4mCPIO24m(1)			 General Commands Manual		    4mCPIO24m(1)

1mNAME0m
       cpio — copy files to and from archives

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

1mDESCRIPTION0m
       1mcpio  22mcopies  files between archives and directories.  This implementa‐
       tion 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 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.
       1m-o	 22mOutput.   Read a list of filenames from standard input and pro‐
	       duce a new archive on standard output (unless overridden)  con‐
	       taining the specified items.
       1m-p	 22mPass-through.  Read a list of filenames from standard input and
	       copy the files to the specified directory.

1mOPTIONS0m
       Unless specifically stated otherwise, options are applicable in all op‐
       erating modes.

       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.

       1m-622m, 1m--pwb0m
	       When  reading  a binary format archive, assume it's the earlier
	       one, from the PWB variant of 6th Edition UNIX.  When writing  a
	       cpio archive, use the PWB format.

       1m-722m, 1m--binary0m
	       (o mode only) When writing a cpio archive, use the (newer, non-
	       PWB) binary format.

       1m-A	 22m(o mode only) Append to the specified archive.  (Not yet imple‐
	       mented.)

       1m-a	 22m(o	and  p	modes)	Reset  access times on files after they are
	       read.

       1m-B	 22m(o mode only) Block output to records of 5120 bytes.

       1m--b64encode0m
	       (o mode only) Encode the archive with base64,  after  any  com‐
	       pression.   In  input  mode, this option is ignored; base64-en‐
	       coded archives are recognized automatically on input.  If  both
	       this option and 1m--uuencode 22mare given, the last one specified is
	       used.

       1m-C 4m22msize0m
	       (o mode only) Block output to records of 4msize24m bytes.

       1m-c	 22m(o	mode  only)  Use  the  old POSIX portable character format.
	       Equivalent to 1m--format 4m22modc24m.

       1m-d22m, 1m--make-directories0m
	       (i and p modes) Create directories as necessary.

       1m-E 4m22mfile0m
	       (i mode only) Read list of file name patterns from 4mfile24m to list
	       and extract.

       1m-F 4m22mfile24m, 1m--file 4m22mfile0m
	       Read archive from or write archive to 4mfile24m.

       1m-f 4m22mpattern0m
	       (i mode only) Ignore files that match 4mpattern24m.

       1m-H 4m22mformat24m, 1m--format 4m22mformat0m
	       (o mode only) Produce the output archive in the specified  for‐
	       mat.  Supported formats include:

	       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.
	       4mustar24m    The POSIX.1 tar format.

	       The  default format is 4modc24m.	 See 4mlibarchive-formats24m(5) for more
	       complete information about the formats currently	 supported  by
	       the underlying 4mlibarchive24m(3) library.

       1m-h22m, 1m--help0m
	       Print usage information.

       1m-I 4m22mfile0m
	       Read archive from 4mfile24m.

       1m-i22m, 1m--extract0m
	       Input mode.  See above for description.

       1m--insecure0m
	       (i  and	p mode only) Disable security checks during extraction
	       or copying.  This allows extraction  via	 symbolic  links,  ab‐
	       solute paths, and path names containing ‘..’ in the name.

       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.

       1m-j	 22mSynonym for 1m-y22m.

       1m-L22m, 1m--dereference0m
	       (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.

       1m-l22m, 1m--link0m
	       (p mode only) Create links from the  target  directory  to  the
	       original files, instead of copying.

       1m--grzip0m
	       (o mode only) Compress the resulting archive with 4mgrzip24m(1).	 In
	       input mode, this option is ignored.

       1m--lrzip0m
	       (o mode only) Compress the resulting archive with 4mlrzip24m(1).	 In
	       input mode, this option is ignored.

       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.

       1m--zstd	 22m(o	mode  only)  Compress the archive with zstd-compatible com‐
	       pression before writing it.  In input mode, this option is  ig‐
	       nored; zstd compression is recognized automatically on input.

       1m--lzma	 22m(o	mode  only) Compress the file with lzma-compatible compres‐
	       sion before writing it.	In input mode, this option is ignored;
	       lzma compression is recognized automatically on input.

       1m--lzop	 22m(o mode only) Compress the resulting archive with 4mlzop24m(1).   In
	       input mode, this option is ignored.

       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.

       1m-m22m, 1m--preserve-modification-time0m
	       (i and p modes) Set file modification time on created files  to
	       match those in the source.

       1m-n22m, 1m--numeric-uid-gid0m
	       (i  mode,  only	with  1m-t22m) Display numeric uid and gid.  By de‐
	       fault, 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.

       1m--no-preserve-owner0m
	       (i mode only) Do not attempt to restore file  ownership.	  This
	       is the default when run by non-root users.

       1m-O 4m22mfile0m
	       Write archive to 4mfile24m.

       1m-o22m, 1m--create0m
	       Output mode.  See above for description.

       1m-p22m, 1m--pass-through0m
	       Pass-through mode.  See above for description.

       1m--preserve-owner0m
	       (i mode only) Restore file ownership.  This is the default when
	       run by the root user.

       1m--quiet0m
	       Suppress unnecessary messages.

       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, 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, 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  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.)

       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.

       1m-t22m, 1m--list0m
	       (i mode only) List the contents of the archive  to  stdout;  do
	       not restore the contents to disk.

       1m-u22m, 1m--unconditional0m
	       (i  and p modes) Unconditionally overwrite existing files.  Or‐
	       dinarily, an older file will not	 overwrite  a  newer  file  on
	       disk.

       1m--uuencode0m
	       (o  mode	 only)	Encode the archive with 4muuencode24m(1), after any
	       compression.  In input mode, this option is ignored;  uuencoded
	       archives	 are  recognized automatically on input.  If both this
	       option and 1m--b64encode 22mare given, the  last	 one  specified	 is
	       used.

       1m-V22m, 1m--dot0m
	       Print a dot to stderr for each file as it is processed.	Super‐
	       seded by 1m-v22m.

       1m-v22m, 1m--verbose0m
	       Print the name of each file to stderr as it is processed.  With
	       1m-t22m, provide a detailed listing of each file.

       1m--version0m
	       Print the program version information and exit.

       1m-y	 22m(o	mode  only) Compress the archive with bzip2-compatible com‐
	       pression before writing it.  In input mode, this option is  ig‐
	       nored; bzip2 compression is recognized automatically on input.

       1m-Z	 22m(o	mode  only)  Compress  the archive with compress-compatible
	       compression before writing it.  In input mode, this  option  is
	       ignored; compression is recognized automatically on input.

       1m-z	 22m(o	mode  only)  Compress the archive with gzip-compatible com‐
	       pression before writing it.  In input mode, this option is  ig‐
	       nored; gzip compression is recognized automatically on input.

1mEXIT STATUS0m
       The 1mcpio 22mutility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

1mENVIRONMENT0m
       The following environment variables affect the execution of 1mcpio22m:

       LANG	  The locale to use.  See 4menviron24m(7) for more information.

       TZ	  The  timezone	 to use when displaying dates.	See 4menviron24m(7)
		  for more information.

1mEXAMPLES0m
       The 1mcpio 22mcommand is traditionally used to copy file hierarchies in con‐
       junction with the 4mfind24m(1)  command.	  The  first  example  here  simply
       copies all files from 4msrc24m to 4mdest24m:
	     1mfind 4m22msrc24m | 1mcpio -pmud 4m22mdest0m

       By  carefully selecting options to the 4mfind24m(1) command and combining it
       with other standard utilities, it is possible  to  exercise  very  fine
       control	over  which  files are copied.	This next example copies files
       from 4msrc24m to 4mdest24m that are more than 2 days old and whose names match  a
       particular pattern:
	     1mfind 4m22msrc24m 1m-mtime 4m22m+224m | 1mgrep foo[bar] 22m| 1mcpio -pdmu 4m22mdest0m

       This  example  copies  files from 4msrc24m to 4mdest24m that are more than 2 days
       old and which contain the word “foobar”:
	     1mfind 4m22msrc24m 1m-mtime 4m22m+224m | 1mxargs grep -l foobar 22m| 1mcpio -pdmu 4m22mdest0m

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 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 1m-imu0m
       but 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  syn‐
       tax  supported  by this implementation is backwards-compatible with the
       standard.  For best compatibility, scripts should limit	themselves  to
       the standard syntax.

1mSEE ALSO0m
       4mbzip224m(1),  4mgzip24m(1),  4mmt24m(1),  4mpax24m(1),	 4mtar24m(1),  4mlibarchive24m(3),  4mcpio24m(5),
       4mlibarchive-formats24m(5), 4mtar24m(5)

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.

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 Sys‐
       tem 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 4mlibarchive24m(3) li‐
       brary.

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 numbering.  Older cpio formats limit the user and group num‐
       bers to 16 or 18 bits, which is insufficient for modern	systems.   The
       cpio  archive formats cannot support files over 4 gigabytes, except for
       the “odc” variant, which can support files up to 8 gigabytes.

Debian			      September 16, 2014		       4mCPIO24m(1)
