Tar can archive these /proc "files" just fine, but it can't extract them. It gets fooled by its storing a zero file size. $ tar -cf /tmp/g /proc/[0-9]*/stat $ strings /tmp/g|head #yup, content of files is in the archive $ tar --to-stdout -xf /tmp/g #huh, nothing
tar (GNU tar) 1.29 See also http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3630976/how-can-i-tarball-the-proc-file-system
