discourse/discourse · error · RuntimeError

Unknown tar implementation: #{tar_version}

Error message

Unknown tar implementation: #{tar_version}

What it means

Error "Unknown tar implementation: #{tar_version}" thrown in discourse/discourse.

Source

Thrown at lib/backup_restore/backup_file_handler.rb:159

      @db_dump_path
    end

    def available_size
      SiteSetting.decompressed_backup_max_file_size_mb
    end

    def tar_implementation
      @tar_version ||=
        begin
          tar_version = Discourse::Utils.execute_command("tar", "--version")

          if tar_version.include?("GNU tar")
            :gnu
          elsif tar_version.include?("bsdtar")
            :bsd
          else
            raise "Unknown tar implementation: #{tar_version}"
          end
        end
    end
  end
end

View on GitHub (pinned to 1b2d7253e8)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/backup_restore/backup_file_handler.rb:159 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of discourse/discourse@1b2d7253e8 (2026-08-26). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7bc318e049c26dd2. Report an issue: GitHub.