tar with multiple directories: is it possible to replace duplicate input?

Asked Apr 26 '20 at 23:17

Active Apr 26 '20 at 23:17

Viewed 22 times

I am using the following command in a bash script for backup automation:

tar -vczf /tmp/${get_date}BACKUP${get_user}.tar.gz ${backup_dir[@]}

backup_dir is an array in which user input is saved (the directories that will be backed up). If user input is illegal, it defaults to /home/$USER.

The creation of a tar.gz works, but if a user types in multiple illegal directories, or if they chose to update the same directory multiple times, tar just backups all the files multiple times in the same folder, which makes it quite cumbersome to restore.

To avoid this, I am looking for a way to get tar to ignore duplicate input. Example:

tar -vczf /tmp/TEST.tar.gz /home/michael /home/michael

should be treated as tar -vczf /tmp/TEST.tar.gz /home/michael

Is it possible to do this?

asked Apr 26 '20 at 23:17

MichaelP

3

Sanitize the array, remove the duplicates? – Jetchisel Apr 26 '20 at 23:22
Or this, as it were ... https://stackoverflow.com/questions/13648410/how-can-i-get-unique-values-from-an-array-in-bash – tink Apr 26 '20 at 23:43
1

@Jetchisel thank you, that is exactly what I need. Sorry to keep bothering you. – MichaelP Apr 26 '20 at 23:44
1

@tink yes, that will probably be it. I didn't think about going at the problem from the array, which would have been way more obvious than what I was thinking of. I will accept the duplicate. – MichaelP Apr 26 '20 at 23:46
Good man, thank you. – tink Apr 26 '20 at 23:48

tar with multiple directories: is it possible to replace duplicate input?

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