How to create backup with tarball -tar- command

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TAR is usually used to create archive of entires directory and after the tar process we usually compress it in a GZIP file, tar is considered as the easiest and simplest way to make a backup for files and folders in Linux.

1-How to create tar backup :

- Create a tar in zip format with the file named as todays date/time, as root (or use sudo before the command for ubuntu and debian):

tar czvf my_backup.$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).tgz /home/pirat9/Download

as you see i used czvf ,this mean :

“c” stands for create, “z” make tar archive in a GZIP compressed file,“v” verbose option , “f“filename (the name of our tarball)

- You can also create the backup using tar with a script like :

A simple shell script for the above:

#!/bin/bash
tar czvf $1.$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).tgz $1
exit $?

Save the script as ‘back’, use chmod to make it executable and then run it passing a single file or foldername:

chmod 700 backup

Now to create backup for the folder download type :

./back   Download

check if the backup has been created successefely.

[pirat9@localhost ~]$ ll
total 271212
drwxr-xr-x.  2 pirat9 pirat9      4096 2009-06-18 08:53 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x.  2 pirat9 pirat9      4096 2009-06-17 10:27 Documents
drwxr-xr-x. 23 pirat9 pirat9     12288 2009-06-18 08:57 Download
drwxrwxr-x. 19 pirat9 pirat9     12288 2009-06-12 08:28 hplip-3.9.4b
-rwxrwxr-x.  1 pirat9 pirat9  15721700 2009-06-12 07:19 hplip-3.9.4b.run
drwxr-xr-x.  2 pirat9 pirat9      4096 2009-06-11 01:23 Music
-rw-rw-r--.  1 pirat9 pirat9 261935395 2009-06-22 08:30 my_backup.20090622-083025.tgz
drwxr-xr-x.  2 pirat9 pirat9      4096 2009-06-11 01:23 Pictures
drwxr-xr-x.  2 pirat9 pirat9      4096 2009-06-11 01:23 Public
drwxr-xr-x.  2 pirat9 pirat9      4096 2009-06-11 01:23 Templates
drwxr-xr-x.  2 pirat9 pirat9      4096 2009-06-11 01:23 Videos
 

Important: Always keep your backup in another drive or in usb

2. How To Restore A Backup TAR file

To restore your backup, use the command :

  tar-zxvf   my_backup.20090622-083025.tgz

As you see above i used instead of c the “x” option means stands for extract.

(1) we will see later how to create a full system backup using the tarball command

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