=head1 NAME

virt-tar-out - Pack a virtual machine disk image directory into a tarball.

=head1 SYNOPSIS

 virt-tar-out -a disk.img /dir files.tar

 virt-tar-out -d domain /dir files.tar

 virt-tar-out -d domain /dir - | gzip --best > files.tar.gz

=head1 DESCRIPTION

C<virt-tar-out> packs a virtual machine disk image directory into a
tarball.

The first parameter is the absolute path of the virtual machine
directory.  The second parameter is the tar file to write.  Use C<->
to write to standard output.

=head1 EXAMPLES

Download the home directories from a guest:

 virt-tar-out -d MyGuest /home - | gzip --best > homes.tar.gz

=head1 JUST A SHELL SCRIPT WRAPPER AROUND GUESTFISH

This command is just a simple shell script wrapper around the
L<guestfish(1)> C<tar-out> command.  For anything more complex than a
trivial copy, you are probably better off using guestfish directly.

=head1 OPTIONS

Since the shell script just passes options straight to guestfish, read
L<guestfish(1)> to see the full list of options.

=head1 SEE ALSO

L<guestfish(1)>,
L<virt-cat(1)>,
L<virt-copy-in(1)>,
L<virt-copy-out(1)>,
L<virt-edit(1)>,
L<virt-tar-in(1)>,
L<http://libguestfs.org/>.

=head1 AUTHORS

Richard W.M. Jones (C<rjones at redhat dot com>)

=head1 COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2011-2025 Red Hat Inc.
