[SWLUG] Network backups

[Glenn Booth]

Hi,

On 10/09/06, David Goodwin <dof at codepoets.co.uk> wrote:

You may find tar to be simpler/easier in this instance e.g.
>
> sudo tar -zcf - /home | ssh user at remote_host "cat > backup.tar.gz"


I thought this was an interesting idea, and (with a couple of tweaks) it
works a
treat! It's learning stuff like this that makes me love Linux. However, it
raises
a couple of questions for me.

First, what on earth does the " - " mean in the tar command "tar -zcf -
/home..." (the
second hyphen). The tar 'info' and 'man' pages didn't show me anything, and
Googling for "tar -" isn't very productive.

Second (and this shows my lack of understanding) how would I restore a tar
file created this way? i.e. can it be used in reverse?

Incidentally, I lied about tar barfing on files over 8 gigs in size, though
it is
apparently true for older versions. I succesfully backed up part of my
server
to a 40+ GB tar file using a variation on the above command line. Thanks!


(The above could take place without a 'cat' I suspect).


If so, I can't think how :-)

Regards,

Glenn.
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