Backup file

2 snippets in Bash & Linux

Also written as backup files

SHBash & Linux

Copy Files & Directories

syntax

cp [options] source destination

example

cp config.yml config.yml.bak
cp -r templates/ /opt/app/templates/
cp -i report.csv ~/Desktop/

Note -r is required for directories (recursive copy). -i prompts before overwriting. Without -i, cp silently overwrites the destination. Use -a to preserve permissions, timestamps, and symlinks.

Create a Tar Archive

SH · Archives & Compression

syntax

tar -cf archive.tar files...
tar -czf archive.tar.gz files...

example

tar -czf backup_20260404.tar.gz /opt/app/data/ /opt/app/config/
tar -cjf source.tar.bz2 --exclude='.git' --exclude='node_modules' project/

Note -c creates, -z compresses with gzip, -j with bzip2, -J with xz. -f must be followed by the archive name. --exclude omits patterns. Always put -f last among the single-letter flags or use the long form to avoid mistakes.