010-100 Question #19: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

The correct answer is E. tar -cf backup.tar /home. Creating a tar archive requires the -c flag to create and -f to specify the filename, with the archive name listed before the source path.

Question

Which of the following commands will create an archive file, named backup.tar, containing all the files from the directory /home?

Options

Atar /home backup.tar
Btar -cf /home backup.tar
Ctar -xf /home backup.tar
Dtar -xf backup.tar /home
Etar -cf backup.tar /home

Explanation

Creating a tar archive requires the -c flag to create and -f to specify the filename, with the archive name listed before the source path.

Common mistakes.

A. No operation flag is given, so tar cannot determine whether to create, extract, or list, and the argument positions are also incorrect.
B. The archive filename and source path are swapped - this would attempt to create an archive named /home containing a file called backup.tar.
C. The -x flag signals extraction, not creation, so this would attempt to extract rather than create an archive, and the argument order is also reversed.
D. The -x flag signals extraction, not creation, so this command would try to extract backup.tar rather than create a new archive from /home.

Concept tested. tar archive creation with -c and -f flags

Reference. https://www.gnu.org/software/tar/manual/tar.html

Community Discussion

No community discussion yet for this question.

Full 010-100 Practice