Extract NT Backup Files in Linux Using mtftar

Posted by admin on January 26, 2008 under Tech Tips | Be the First to Comment

If you would like to extract the contents of an NT backup (.bkf) file in Linux, mtftar is a utility that translates a Microsoft Tape Format (MTF) stream into the tar format. You can pick up mtftar from the authors site at http://gpl.internetconnection.net.

To get started, download the source code and compile.

$ wget http://gpl.internetconnection.net/files/mtftar.tar.gz
$ tar zxfv mtftar.tar.gz
$ cd mtftar
$ make
$ sudo cp mtftar /usr/bin/
- or -
$ su -c "cp mtftar /usr/bin/"

Using this utility is straight forward, as shown in the following example.

$ mtftar < MyBackup.bkf | tar xvf -
C:
C:/Stuff/Pictures/Misc Family Photos
C:/Stuff/Pictures/Misc Family Photos/First Bikes
C:/Stuff/Pictures/Misc Family Photos/First Bikes/First Bikes 001.jpg
C:/Stuff/Pictures/Misc Family Photos/First Bikes/First Bikes 002.jpg
C:/Stuff/Pictures/Misc Family Photos/First Bikes/First Bikes 003.jpg
C:/Stuff/Pictures/Misc Family Photos/First Bikes/First Bikes 004.jpg
C:/Stuff/Pictures/Misc Family Photos/First Bikes/First Bikes 005.jpg

An alternate mtf reader for Linux can be found here at http://laytongraphics.com/mtf/. The site also references a PDF written by Seagate that describes the MTF format if you’re interested.