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c --- create.
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v --- verbose, give more output, show what files are being worked with (extracted or added).
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f --- file (create or extract from file) - should always be the last option otherwise the command will not work.
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z --- put the file though gzip or use gunzip on the file first.
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x --- extract the files from the tarball.
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p --- preserves dates, permissions of the original files.
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j --- send archive through bzip2.
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--exclude=pattern --- this will stop certain files from being archived (using a standard wild card pattern) or a single file name.
