Administering Solaris Flash Archives

The flar command enables you to administer archives. You can split an archive into sections. Those sections can be modified, added to, or deleted, and then merged to create an archive. You can also obtain information about the archive.

Caution - Do not modify the Archive Files section or you compromise the integrity of the archive.

Splitting a Solaris Flash Archive

You can split an archive into sections, which enables you to modify some sections, add new sections, or delete sections. After you have modified the sections, you need to merge the sections to create an new archive. For example, you might want to add a user-defined section or modify the archive identification section. Do not modify the Archive Files section or you compromise the integrity of the archive.

The flar split command splits a Solaris Flash archive into sections. The flar command copies each section into a separate file in the current directory or specified directory. The files are named after the sections, for example, the archive cookie is saved in a file that is named cookie. You can specify that the flar split command save only one section. The syntax of the command is as follows:

flar split [-d dir] [-u section] [-f archive] [-S section] [-t [-p posn] [-b blocksize]] filename

`-d` dir	Retrieves the sections to copy from dir, rather than from the current directory.
`-u` section	If you use this option, `flar` copies the cookie, identification, archive, and section sections. You can specify a single section name or a space-separated list of section names. If you do not use this option, `flar` copies the cookie, identification, and archive sections only.
`-f` archive	Extracts the archive section into a directory that is named `archive`, rather than placing it in a file with the name `archive`.
`-S` section	Only copies the section that is named section from the archive. This section is user defined.

Example 4-1 Splitting an Archive

In the following example, archive1.flar is split into three files:

cookie – The first line of the archive, which identifies the version of the archive format. Do not change this identifier.
identification – A copy of the archive identification section with all keyword-value pairs.
archive – The archive itself. This file can be compressed.

# flar split archive1.flar

After the archive is split, you can modify the archive identification section or add a user-defined section. The sections can then be merged to re-create the archive.

Merging Solaris Flash Archives

After you have split an archive into sections, you can combine the sections to create a new archive.

The flar combine command creates a Solaris Flash archive from individual sections. The following table describes how the flar command handles combining sections.

Conditions	Description
Minimum number of files	Each section is assumed to be in a separate file, the names of which are the section names. These three files must be present: Archive cookie (`cookie`) Archive identification (`identification`) Archive files (`archive`)
Archive copy method	If `archive` is a directory, the contents are archived before including the directory in the combined archive by using the `cpio` copy utility. One of the following copy methods is used: `pax` is the default copy method. The `flarcreate` command with the `-L pax` option uses the `pax` utility to create an archive without limitations on individual file sizes. Individual file sizes can be greater than 4 GB. `cpio` is an archive method for backward compatibility. The `flarcreate` command with the `-L cpio` option creates a `cpio` archive. Individual file sizes cannot be greater than 4 GB.
Compressing an archive	If the archive identification section specifies to compress the archive, `flar` compresses the contents of the newly combined archive.
Validation	No validation is performed on any of the sections. In particular, no fields in the archive identification section are validated or updated.

The following command syntax is for flar combine command.

flar combine [-d dir] [-u section] [-t [-p posn] [-b blocksize]] filename

-d dir

Retrieves the sections to combine from dir, rather than from the current directory.

-u section

If you use this option, flar copies the cookie, identification, archive, and section sections. You can specify a single section name or a space-separated list of section names.
If you do not use this option, flar copies the cookie, identification, and archive sections only.

Example 4-2 Merging a Solaris Flash Archive

In this example, an archive cookie section, an archive identification section, and an archive files section are combined to become a complete archive. The archive is named newarchive.flar.

# flar combine newarchive.flar

Example 4-3 Merging a Solaris Flash Archive and Adding a User-Defined Section

In this example, an archive cookie section, an archive identification section, an archive files section, and a user-defined section are combined to become a complete archive. The archive is named newarchive.flar. The user-defined section content is in the file that is named user-defined, which is in the current directory.

# flar combine -u user_defined newarchive.flar

Extracting Information From an Archive

Use the flar info command to obtain information about archives you have already created. The syntax of the command is as follows:

flar info [-l] [-k keyword] [-t [-p posn] [-b blocksize]] filename

-k keyword: Returns only the value of the keyword keyword.
-l: Lists all the files in the archive section.

Example 4-4 Listing Files in an Archive Section

In this example, the command checks the file structure of the archive named archive3.flar.

# flar info -l archive3.flar
aaa
aaa/bbb
aaa/bbb/ccc
aaa/bbb/ccc/ddd
aaa/eee