Subject: tar for NFS V4

From: Eric Kadison <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 15:21:10 -0700

Gents:
 
Has anyone looked into updating the tar program to support new NFS V4
features (e.g. the new attributes)?
 
Is there any activity on this?
 
Thanks,
Eric Kadison
Broadband Storage, Inc.
949-737-2724
[email-masked]

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From: Guy Harris <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 16:32:58 -0700

> features (e.g. the new attributes)?

"tar" wouldn't know NFS from a hole in the ground.

If there are APIs in the OSes on which "tar" runs that allow
applications such as "tar" access to those features, the "tar" that
comes with those OSes might be updated to use those APIs.

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From: Gordon Waidhofer <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 17:33:13 -0700

The question of enhancing the tar format for new attributes
appeared on the NDMP (Network Data Movement Protocol,
[email-masked])
mail list some time ago. The scope of the question is broader than
NFSv4. For example, NTFS and MacOS file models have many attributes
that tar wouldn't know from a hole in the ground :)

Perhaps something akin the Rock Ridge (CD-ROM file system)
tagged attributes would do the trick. Perhaps leave tar
alone and do something new. Perhaps.....

Clearly the backup format question is outside the scope of NFSv4 work.
So too beyond the strict scope of NDMP. Yet participants in
both these efforts will surely have interest in backup formats,
file attributes, interoperability/exchangability, and so on.
There is a worthwhile overlap. Hopefully the day will come
when we can all take up this issue.

But not today......

Regards,
	-gww

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From: marius aamodt eriksen <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 22:44:47 -0400

> comes with those OSes might be updated to use those APIs.

right -- since the ultimate interface to the user is what the OS gives
you, you are restricted to this.  for example, for linux, the most
common patch for extended attributes residing at
   http://acl.bestbits.at/
provides its own version of "tar" as well.

marius.

-- 
> [email-masked] > http://www.citi.umich.edu/u/marius

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From: Brent Callaghan <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 21:34:32 -0700

Gordon Waidhofer wrote

> when we can all take up this issue.

Certainly backup or archive formats are out of scope, though
the new Migration and Replication protocol must be able to
represent the file data and metadata accessible via NFSv4,
perhaps in some kind of stream representation resembling
an archive format.

	Brent