mtftar

mtftar is a handy tool that helps you translate MTF and BKF backup streams from NT operating systems into TAR archives that everyone else uses. It's like a bridge between two worlds!

Understanding MTF and BKF Formats

MTF is a format you'll often see on Microsoft systems because it's created by the NTBACKUP.EXE tool that comes with all modern Windows versions. Pretty neat, right?

How to Use mtftar

The command line for using mtftar looks something like this:

mtftar [-v] [-p] [-s setno] [patterns...] < backup.btf | tar xvf -

  mtftar [-v] [-p] [-s setno] -f backup.btf [patterns...] | tar xvf -

  mtftar [-v] [-p] [-s setno] -f backup.btf -o output.tar [patterns...]

  mtftar [-v] [-p] [-s setno] -o output.tar [patterns...] < backup.btf

  mtftar -l [-v] [-s setno] < backup.btf

  mtftar -l [-v] [-s setno] -f backup.btf

  mtftar -L [-v] [-s setno] < backup.btf

  mtftar -L [-v] [-s setno] -f backup.btf

You usually use mtftar as a filter. For example:

mtftar < MyBackup.bkf | tar xvf -

This allows you to work with your backups easily!

What Can mtftar Do?

mtftar can handle Incremental, Differential, Copy, and Normal backups, but just remember it doesn't fully understand them. So if you're dealing with different bkf files, make sure to extract them in the right order!

Working Directly from Tape Drives

The cool thing about mtftar? It can read directly from tape drives on Linux and maybe other systems too. How convenient is that?

Patching Pathnames On-the-Fly

You can also pre-filter the input stream and adjust pathnames on-the-fly using the -p option. This option "strips" what matches your patterns.

No ACL Stream Support Yet

Please note:, mtftar doesn't support ACL streams at this time. But hey, patches that convert these into POSIX ACL extensions for TAR format would be welcome!

A Bit of History Behind mthtar

A lot of knowledge about the BKF file format and MTF comes from an old program called "mtf," which was created by D. Alan Stewart. Though it had its bugs and crashed often, it helped shape mtftar!

Your Latest Update!

This new release of mtftar, now automatically converts utf16le names to utf8! That's super useful for handling different text.