a
     result of the mistyped option.

     There is currently no way to set the fifo lowwater and high-
     water marks.

     There is currently no way to automatically delete  files  in
     the  target  file  tree  if  they are obsolete.  Star should
     implement something similar to gnutar's dumpdirs.

     If not invoked by the super user star may  not  be  able  to
     extract files if they reside in read only directories.

     Star is not able to make a complete backup of  a  filesystem
     if files are hidden by a mount that is in effect on a direc-
     tory of this filesystem.  This may be avoided in case of the
     ufs filesystem if the backup is made off a ufs snapshot (see
     the man page for fssnap(1m) It  could  be  avoided  for  any
     filesystem  if  the  loopback  filesystem had an option that
     tells lofs not to traverse mountpoints.

     For now (late 2002), we know that the following programs are
     broken and do not implement signal handling correctly:

     rsh  on SunOS-5.0...SunOS-5.9

     ssh  from ssh.com

     ssh  from openssh.org

     Sun already did  accept  a  bug  report  for  rsh(1)/ssh(1).
     Openssh.org  accepted  and fixed a bug for their implementa-
     tion of ssh(1).

     If you use star to create a remote connection via an unfixed
     rsh(1)  or  ssh(1), be prepared that terminal generated sig-
     nals may interrupt the remote connection.



HISTORY

     Star was first created in 1982 to extract tapes  on  a  UNIX
     clone  that  had  no  tar  command.  In 1985 the first fully
     functional version has been released as mtar.

     When the old star format extensions have been introduced  in
     1985,  it  was renamed to star (Schily tar).  In 1994, Posix
     1003.1-1988 extensions were added and star  was  renamed  to
     star (Standard tar).



AUTHOR

     Joerg Schilling
     Seestr. 110
     D-13353 Berlin
     Germany

     Mail bugs and suggestions to:

     schilling@fokus.fraunhofer.de   or   js@cs.tu-berlin.de   or
     joerg@schily.isdn.cs.tu-berlin.de


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