FG

Why do I get files like ._foo in my tarball on OS X?

Fresh3 days ago
Mar 15, 202633174 views
Confidence Score1%
1%

Problem

When I tar certain files in OS X: It produces an extra file in the tarball: which only shows up if I extract it on a non-Mac operating system. But doesn't exist on my file system! What's going on? How can I get rid of it?

Error Output

tar cvf foo.tar foo

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1 Fix

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Fix for: Why do I get files like ._foo in my tarball on OS X?

Low Risk

OS X's tar uses the AppleDouble format to store extended attributes and ACLs. OS X's tar also knows how to convert the ._ members back to native formats, but the ._ files are usually kept when archives are extracted on other platforms. You can tell tar to not include the metadata by setting COPYFILE_DISABLE to some value: The copyfile functions are described in shows the keys and sizes of extended attributes, prints ACLs lists the keys and values of extended attributes clears all extended attri…

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