Put date into backup .tar.gz filename

Question

I'd like to run a simple tar command to backup my website directory. It will run through cron, but I want to be able to put the time at which the backup was made as the filename. I don't really mind what format it's in, but something vaguely readable would be good. I'm just looking for a generic command; a way of putting the date in the filename - I can do the rest of the tar stuff.

Thanks,

James

Answer 1

tar cfz backup-$(date +%Y-%m-%d).tar.gz ...

man strftime or man date to see what %-escapes can be used with date.