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(tar.info)delete

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Removing Archive Members Using `--delete'
-----------------------------------------

     _(This message will disappear, once this node revised.)_

   You can remove members from an archive by using the `--delete'
option.  Specify the name of the archive with `--file=ARCHIVE-NAME'
(`-f ARCHIVE-NAME') and then specify the names of the members to be
deleted; if you list no member names, nothing will be deleted.  The
`--verbose' (`-v') option will cause `tar' to print the names of the
members as they are deleted.  As with `--extract' (`--get', `-x'), you
must give the exact member names when using `tar --delete'.  `--delete'
will remove all versions of the named file from the archive.  The
`--delete' operation can run very slowly.

   Unlike other operations, `--delete' has no short form.

   This operation will rewrite the archive.  You can only use
`--delete' on an archive if the archive device allows you to write to
any point on the media, such as a disk; because of this, it does not
work on magnetic tapes.  Do not try to delete an archive member from a
magnetic tape; the action will not succeed, and you will be likely to
scramble the archive and damage your tape.  There is no safe way
(except by completely re-writing the archive) to delete files from most
kinds of magnetic tape.  Note: Media.

   To delete all versions of the file `blues' from the archive
`collection.tar' in the `practice' directory, make sure you are in that
directory, and then,

     $ tar --list --file=collection.tar
     blues
     folk
     jazz
     rock
     practice/blues
     practice/folk
     practice/jazz
     practice/rock
     practice/blues
     $ tar --delete --file=collection.tar blues
     $ tar --list --file=collection.tar
     folk
     jazz
     rock
     $

   The `--delete' option has been reported to work properly when `tar'
acts as a filter from `stdin' to `stdout'.