3.9 Controlling Warning Messages

Sometimes, while performing the requested task, GNU tar notices some conditions that are not exactly errors, but which the user should be aware of. When this happens, tar issues a warning message describing the condition. Warning messages are output to the standard error and they do not affect the exit code of tar command.

GNU tar allows the user to suppress some or all of its warning messages:

--warning=keyword

Control display of the warning messages identified by keyword. If keyword starts with the prefix ‘no-’, such messages are suppressed. Otherwise, they are enabled.

Multiple --warning options accumulate.

By default, GNU tar enables all messages, except those that are enabled in verbose mode (see The --verbose Option). See Default Warning Settings, for details.

The subsections below discuss allowed values for keyword along with the warning messages they control.