Toolbox Aid

August 9th, 2024 1:30 PM Mr. Q Categories: Command

Command: tar

The tar command (tape archive) is used to create, extract, and manage archives. It can combine multiple files into a single archive file, often compressing it to save space. The tar command supports various compression methods.

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Sample Commands and Outputs:

• tar -cvf archive.tar /path/to/directory: Creates a new archive file named archive.tar from the specified directory. Sample Command and Output:

  $ tar -cvf archive.tar /home/user/documents
  /home/user/documents/
  /home/user/documents/file1.txt
  /home/user/documents/file2.txt

Description:

• -c: Create a new archive.
• -v: Verbose mode, showing the progress of files being archived.
• -f archive.tar: Specifies the filename of the archive.
• /path/to/directory: The directory or files to be included in the archive.
• tar -xvf archive.tar: Extracts the contents of the archive.tar file. Sample Command and Output:

  $ tar -xvf archive.tar
  /home/user/documents/
  /home/user/documents/file1.txt
  /home/user/documents/file2.txt

Description:

• -x: Extract the contents of an archive.
• -v: Verbose mode, showing the files being extracted.
• -f archive.tar: Specifies the filename of the archive.
• tar -cvzf archive.tar.gz /path/to/directory: Creates a compressed archive using gzip. Sample Command and Output:

  $ tar -cvzf archive.tar.gz /home/user/documents
  /home/user/documents/
  /home/user/documents/file1.txt
  /home/user/documents/file2.txt

Description:

• -z: Compress the archive using gzip.
• -f archive.tar.gz: Specifies the filename of the compressed archive.
• tar -xvzf archive.tar.gz: Extracts a gzip-compressed archive. Sample Command and Output:

  $ tar -xvzf archive.tar.gz
  /home/user/documents/
  /home/user/documents/file1.txt
  /home/user/documents/file2.txt

Description:

• -z: Decompress the archive using gzip.
• tar -cvjf archive.tar.bz2 /path/to/directory: Creates a compressed archive using bzip2. Sample Command and Output:

  $ tar -cvjf archive.tar.bz2 /home/user/documents
  /home/user/documents/
  /home/user/documents/file1.txt
  /home/user/documents/file2.txt

Description:

• -j: Compress the archive using bzip2.
• -f archive.tar.bz2: Specifies the filename of the bzip2-compressed archive.
• tar -xvjf archive.tar.bz2: Extracts a bzip2-compressed archive. Sample Command and Output:

  $ tar -xvjf archive.tar.bz2
  /home/user/documents/
  /home/user/documents/file1.txt
  /home/user/documents/file2.txt

Description:

• -j: Decompress the archive using bzip2.
• tar -tvf archive.tar: Lists the contents of the archive without extracting. Sample Command and Output:

  $ tar -tvf archive.tar
  drwxr-xr-x user/user        0 2024-08-09 12:00 /home/user/documents/
  -rw-r--r-- user/user     1234 2024-08-09 12:00 /home/user/documents/file1.txt
  -rw-r--r-- user/user     5678 2024-08-09 12:00 /home/user/documents/file2.txt

Description:

• -t: List the contents of the archive.
• -v: Verbose mode, showing file details.
• -f archive.tar: Specifies the filename of the archive.
• tar -cf archive.tar --exclude='*.tmp' /path/to/directory: Creates an archive excluding files with a .tmp extension. Sample Command and Output:

  $ tar -cf archive.tar --exclude='*.tmp' /home/user/documents

Description:

• --exclude='*.tmp': Excludes files matching the pattern (e.g., .tmp files).

Note: The tar command is versatile for managing file archives and supports various compression formats. Use appropriate options based on whether you need to create, extract, or inspect archives.