A .bff (Backup File Format) file is commonly used in IBM’s AIX operating system to package software installations and updates. To interact with .bff files via the command line, you can utilize the restore command, which is designed to extract files from backup archives.

Listing Contents of a .bff File:

To view the contents of a .bff file without extracting them, execute:

restore -qvTf myFile.bff

– -q: Operates in quiet mode, suppressing unnecessary messages. – -v: Enables verbose mode, providing detailed information. – -T: Lists the table of contents of the archive. – -f myFile.bff: Specifies the .bff file to be examined.

Extracting Specific Files from a .bff Archive:

To extract a particular file or directory from the .bff archive, use:

restore -qxvf myFile.bff ./path/to/extract

– -q: Quiet mode. – -x: Extracts files from the archive. – -v: Verbose output. – -f myFile.bff: Specifies the archive file. – ./path/to/extract: Path within the archive to the file or directory you wish to extract.

Extracting All Contents from a .bff Archive:

To extract all files from the .bff archive into the current directory:

restore -qxf myFile.bff

– -q: Quiet mode. – -x: Extracts files. – -f myFile.bff: Specifies the archive file.

Important Considerations:

• Permissions: Ensure you have the necessary permissions to read the .bff file and write to the target extraction directory.
• Directory Structure: The restore command will recreate the directory structure as stored in the archive. Be mindful of this to avoid overwriting existing files.
• Backup: It’s prudent to back up important data before performing extraction operations to prevent accidental data loss.

For more detailed information and options, consult the restore command’s manual page by typing man restore in the AIX command line.