5.9.4. Archiving Files with tar

Procedure 5.10. Creating a tar Archive

1. Change to the /var/www/html/ directory and view its SELinux context:
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   ~]$ cd /var/www/html/

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   html]$ ls -dZ /var/www/html/
   drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 .

2. As root, create three files (file1, file2, and file3) in /var/www/html/. These files inherit the httpd_sys_content_t type from /var/www/html/:
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   html]# touch file{1,2,3}

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   html]$ ls -Z /var/www/html/
   -rw-r--r--  root root unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 file1
   -rw-r--r--  root root unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 file2
   -rw-r--r--  root root unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 file3
   

3. As root, run the following command to create a tar archive named test.tar. Use the --selinux to retain the SELinux context:
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   html]# tar --selinux -cf test.tar file{1,2,3}

4. As root, create a new directory named /test/, and then allow all users full access to it:
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   ~]# mkdir /test

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   ~]# chmod 777 /test/

5. Copy the test.tar file into /test/:
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   ~]$ cp /var/www/html/test.tar /test/

6. Change into /test/ directory. Once in this directory, run the following command to extract the tar archive. Specify the --selinux option again otherwise the SELinux context will be changed to default_t:
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   ~]$ cd /test/

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   test]$ tar --selinux -xvf test.tar

7. View the SELinux contexts. The httpd_sys_content_t type has been retained, rather than being changed to default_t, which would have happened had the --selinux not been used:
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   test]$ ls -lZ /test/
   -rw-r--r--  user1 group1 unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 file1
   -rw-r--r--  user1 group1 unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 file2
   -rw-r--r--  user1 group1 unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 file3
   -rw-r--r--  user1 group1 unconfined_u:object_r:default_t:s0 test.tar
   

8. If the /test/ directory is no longer required, as root, run the following command to remove it, as well as all files in it:
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   ~]# rm -ri /test/