tar: kill the error message: 'tar: Removing leading `/' from member names'

Question

I run this from a cronjob:

tar -czvf /var/backups/svn.tgz /var/svn/*

That generates this on stderr:

tar: Removing leading `/' from member names

I would like to avoid this because it is not a real error (for me!). I want on stderr only things that I should worry about?

How can I kill that message?

I have the feeling that it is a matter of using the tar -C option but I am not sure and I don't know how.

Thanks for the help,
Dan

See also [tar: Removing leading \`/' from member names](http://unix.stackexchange.com/q/59243) — Martin Schröder, Sep 22 '16 at 15:04

score 16 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 13 '21 at 13:52

16

your options:

-P, --absolute-names : don't strip leading `/'s from file names

or

-C /

... and a relative path for things to go into the tar, like so:

tar -C / -czvf /var/backups/svn.tgz var/svn/*

edited Jan 13 '21 at 13:52

Martin Dorey

answered Nov 11 '10 at 15:09

iiegn

2

I don't want -P. I want -C but I can't get it to work. – Dan Nov 11 '10 at 15:11
6

I have found it out: tar -czvf /var/backups/svn.tgz -C / var/svn/ – Dan Nov 11 '10 at 15:13
Borrowing a warning regarding -P from another thread: Archives with absolute locations are a security risk. Attackers could use such archives to trick users into installing files in critical system locations. – gmode Jul 31 '19 at 14:00
Archives with absolute locations are a security risk. Attackers could use such archives to trick users into installing files in critical system locations. – A.B. Oct 11 '19 at 08:58

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 01 '19 at 08:55

0

You can write

# ( tar czvf tar.file /path 2>&1 ) >log.file

The message will be written to log.file

edited Aug 01 '19 at 08:55

HBruijn

answered Aug 01 '19 at 08:22

Andreas

2 Answers2