Debian bug report logs - #563
tar -x fails to overwrite or check for symlinks
Package: tar; Reported by: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson); 242 days old.
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Date: Fri, 3 Mar 95 04:40 GMT
From: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson)
To: Debian bugs submission address <debian-bugs@pixar.com>
Subject: tar -x fails to overwrite or check for symlinks
Package: tar
Version: 1.11.2-1 (and others?)
chiark:~/junk> rm a b
chiark:~/junk> ln -s a b
chiark:~/junk> ll a b
/bin/ls: a: No such file or directory
lrwxrwxrwx 1 ian ian 1 Mar 3 04:35 b -> a
chiark:~/junk> tar vvcf t b
lrwxrwxrwx ian/ian 0 Mar 3 04:35 1995 b -> a
OK so far.
chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t
lrwxrwxrwx ian/ian 0 Mar 3 04:35 1995 b -> a
tar: Could not create symlink to a : File exists
Ooops. tar should have overwritten b (silently).
chiark:~/junk> rm b
chiark:~/junk> echo hi >b
chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t
lrwxrwxrwx ian/ian 0 Mar 3 04:35 1995 b -> a
tar: Could not create symlink to a : File exists
It can't overwrite a plain file with link.
chiark:~/junk> ll a b
/bin/ls: a: No such file or directory
-rw-rw-r-- 1 ian ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 b
chiark:~/junk> tar vvcf t b
-rw-rw-r-- ian/ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 1995 b
OK, put the file in the archive.
chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t
-rw-rw-r-- ian/ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 1995 b
And we can extract it.
chiark:~/junk> rm a b
rm: a: No such file or directory
chiark:~/junk> ln -s a b
Make the link.
chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t
-rw-rw-r-- ian/ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 1995 b
chiark:~/junk> ll a b
-rw-rw-r-- 1 ian ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 a
lrwxrwxrwx 1 ian ian 1 Mar 3 04:37 b -> a
Now when we extract it follows the link ! Aargh ! This is horrible.
chiark:~/junk> rm a b
chiark:~/junk>
Ian.
Message sent:
From: iwj10@thor.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson)
To: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson)
Subject: Bug#563: Acknowledgement (was: tar -x fails to overwrite or check for symlinks)
In-Reply-To: <m0rkP9u-0002gOZ.ijackson@nyx.cs.du.edu>
References: <m0rkP9u-0002gOZ.ijackson@nyx.cs.du.edu>
Thank you for the problem report you have sent regarding Debian GNU/Linux.
This is an automatically generated reply, to let you know your message has
been received. It is being forwarded to the developers' mailing list for
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it to debian-bugs@pixar.com, but please ensure that the Subject
line of your message starts with "Bug#563" or "Re: Bug#563" so that
we can identify it as relating to the same problem.
Please do not to reply to the address at the top of this message,
unless you wish to report a problem with the bug-tracking system.
Ian Jackson
(maintainer, debian-bugs)
Message sent to debian-devel@pixar.com:
Subject: Bug#563: tar -x fails to overwrite or check for symlinks
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Date: Fri, 3 Mar 95 04:40 GMT
From: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson)
To: Debian bugs submission address <debian-bugs@pixar.com>
Package: tar
Version: 1.11.2-1 (and others?)
chiark:~/junk> rm a b
chiark:~/junk> ln -s a b
chiark:~/junk> ll a b
/bin/ls: a: No such file or directory
lrwxrwxrwx 1 ian ian 1 Mar 3 04:35 b -> a
chiark:~/junk> tar vvcf t b
lrwxrwxrwx ian/ian 0 Mar 3 04:35 1995 b -> a
OK so far.
chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t
lrwxrwxrwx ian/ian 0 Mar 3 04:35 1995 b -> a
tar: Could not create symlink to a : File exists
Ooops. tar should have overwritten b (silently).
chiark:~/junk> rm b
chiark:~/junk> echo hi >b
chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t
lrwxrwxrwx ian/ian 0 Mar 3 04:35 1995 b -> a
tar: Could not create symlink to a : File exists
It can't overwrite a plain file with link.
chiark:~/junk> ll a b
/bin/ls: a: No such file or directory
-rw-rw-r-- 1 ian ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 b
chiark:~/junk> tar vvcf t b
-rw-rw-r-- ian/ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 1995 b
OK, put the file in the archive.
chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t
-rw-rw-r-- ian/ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 1995 b
And we can extract it.
chiark:~/junk> rm a b
rm: a: No such file or directory
chiark:~/junk> ln -s a b
Make the link.
chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t
-rw-rw-r-- ian/ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 1995 b
chiark:~/junk> ll a b
-rw-rw-r-- 1 ian ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 a
lrwxrwxrwx 1 ian ian 1 Mar 3 04:37 b -> a
Now when we extract it follows the link ! Aargh ! This is horrible.
chiark:~/junk> rm a b
chiark:~/junk>
Ian.
Ian Jackson /
iwj10@thor.cam.ac.uk,
with the debian-bugs tracking mechanism