cpio usage

cpio usage

cpio works like tar, only better.

STEP 1 (Create two directories with data ../dir1 an ../dir2)

mkdir -p ../dir1
mkdir -p ../dir2
cp /etc/*.conf ../dir1/.
cp /etc/*.cnf ../dir2/.

Which will backup all your cnf and conf files.

STEP 2 (Piping the files to tar)

cpio works like tar but can take input
from the "find" command.

$ find ../dir1/ | cpio -o --format=tar > test.tar
or
$ find ../dir1/ | cpio -o -H tar > test2.tar

Same command without the ">"

$ find ../dir1/ | cpio -o --format=tar -F test.tar
or
$ find ../dir1/ | cpio -o -H tar -F test2.tar

Using append

$ find ../dir1/ | cpio -o --format=tar -F test.tar
or
$ find ../dir2/ | cpio -o --format=tar --append -F test.tar

STEP 3 (List contents of the tar file)

$ cpio -it < test.tar
or
$ cpio -it -F test.tar

STEP 4 (Extract the contents)

$ cpio -i -F test.tar