Re: TAR on large file systems (gt 2GB)

[mgraffam mhv net]

On Tue, 18 Aug 1998, Wes Bauske wrote:

> I'm trying to save off a copy of one of my file systems.
> It's larger than 2GB total size but there are no files
> larger than 2GB. I've tried it several times now and it
> always hangs. I moved some stuff out of the file system
> to get it below 2GB and it works. This leads me to believe
> there is some sort of limit in tar. I looked back thru
> the RH list archives and found only references to slow
> tar. 

Hmm.. I can't say for sure, but I suspect someone is using a
signed 32-bit int somewhere (either in tar, or maybe in the
FS code, or something). 2^32 / 2 = 2g (divide out half of the
space for negative numbers, which we never use since a file size
of -1 is insane). 


> Is there another command to use instead of tar??

Well, I don't know where this 2g file is supposed to get stored..
did you try doing something like: tar cvf - * > /dev/tape

This bypasses making any file on the drive, so if it is an FS problem I'd
think this would solve it. If the trouble is in tar itself, you can always
write a script to parse output of du, and tar up a series of directories
such that they are less than 2g, and then start a new tar.

Michael J. Graffam (mgraffam@mhv.net)
http://www.mhv.net/~mgraffam -- Philosophy, Religion, Computers, Crypto, etc
I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not
desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.
			Henry David Thoreau "Civil Disobedience"