cd /home/bkp/bkpcur
  cat > bkprule <<ENDRULES
  cmd tar -cz --null --no-recursion -T - -f /home/bkp/bkpcur/$v.tgz
  cd /
  vz 256m
  i . roo
  i ./usr/local loc
  e ./home/bkp
ENDRULES
perl bkpprog.pl bkprule &gt; bkpplan # scans files
perl bkpprog.pl -e bkpplan # creates tarballs
# then write the tarballs from /home/bkp/bkpcur to the backup media