CPIO(1) CPIO CPIO(1) GNU CPIO GNU CPIO April 29, 2023 NAME cpio - copy files to and from archives SYNOPSIS cpio {-o|--create} [-0acvABLV] [-C BYTES] [-H FORMAT] [-M MESSAGE] [-O [[USER@]HOST:]ARCHIVE] [-F [[USER@]HOST:]ARCHIVE] [--file=[[USER@]HOST:]ARCHIVE] [--format=FORMAT] [--message=MESSAGE] [--null] [--reset-access-time] [--verbose] [--dot] [--append] [--block-size=blocks] [--dereference] [--io-size=BYTES] [--quiet] [--force-local] [--rsh-command=COMMAND] < name-list [> archive] cpio {-i|--extract} [-bcdfmnrtsuvBSV] [-C BYTES] [-E FILE] [-H FORMAT] [-M MESSAGE] [-R [USER][:.][GROUP]] [-I [[USER@]HOST:]ARCHIVE] [-F [[USER@]HOST:]ARCHIVE] [--file=[[USER@]HOST:]ARCHIVE] [--make-directories] [--nonmatching] [--preserve-modification-time] [--numeric-uid-gid] [--rename] [--list] [--swap-bytes] [--swap] [--dot] [--unconditional] [--verbose] [--block-size=BLOCKS] [--swap-halfwords] [--io-size=BYTES] [--pattern-file=FILE] [--format=FORMAT] [--owner=[USER][:.][GROUP]] [--no-preserve-owner] [--message=MESSAGE] [--force-local] [--no-absolute-filenames] [--sparse] [--only-verify-crc] [--to-stdout] [--quiet] [--rsh-command=COMMAND] [pattern...] [< archive] cpio {-p|--pass-through} [-0adlmuvLV] [-R [USER][:.][GROUP]] [--null] [--reset-access-time] [--make-directories] [--link] [--quiet] [--preserve-modification-time] [--unconditional] [--verbose] [--dot] [--dereference] [--owner=[USER][:.][GROUP]] [--no-preserve-owner] [--sparse] destination-directory < name-list cpio {-?|--help|--usage|--version} NOTE This manpage is a short description of GNU cpio. For a detailed discussion, including examples and usage recommendations, refer to the GNU Cpio Manual available in texinfo format. If the info reader and the cpio documentation are properly installed on your system, the command info cpio should give you access to the complete manual. You can also view the manual using the info mode in emacs(1), or find it in various formats online at http://www.gnu.org/software/cpio/manual If any discrepancies occur between this manpage and the GNU Cpio Manual, the later shall be considered the authoritative source. - 1 - Formatted: December 5, 2024 CPIO(1) CPIO CPIO(1) GNU CPIO GNU CPIO April 29, 2023 DESCRIPTION GNU cpio copies files between archives and directories. It supports the following archive formats: old binary cpio, old portable cpio, SVR4 cpio with and without checksum, HP cpio, and various tar formats. The operation mode is requested by one of the following options: -o, --create Copy-out. Read a list of file names from the standard input and create on the standard output (unless overridden by the --file option) an archive containing these files. -i, --extract Copy-in. Read the archive from standard input (or from the file supplied with the --file option) and extract files from it, or (if the -t option is given) list its contents to the standard output. If one or more patterns are supplied, read or list only files matching these patterns. The -t option alone implies -i. -p, --pass-through Pass-through. Read a list of file names from the standard input and copy them to the specified directory. -?, --help Give a short help summary and exit. --usage Print a short usage message and exit. --version Print program version and exit. OPTIONS Operation modifiers valid in any mode --block-size=BLOCK-SIZE Set the I/O block size to BLOCK-SIZE * 512 bytes. -B Set the I/O block size to 5120 bytes. -c Use the old portable (ASCII) archive format. This is the same as -H odc. -C, --io-size=NUMBER Set the I/O block size to the given NUMBER of bytes. -D, --directory=DIR Change to directory DIR. --force-local - 2 - Formatted: December 5, 2024 CPIO(1) CPIO CPIO(1) GNU CPIO GNU CPIO April 29, 2023 Archive file is local, even if its name contains colons. -H, --format=FORMAT Use given archive FORMAT. Valid formats are (the number in parentheses gives maximum size for individual archive member): bin The obsolete binary format. (2147483647 bytes) odc The old (POSIX.1) portable format. (8589934591 bytes) newc The new (SVR4) portable format, which supports file systems having more than 65536 inodes. (4294967295 bytes) crc The new (SVR4) portable format with a checksum added. tar The old tar format. (8589934591 bytes) ustar The POSIX.1 tar format. Also recognizes GNU tar archives, which are similar but not identical. (8589934591 bytes) hpbin The obsolete binary format used by HPUX's cpio (which stores device files differently). hpodc The portable format used by HPUX's cpio (which stores device files differently). -R, --owner=[USER][:.][GROUP] In copy-in and copy-pass mode, set the ownership of all files created to the specified USER and/or GROUP. In copy-out mode, store the supplied owner information in the archive. USER and GROUP are first looked up in the system user and group databases. If not found, cpio checks if they consist of decimal digits only and, if so, treats them as numeric UID and GID, correspondingly. To avoid the lookup and ensure that arguments are treated as numeric values, prefix them with a plus sign, e.g.: -R +0:+0. --quiet Do not print the number of blocks copied at the end of the run. --rsh-command=COMMAND Use remote COMMAND instead of rsh. -v, --verbose - 3 - Formatted: December 5, 2024 CPIO(1) CPIO CPIO(1) GNU CPIO GNU CPIO April 29, 2023 Verbosely list the files processed. -V, --dot Print a "." for each file processed. -W, --warning=FLAG Controls what warnings are displayed. The FLAG is one of none, to disable all warnings, all to enable them, truncate, to enable warnings about field truncation, and no-truncate, to disable them. Multiple -W options accumulate. Operation modifiers valid in copy-in and -F, --file=[[USER@]HOST:]ARCHIVE-FILE Use this ARCHIVE-FILE instead of standard input (in copy-in mode) or standard output (in copy-out mode). Optional USER and HOST specify the user and host names in case of a remote archive. -M, --message=STRING Print STRING when the end of a volume of the backup media is reached. Operation modifiers valid only in copy-in -b, --swap Swap both halfwords of words and bytes of halfwords in the data. Equivalent to -sS. -f, --nonmatching Only copy files that do not match any of the given patterns. -n, --numeric-uid-gid In the verbose table of contents listing, show numeric UID and GID. -r, --rename Interactively rename files. -s, --swap-bytes Swap the bytes of each halfword in the files. -S, --swap-halfwords Swap the halfwords of each word (4 bytes) in the files. --to-stdout Extract files to standard output. -E, --pattern-file=FILE Read additional patterns specifying filenames to extract or list - 4 - Formatted: December 5, 2024 CPIO(1) CPIO CPIO(1) GNU CPIO GNU CPIO April 29, 2023 from FILE. --only-verify-crc When reading a CRC format archive, only verify the CRC's of each file in the archive, without actually extracting the files. Operation modifiers valid only in copy-out -A, --append Append to an existing archive. --device-independent, --reproducible Create reproducible archives. This is equivalent to --ignore-devno --ignore-dirnlink --renumber-inodes. --ignore-devno Store 0 in the device number field of each archive member, instead of the actual device number. --ignore-dirnlink Store 2 in the nlink field of each directory archive member, instead of the actual number of links. -O [[USER@]HOST:]ARCHIVE-NAME Use ARCHIVE-NAME instead of standard output. Optional USER and HOST specify the user and host names in case of a remote archive. The output archive name can be specified either using this option, or using -F (--file), but not both. --renumber-inodes Renumber inodes when storing them in the archive. Operation modifiers valid only in copy-pass -l, --link Link files instead of copying them, when possible. Operation modifiers valid in copy-in and --absolute-filenames Do not strip file system prefix components from the file names. This is the default. --no-absolute-filenames Create all files relative to the current directory. Operation modifiers valid in copy-out and -0, --null Filenames in the list are delimited by null characters instead of newlines. - 5 - Formatted: December 5, 2024 CPIO(1) CPIO CPIO(1) GNU CPIO GNU CPIO April 29, 2023 -a, --reset-access-time Reset the access times of files after reading them. -I [[USER@]HOST:]ARCHIVE-NAME Use ARCHIVE-NAME instead of standard input. Optional USER and HOST specify the user and host names in case of a remote archive. The input archive name can be specified either using this option, or using -F (--file), but not both. -L, --dereference Dereference symbolic links (copy the files that they point to instead of copying the links). Operation modifiers valid in copy-in and -d, --make-directories Create leading directories where needed. -m, --preserve-modification-time Retain previous file modification times when creating files. --no-preserve-owner Do not change the ownership of the files. --sparse Write files with large blocks of zeros as sparse files. -u, --unconditional Replace all files unconditionally. RETURN VALUE GNU cpio exits with code 0 if it was able to successfully complete the requested operation. On errors, it exits with code 2. SEE ALSO tar(1), rmt(8), mt(1). BUG REPORTS Report bugs to <bug-cpio@gnu.org>. COPYRIGHT Copyright c 2014--2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html> This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. - 6 - Formatted: December 5, 2024