CPIO(1) BSD General Commands Manual CPIO(1)
-NAME
- cpio — copy files to and from archives
+1mNAME0m
+ 1mcpio 22m— copy files to and from archives
-SYNOPSIS
- cpio -i [options] [pattern ...] [< archive]
- cpio -o [options] < name-list [> archive]
- cpio -p [options] dest-dir < name-list
+1mSYNOPSIS0m
+ 1mcpio -i 22m[4moptions24m] [4mpattern24m 4m...24m] [4m<24m 4marchive24m]
+ 1mcpio -o 22m[4moptions24m] 4m<24m 4mname-list24m [4m>24m 4marchive24m]
+ 1mcpio -p 22m[4moptions24m] 4mdest-dir24m 4m<24m 4mname-list0m
-DESCRIPTION
- cpio copies files between archives and directories. This implementation
+1mDESCRIPTION0m
+ 1mcpio 22mcopies files between archives and directories. This implementation
can extract from tar, pax, cpio, zip, jar, ar, and ISO 9660 cdrom images
and can create tar, pax, cpio, ar, and shar archives.
- The first option to cpio is a mode indicator from the following list:
- -i Input. Read an archive from standard input (unless overridden)
- and extract the contents to disk or (if the -t option is speci‐
+ The first option to 1mcpio 22mis a mode indicator from the following list:
+ 1m-i 22mInput. Read an archive from standard input (unless overridden)
+ and extract the contents to disk or (if the 1m-t 22moption is speci‐
fied) list the contents to standard output. If one or more file
patterns are specified, only files matching one of the patterns
will be extracted.
- -o Output. Read a list of filenames from standard input and produce
+ 1m-o 22mOutput. Read a list of filenames from standard input and produce
a new archive on standard output (unless overridden) containing
the specified items.
- -p Pass-through. Read a list of filenames from standard input and
+ 1m-p 22mPass-through. Read a list of filenames from standard input and
copy the files to the specified directory.
-OPTIONS
+1mOPTIONS0m
Unless specifically stated otherwise, options are applicable in all oper‐
ating modes.
- -0, --null
+ 1m-022m, 1m--null0m
Read filenames separated by NUL characters instead of newlines.
This is necessary if any of the filenames being read might con‐
tain newlines.
- -A (o mode only) Append to the specified archive. (Not yet imple‐
+ 1m-A 22m(o mode only) Append to the specified archive. (Not yet imple‐
mented.)
- -a (o and p modes) Reset access times on files after they are read.
+ 1m-a 22m(o and p modes) Reset access times on files after they are read.
- -B (o mode only) Block output to records of 5120 bytes.
+ 1m-B 22m(o mode only) Block output to records of 5120 bytes.
- -C size
- (o mode only) Block output to records of size bytes.
+ 1m-C 4m22msize0m
+ (o mode only) Block output to records of 4msize24m bytes.
- -c (o mode only) Use the old POSIX portable character format.
- Equivalent to --format odc.
+ 1m-c 22m(o mode only) Use the old POSIX portable character format.
+ Equivalent to 1m--format 4m22modc24m.
- -d, --make-directories
+ 1m-d22m, 1m--make-directories0m
(i and p modes) Create directories as necessary.
- -E file
- (i mode only) Read list of file name patterns from file to list
+ 1m-E 4m22mfile0m
+ (i mode only) Read list of file name patterns from 4mfile24m to list
and extract.
- -F file, --file file
- Read archive from or write archive to file.
+ 1m-F 4m22mfile24m, 1m--file 4m22mfile0m
+ Read archive from or write archive to 4mfile24m.
- -f pattern
- (i mode only) Ignore files that match pattern.
+ 1m-f 4m22mpattern0m
+ (i mode only) Ignore files that match 4mpattern24m.
- -H format, --format format
+ 1m-H 4m22mformat24m, 1m--format 4m22mformat0m
(o mode only) Produce the output archive in the specified format.
Supported formats include:
- cpio Synonym for odc.
- newc The SVR4 portable cpio format.
- odc The old POSIX.1 portable octet-oriented cpio format.
- pax The POSIX.1 pax format, an extension of the ustar for‐
+ 4mcpio24m Synonym for 4modc24m.
+ 4mnewc24m The SVR4 portable cpio format.
+ 4modc24m The old POSIX.1 portable octet-oriented cpio format.
+ 4mpax24m The POSIX.1 pax format, an extension of the ustar for‐
mat.
- ustar The POSIX.1 tar format.
+ 4mustar24m The POSIX.1 tar format.
- The default format is odc. See libarchive-formats(5) for more
+ The default format is 4modc24m. See libarchive-formats(5) for more
complete information about the formats currently supported by the
underlying libarchive(3) library.
- -h, --help
+ 1m-h22m, 1m--help0m
Print usage information.
- -I file
- Read archive from file.
+ 1m-I 4m22mfile0m
+ Read archive from 4mfile24m.
- -i, --extract
+ 1m-i22m, 1m--extract0m
Input mode. See above for description.
- --insecure
+ 1m--insecure0m
(i and p mode only) Disable security checks during extraction or
copying. This allows extraction via symbolic links, absolute
paths, and path names containing ‘..’ in the name.
- -J, --xz
+ 1m-J22m, 1m--xz0m
(o mode only) Compress the file with xz-compatible compression
before writing it. In input mode, this option is ignored; xz
compression is recognized automatically on input.
- -j Synonym for -y.
+ 1m-j 22mSynonym for 1m-y22m.
- -L (o and p modes) All symbolic links will be followed. Normally,
+ 1m-L 22m(o and p modes) All symbolic links will be followed. Normally,
symbolic links are archived and copied as symbolic links. With
this option, the target of the link will be archived or copied
instead.
- -l, --link
+ 1m-l22m, 1m--link0m
(p mode only) Create links from the target directory to the orig‐
inal files, instead of copying.
- --lrzip
+ 1m--lrzip0m
(o mode only) Compress the resulting archive with lrzip(1). In
input mode, this option is ignored.
- --lz4 (o mode only) Compress the archive with lz4-compatible compres‐
+ 1m--lz4 22m(o mode only) Compress the archive with lz4-compatible compres‐
sion before writing it. In input mode, this option is ignored;
lz4 compression is recognized automatically on input.
- --lzma (o mode only) Compress the file with lzma-compatible compression
+ 1m--lzma 22m(o mode only) Compress the file with lzma-compatible compression
before writing it. In input mode, this option is ignored; lzma
compression is recognized automatically on input.
- --lzop (o mode only) Compress the resulting archive with lzop(1). In
+ 1m--lzop 22m(o mode only) Compress the resulting archive with lzop(1). In
input mode, this option is ignored.
- --passphrase passphrase
- The passphrase is used to extract or create an encrypted archive.
- Currently, zip is only a format that cpio can handle encrypted
+ 1m--passphrase 4m22mpassphrase0m
+ The 4mpassphrase24m is used to extract or create an encrypted archive.
+ Currently, zip is only a format that 1mcpio 22mcan handle encrypted
archives. You shouldn't use this option unless you realize how
insecure use of this option is.
- -m, --preserve-modification-time
+ 1m-m22m, 1m--preserve-modification-time0m
(i and p modes) Set file modification time on created files to
match those in the source.
- -n, --numeric-uid-gid
- (i mode, only with -t) Display numeric uid and gid. By default,
- cpio displays the user and group names when they are provided in
+ 1m-n22m, 1m--numeric-uid-gid0m
+ (i mode, only with 1m-t22m) Display numeric uid and gid. By default,
+ 1mcpio 22mdisplays the user and group names when they are provided in
the archive, or looks up the user and group names in the system
password database.
- --no-preserve-owner
+ 1m--no-preserve-owner0m
(i mode only) Do not attempt to restore file ownership. This is
the default when run by non-root users.
- -O file
- Write archive to file.
+ 1m-O 4m22mfile0m
+ Write archive to 4mfile24m.
- -o, --create
+ 1m-o22m, 1m--create0m
Output mode. See above for description.
- -p, --pass-through
+ 1m-p22m, 1m--pass-through0m
Pass-through mode. See above for description.
- --preserve-owner
+ 1m--preserve-owner0m
(i mode only) Restore file ownership. This is the default when
run by the root user.
- --quiet
+ 1m--quiet0m
Suppress unnecessary messages.
- -R [user][:][group], --owner [user][:][group]
+ 1m-R 22m[user][:][group], 1m--owner 22m[user][:][group]
Set the owner and/or group on files in the output. If group is
- specified with no user (for example, -R :wheel) then the group
+ specified with no user (for example, 1m-R 4m22m:wheel24m) then the group
will be set but not the user. If the user is specified with a
- trailing colon and no group (for example, -R root:) then the
+ trailing colon and no group (for example, 1m-R 4m22mroot:24m) then the
group will be set to the user's default group. If the user is
specified with no trailing colon, then the user will be set but
- not the group. In -i and -p modes, this option can only be used
+ not the group. In 1m-i 22mand 1m-p 22mmodes, this option can only be used
by the super-user. (For compatibility, a period can be used in
place of the colon.)
- -r (All modes.) Rename files interactively. For each file, a
- prompt is written to /dev/tty containing the name of the file and
- a line is read from /dev/tty. If the line read is blank, the
+ 1m-r 22m(All modes.) Rename files interactively. For each file, a
+ prompt is written to 4m/dev/tty24m containing the name of the file and
+ a line is read from 4m/dev/tty24m. If the line read is blank, the
file is skipped. If the line contains a single period, the file
is processed normally. Otherwise, the line is taken to be the
new name of the file.
- -t, --list
+ 1m-t22m, 1m--list0m
(i mode only) List the contents of the archive to stdout; do not
restore the contents to disk.
- -u, --unconditional
+ 1m-u22m, 1m--unconditional0m
(i and p modes) Unconditionally overwrite existing files. Ordi‐
narily, an older file will not overwrite a newer file on disk.
- -V, --dot
+ 1m-V22m, 1m--dot0m
Print a dot to stderr for each file as it is processed. Super‐
- seded by -v.
+ seded by 1m-v22m.
- -v, --verbose
+ 1m-v22m, 1m--verbose0m
Print the name of each file to stderr as it is processed. With
- -t, provide a detailed listing of each file.
+ 1m-t22m, provide a detailed listing of each file.
- --version
+ 1m--version0m
Print the program version information and exit.
- -y (o mode only) Compress the archive with bzip2-compatible compres‐
+ 1m-y 22m(o mode only) Compress the archive with bzip2-compatible compres‐
sion before writing it. In input mode, this option is ignored;
bzip2 compression is recognized automatically on input.
- -Z (o mode only) Compress the archive with compress-compatible com‐
+ 1m-Z 22m(o mode only) Compress the archive with compress-compatible com‐
pression before writing it. In input mode, this option is
ignored; compression is recognized automatically on input.
- -z (o mode only) Compress the archive with gzip-compatible compres‐
+ 1m-z 22m(o mode only) Compress the archive with gzip-compatible compres‐
sion before writing it. In input mode, this option is ignored;
gzip compression is recognized automatically on input.
-EXIT STATUS
- The cpio utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
+1mEXIT STATUS0m
+ The 1mcpio 22mutility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
-ENVIRONMENT
- The following environment variables affect the execution of cpio:
+1mENVIRONMENT0m
+ The following environment variables affect the execution of 1mcpio22m:
LANG The locale to use. See environ(7) for more information.
TZ The timezone to use when displaying dates. See environ(7) for
more information.
-EXAMPLES
- The cpio command is traditionally used to copy file hierarchies in con‐
+1mEXAMPLES0m
+ The 1mcpio 22mcommand is traditionally used to copy file hierarchies in con‐
junction with the find(1) command. The first example here simply copies
- all files from src to dest:
- find src | cpio -pmud dest
+ all files from 4msrc24m to 4mdest24m:
+ 1mfind 4m22msrc24m | 1mcpio -pmud 4m22mdest0m
By carefully selecting options to the find(1) command and combining it
with other standard utilities, it is possible to exercise very fine con‐
trol over which files are copied. This next example copies files from
- src to dest that are more than 2 days old and whose names match a partic‐
+ 4msrc24m to 4mdest24m that are more than 2 days old and whose names match a partic‐
ular pattern:
- find src -mtime +2 | grep foo[bar] | cpio -pdmu dest
+ 1mfind 4m22msrc24m 1m-mtime 4m22m+224m | 1mgrep foo[bar] 22m| 1mcpio -pdmu 4m22mdest0m
- This example copies files from src to dest that are more than 2 days old
+ This example copies files from 4msrc24m to 4mdest24m that are more than 2 days old
and which contain the word “foobar”:
- find src -mtime +2 | xargs grep -l foobar | cpio -pdmu dest
+ 1mfind 4m22msrc24m 1m-mtime 4m22m+224m | 1mxargs grep -l foobar 22m| 1mcpio -pdmu 4m22mdest0m
-COMPATIBILITY
+1mCOMPATIBILITY0m
The mode options i, o, and p and the options a, B, c, d, f, l, m, r, t,
u, and v comply with SUSv2.
- The old POSIX.1 standard specified that only -i, -o, and -p were inter‐
+ The old POSIX.1 standard specified that only 1m-i22m, 1m-o22m, and 1m-p 22mwere inter‐
preted as command-line options. Each took a single argument of a list of
- modifier characters. For example, the standard syntax allows -imu but
- does not support -miu or -i -m -u, since m and u are only modifiers to
- -i, they are not command-line options in their own right. The syntax
+ modifier characters. For example, the standard syntax allows 1m-imu 22mbut
+ does not support 1m-miu 22mor 1m-i -m -u22m, since 4mm24m and 4mu24m are only modifiers to
+ 1m-i22m, they are not command-line options in their own right. The syntax
supported by this implementation is backwards-compatible with the stan‐
dard. For best compatibility, scripts should limit themselves to the
standard syntax.
-SEE ALSO
+1mSEE ALSO0m
bzip2(1), tar(1), gzip(1), mt(1), pax(1), libarchive(3), cpio(5),
libarchive-formats(5), tar(5)
-STANDARDS
+1mSTANDARDS0m
There is no current POSIX standard for the cpio command; it appeared in
ISO/IEC 9945-1:1996 (“POSIX.1”) but was dropped from IEEE Std 1003.1-2001
(“POSIX.1”).
The cpio, ustar, and pax interchange file formats are defined by IEEE Std
1003.1-2001 (“POSIX.1”) for the pax command.
-HISTORY
- The original cpio and find utilities were written by Dick Haight while
+1mHISTORY0m
+ The original 1mcpio 22mand 1mfind 22mutilities were written by Dick Haight while
working in AT&T's Unix Support Group. They first appeared in 1977 in
PWB/UNIX 1.0, the “Programmer's Work Bench” system developed for use
within AT&T. They were first released outside of AT&T as part of System
- III Unix in 1981. As a result, cpio actually predates tar, even though
+ III Unix in 1981. As a result, 1mcpio 22mactually predates 1mtar22m, even though
it was not well-known outside of AT&T until some time later.
This is a complete re-implementation based on the libarchive(3) library.
-BUGS
+1mBUGS0m
The cpio archive format has several basic limitations: It does not store
user and group names, only numbers. As a result, it cannot be reliably
used to transfer files between systems with dissimilar user and group
projects / platform / upstream / libarchive.git / blobdiff