Both tar
and rsync
can be used to archive and preserve SELinux contexts, extended attributes, and ACLs when backing up or transferring files on a Linux system. Here’s how you can use each utility:
tar
: To preserve SELinux contexts, extended attributes, and ACLs when usingtar
, you can use the-p
option, which preserves the file permissions, as well as other metadata. For example:
tar -cvpf archive.tar /path/to/directory
This creates a tar archive of the specified directory, preserving all file permissions, SELinux contexts, extended attributes, and ACLs.
rsync
: To preserve SELinux contexts, extended attributes, and ACLs when usingrsync
, you can use the-a
option, which stands for “archive” and preserves metadata such as file permissions, ownership, timestamps, and symbolic links. Additionally, the-X
option can be used to preserve extended attributes, and the-A
option can be used to preserve ACLs. For example:
rsync -avAX /path/to/directory destination
This synchronizes the specified directory with the destination, preserving all file metadata, SELinux contexts, extended attributes, and ACLs.
Note: To ensure that SELinux contexts, extended attributes, and ACLs are preserved correctly, you may need to run the backup or transfer as the root user or a user with sufficient privileges.