[Bug-tar] Bug in (GNU tar) 1.15.90 ?

[Chris Drake]

Hi,

Your switch:-


     --newer=DATE-OR-FILE

Is not behaving as I expect.  It's correctly skipping some things, but
incorrectly backing up unchanged stuff as well!

I'm using RedHat Enterprise ES3 update5
Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp #1 SMP Tue May 17 17:52:23 EDT 2005 i686 i686 i386 
GNU/Linux



Initially - I issued these commands:-

cd /;
touch /backup_checkpoint;
nohup nice -19 tar --create -.. etc - to back up everything


Each week, I'm trying to do this, which isn't working:-


cd /;

touch /backup_checkpointp;

nohup nice -19 tar --create -v --ignore-failed-read
                   --sparse --to-stdout --atime-preserve
                   --preserve-permissions --same-owner
                   --bzip2
                   --newer=./backup_checkpoint
                   --directory=/
                   --exclude ./opt/oracle/oradata/ORCL
   . 2> /tmp/tar_cal_inc060424_copy.log |
  /usr/local/bin/gpg -c |
  ssh address@hidden 'cat >cal/cal_inc060424.tar.bz2.gpg' &

(imagine everything from the "nohup" line up to the above ssh line as
one single command - I've just added the line-breaks to make it
readable).

Here's what I've got in my root dir:-

address@hidden cnd]# dir /back*
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root            0 Apr 13 09:51 backup_checkpoint
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root            0 Apr 24 05:12 backup_checkpointp


Here's some parts of my backup log:-


address@hidden cnd]# more /tmp/tar_cal_inc060424_copy.log
./
./lost+found/
./boot/
./boot/lost+found/
./boot/grub/
./boot/grub/grub.conf
./boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
tar: ./boot/grub/menu.lst: file is unchanged; not dumped
./boot/grub/device.map
./boot/grub/stage1
./boot/grub/stage2
./boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5

address@hidden cnd]# tail /tmp/tar_cal_inc060424_copy.log
./var/www/html/emsvr/pico/Para_Mt_Beauty.avi
./var/www/html/emsvr/pico/Para_Pico2003.avi
./var/www/html/emsvr/pico/Para_Phillip_Island.mpg


And here is one of the old files that should not have been in the
backup:-

address@hidden cnd]# dir /var/www/html/emsvr/pico/Para_Mt_Beauty.avi
-rwxr--r--    1 cnd      cnd      78428270 Mar 31  2005 
/var/www/html/emsvr/pico/Para_Mt_Beauty.avi*




address@hidden cnd]# tar --version
tar (GNU tar) 1.15.90
Copyright (C) 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software.  You may redistribute copies of it under the terms of
the GNU General Public License <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

Written by John Gilmore and Jay Fenlason.




address@hidden cnd]# tar --help
Usage: tar [OPTION...] [FILE]...
GNU `tar' saves many files together into a single tape or disk archive, and can
restore individual files from the archive.

Examples:
  tar -cf archive.tar foo bar  # Create archive.tar from files foo and bar.
  tar -tvf archive.tar         # List all files in archive.tar verbosely.
  tar -xf archive.tar          # Extract all files from archive.tar.

 Main operation mode:

  -A, --catenate, --concatenate   append tar files to an archive
  -c, --create               create a new archive
  -d, --diff, --compare      find differences between archive and file system
      --delete               delete from the archive (not on mag tapes!)
  -r, --append               append files to the end of an archive
  -t, --list                 list the contents of an archive
      --test-label           Test archive volume label and exit
  -u, --update               only append files newer than copy in archive
  -x, --extract, --get       extract files from an archive

 Operation modifiers:

  -g, --listed-incremental=FILE   handle new GNU-format incremental backup
  -G, --incremental          handle old GNU-format incremental backup
      --ignore-failed-read   do not exit with nonzero on unreadable files
  -n, --seek                 archive is seekable
      --occurrence[=NUMBER]  process only the NUMBERth occurrence of each file
                             in the archive. This option is valid only in
                             conjunction with one of the subcommands --delete,
                             --diff, --extract or --list and when a list of
                             files is given either on the command line or via
                             -T option. NUMBER defaults to 1.
  -S, --sparse               handle sparse files efficiently

 Overwrite control:

  -k, --keep-old-files       don't replace existing files when extracting
      --keep-newer-files     don't replace existing files that are newer than
                             their archive copies
      --no-overwrite-dir     preserve metadata of existing directories
      --overwrite            overwrite existing files when extracting
      --recursive-unlink     empty hierarchies prior to extracting directory
      --remove-files         remove files after adding them to the archive
  -U, --unlink-first         remove each file prior to extracting over it
  -W, --verify               attempt to verify the archive after writing it

 Select output stream:

      --ignore-command-error ignore exit codes of children
      --no-ignore-command-error   treat non-zero exit codes of children as
                             error
  -O, --to-stdout            extract files to standard output
      --to-command=COMMAND   pipe extracted files to another program

 Handling of file attributes:

      --atime-preserve[=METHOD]   preserve access times on dumped files, either
                             by restoring the times after reading
                             (METHOD='replace'; default) or by not setting the
                             times in the first place (METHOD='system')
      --delay-directory-restore   Delay setting modification times and
                             permissions of extracted directories until the end
                             of extraction.
      --group=NAME           force NAME as group for added files
      --mode=CHANGES         force (symbolic) mode CHANGES for added files
  -m, --touch                don't extract file modified time
      --no-delay-directory-restore
                             Cancel the effect of --delay-directory-restore
                             option.
      --no-same-owner        extract files as yourself
      --no-same-permissions  apply the user's umask when extracting permissions
                             from the archive (default for ordinary users)
      --numeric-owner        always use numbers for user/group names
      --owner=NAME           force NAME as owner for added files
  -p, --preserve-permissions, --same-permissions
                             extract information about file permissions
                             (default for superuser)
      --preserve             same as both -p and -s
      --same-owner           try extracting files with the same ownership
  -s, --preserve-order, --same-order
                             sort names to extract to match archive

 Device selection and switching:

  -f, --file=ARCHIVE         use archive file or device ARCHIVE
      --force-local          archive file is local even if it has a colon
  -F, --info-script=NAME, --new-volume-script=NAME
                             run script at end of each tape (implies -M)
  -L, --tape-length=NUMBER   change tape after writing NUMBER x 1024 bytes
  -M, --multi-volume         create/list/extract multi-volume archive
      --rmt-command=COMMAND  use given rmt COMMAND instead of rmt
      --rsh-command=COMMAND  use remote COMMAND instead of rsh
      --volno-file=FILE      use/update the volume number in FILE

 Device blocking:
  -b, --blocking-factor=BLOCKS   BLOCKS x 512 bytes per record
  -B, --read-full-records    reblock as we read (for 4.2BSD pipes)
  -i, --ignore-zeros         ignore zeroed blocks in archive (means EOF)
      --record-size=NUMBER   NUMBER of bytes per record, multiple of 512

 Archive format selection:

  -H, --format=FORMAT        create archive of the given format.

 FORMAT is one of the following:

    gnu                      GNU tar 1.13.x format
    oldgnu                   GNU format as per tar <= 1.12
    pax                      POSIX 1003.1-2001 (pax) format
    posix                    same as pax
    ustar                    POSIX 1003.1-1988 (ustar) format
    v7                       old V7 tar format

  -j, --bzip2                filter the archive through bzip2
      --old-archive, --portability
                             same as --format=v7
      --pax-option=keyword[[:]=value][,keyword[[:]=value], ...]
                             control pax keywords
      --posix                same as --format=posix
      --use-compress-program=PROG
                             filter through PROG (must accept -d)
  -V, --label=TEXT           create archive with volume name TEXT. At
                             list/extract time, use TEXT as a globbing pattern
                             for volume name
  -z, --gzip, --gunzip, --ungzip   filter the archive through gzip
  -Z, --compress, --uncompress   filter the archive through compress

 Local file selection:

      --add-file=FILE        add given FILE to the archive (useful if its name
                             starts with a dash)
      --after-date=DATE      same as -N
      --anchored             exclude patterns match file name start
      --backup[=CONTROL]     backup before removal, choose version CONTROL
  -C, --directory=DIR        change to directory DIR
      --exclude=PATTERN      exclude files, given as a PATTERN
      --exclude-caches       exclude directories containing a cache tag
  -h, --dereference          follow symlinks; archive and dump the files they
                             point to
      --ignore-case          exclusion ignores case
  -K, --starting-file=MEMBER-NAME
                             begin at member MEMBER-NAME in the archive
      --newer-mtime=DATE     compare date and time when data changed only
      --no-anchored          exclude patterns match after any `/' (default)
      --no-ignore-case       exclusion is case sensitive (default)
      --no-recursion         avoid descending automatically in directories
      --no-unquote           do not unquote filenames read with -T
      --no-wildcards         exclude patterns are plain strings
      --no-wildcards-match-slash   exclude pattern wildcards do not match `/'
      --null                 -T reads null-terminated names, disable -C
  -N, --newer=DATE-OR-FILE   only store files newer than DATE-OR-FILE
      --one-file-system      stay in local file system when creating archive
  -P, --absolute-names       don't strip leading `/'s from file names
      --recursion            recurse into directories (default)
      --strip-components=NUMBER   strip NUMBER leading components from file
                             names
      --suffix=STRING        backup before removal, override usual suffix ('~'
                             unless overridden by environment variable
                             SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX)
  -T, --files-from=FILE      get names to extract or create from FILE
      --unquote              unquote filenames read with -T (default)
      --wildcards            exclude patterns use wildcards (default)
      --wildcards-match-slash   exclude pattern wildcards match `/' (default)
  -X, --exclude-from=FILE    exclude patterns listed in FILE

 Informative output:

      --check-links          print a message if not all links are dumped
      --checkpoint           display progress messages every 10th record
      --index-file=FILE      send verbose output to FILE
      --no-quote-chars=STRING   Disable quoting for characters from STRING
      --quote-chars=STRING   Additionally quote characters from STRING
      --quoting-style=STYLE  Set name quoting style. See below for valid STYLE
                             values.
  -R, --block-number         show block number within archive with each message
                            
      --show-defaults        Show tar defaults
      --show-omitted-dirs    When listing or extracting, list each directory
                             that does not match search criteria
      --show-stored-names    When creating archive in verbose mode, list member
                             names as stored in the archive
      --totals               print total bytes written while creating archive
      --utc                  print file modification dates in UTC
  -v, --verbose              verbosely list files processed
  -w, --interactive, --confirmation
                             ask for confirmation for every action

 Compatibility options:

  -o                         when creating, same as --old-archive. When
                             extracting, same as --no-same-owner

 Other options:

  -?, --help                 Give this help list
      --restrict             Restrict use of some potentially harmful options
      --usage                Give a short usage message
      --version              Print program version

Mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also mandatory or optional
for any corresponding short options.

The backup suffix is `~', unless set with --suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX.
The version control may be set with --backup or VERSION_CONTROL, values are:

  none, off       never make backups
  t, numbered     make numbered backups
  nil, existing   numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
  never, simple   always make simple backups

Valid arguments for --quoting-style options are:

  literal
  shell
  shell-always
  c
  escape
  locale
  clocale

*This* tar defaults to:
--format=gnu -f- -b20 --quoting-style=escape 
--rmt-command=/usr/local/libexec/rmt --rsh-command=/usr/bin/rsh

Report bugs to <address@hidden>.
address@hidden cnd]# 



Kind Regards,
Chris Drake