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
– Martin Schröder
Sep 22, 2016 at 15:04 — Martin Schröder, Sep 22, 2016 at 15:04

Martin Dorey · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-13 13:52:07Z

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/*

Martin Dorey

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answered Nov 11, 2010 at 15:09

iiegn

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2

I don't want -P. I want -C but I can't get it to work.
– Dan
Nov 11, 2010 at 15:11
6

I have found it out: tar -czvf /var/backups/svn.tgz -C / var/svn/
– Dan
Nov 11, 2010 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, 2019 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, 2019 at 8:58

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HBruijn · Accepted Answer · 2019-08-01 08:55:11Z

0

You can write

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

The message will be written to log.file

HBruijn

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answered Aug 1, 2019 at 8:22

Andreas

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2 Answers 2