Important! Notes on using cpio.
find ARCH-DIR -depth | cpio -oV -H ustar > backup.tar
cpio -idmV < ../backup.tar
Let’s explain how this works. -H selects the format. You almost
always wnat to use this to avoid using an old and obsolete format.
Using tar may be convenient because it allows for interoperability
with tar. -depth is necessary so that directories are written
last. This is to preserve their modification times on the copy-out.
But then -d is needed for this to work on copy-out. -m is used to
preserve modification times on copy-out. And -V is an alternative
for -v depending on what kinds of screen displays you like to see.
“Why not just use tar”? you ask. Well, because as described above, in
relation to directories and the -depth option, tar-archives don’t
work as well with cpio, but the reverse works just fine. Hence, it
is a matter of maximizing interoperability.
But, beware, -V is not available in BSD cpio.
20161117/http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/1213