Creating and splitting large TAR files to copy by FTP:
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Type "tar --help" to get simple commands to create a tar file.
Some servers do not support files over e.g. 2GB, then we have to split the file
http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/locutus/split-files-with-tar-26311
To split tar file in 1200MB use this cmd:
tar -cML 1258291 -f my_documents.tar my_documents
Then it will ask if volume #2 for this archive is ready, to avoid overwriting first file, type this answer:
n my_documents2.tar, press ENTER once and it will ask again, press ENTER AGAIN. Do the same for my_documents3.tar too.
Now you can ftp files from one server to another, then to unzip that file use:
tar -xMf my_documents.tar and when it asks for second archive answer with:
n my_documents2.tar
// no command TO TEST tar files ?! just -W or --verify which seems to only test it after creation
But you can test by: cksum file.tar and compare the result on both servers to verify copy was OK.
!!! To create a simple .tar file of a given directory, e.g "/big_thumbs":
tar -cvf big_thumbs.tar big_thumbs
This works in most cases, it should not compress the file.
Another way to create and split tar:
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This creates large archive files before spliting them so might not work on all servers
tar -cvzf foo.tar.gz foo
split -d -b1000m sample.tar.gz sample.tar.gz
The generated files will start from sample.tar.gz00 so original file will remain unchanged,
files will be 1GB each
Join the split tar files:
cat file1.tar.gz file2.tar.gz > bigfile.tar.gz
REMEMBER THE ">" and destination file otherwise we got random characaters on screen :-s
TEST a tar with output sumary (it does not extract when "t"):
gunzip -t -v sample.tar.gz
// the above methos shown crc error when finally testing archive over 2GB with gunzip -t
// so maybe best is with first method by waiting and specifying next archive name:
tar -cML 1258291 -f my_documents.tar my_documents
after transfering compare file integrity with ssh cksum commands or similar checks.