Info:tar --listed-incremental tracks file state in a .snar metadata file. The initial run produces a full backup, while subsequent runs only capture modified files.
Examples:
$ tar --listed-incremental=/dev/null -czf full.tar.gz /data # Force a fresh full backup
$ tar --listed-incremental=snapshot.snar -xzf incr.tar.gz # Restore incremental archive
Note: Always preserve the .snar snapshot file. To restore, extract the base full backup first, followed by each incremental archive in chronological order.
LinuxTeck.com
linuxteck:~$ tar --listed-incremental=/backup/snapshot.snar -czf /backup/incr_$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /home/linuxteck
tar: /home/linuxteck: Directory is new
tar: /home/linuxteck/Documents: Directory is new
tar: /home/linuxteck/Documents/report.pdf: Added
linuxteck:~$ ls -lh /backup/
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.3G Oct 06 09:00 incr_20261006.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 45K Oct 06 09:00 snapshot.snar
linuxteck:~$ tar --listed-incremental=/backup/snapshot.snar -czf /backup/incr_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M).tar.gz /home/linuxteck
tar: /home/linuxteck/Documents/new_file.txt: Added
linuxteck:~$ ls -lh /backup/incr_*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.3G Oct 06 09:00 incr_20261006.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12M Oct 06 10:00 incr_20261006_1000.tar.gz
linuxteck:~$
John Britto Founder & Chief-Editor @LinuxTeck. A Computer Geek and Linux Intellectual having more than 20+ years of experience in Linux and Open Source technologies.
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