cpio ☆

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Description:
Copies files into or out of a cpio or tar archive

Type: Formula | Latest Version: 2.15@0 | Tracked Since: Dec 17, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: System utilities

Tags: archiving backup cli system-utilities gnu

Install: brew install cpio

About:
GNU cpio is a tool for creating and extracting archives from the command line. It copies files into or out of cpio and tar archive formats, handling file trees efficiently. It is a fundamental utility for system backups and software distribution.

Key Features:

Supports multiple archive formats including cpio and tar
Handles binary, ASCII, and CRC checksum formats
Preserves file permissions, ownership, and timestamps
Integrates seamlessly with shell pipelines and find commands

Use Cases:

Creating system backups by archiving file trees
Extracting files from software package archives
Migrating file systems or directories to new locations

Alternatives:

tar – More commonly used for creating archives; supports compression natively
pax – A POSIX standard utility with broader format support

License: GPL-3.0-or-later

Bottles available for: arm64_tahoe, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_ventura, arm64_monterey, sonoma, ventura, monterey, arm64_linux, x86_64_linux

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Sep 11, 2025 5:26am		0	VERSION_BUMP	7cfd74c1