[lug] tar xvf not working?

[PC Drew]

Thus spake JEFF PFOHL on Friday, March 31, 2000, 8:18:01 PM:

JP> WHY does it not restore my files from tape?? And why does it archive
JP> to tape without the leading / ?

The answer to the "leading /" question is easy.  Just because you tar
up the /etc directory on one machine, you really want to have total
control over where it goes when you take it to another machine.  When
you create the archive, if you use absolute paths, it'll say "removing
leading /".  This is so you can tar up the /etc directory on one
machine and extract it where ever you want on another machine.

As for the tape drive, I'm no expert, but I think you're supposed to
leave off the "f" flag.  The default for tar is to go to the tape
(i.e. Tape ARchive).  I don't deal with tapes much, so I don't have an
answer for ya.

Try this though:

% cd /home
% tar tv home

If it outputs the right info, then do

% tar xv home

Good luck!