How to use the command 'tar' (with examples)
The ’tar’ command is a versatile archiving utility that is commonly used in Unix-like operating systems. It allows users to create and manipulate tar archives, which are collections of files bundled together into a single file. Additionally, tar can be combined with compression methods such as gzip or bzip2 to create compressed archives.
Use case 1: Create an archive and write it to a file
Code:
tar cf path/to/target.tar path/to/file1 path/to/file2 ...
Motivation: This use case is useful when you want to create a tar archive from one or multiple files and save it to a specific location.
Explanation:
- ‘c’ flag: Specifies the action to create a new archive.
- ‘f’ flag: Indicates that the following argument is the filename of the archive.
- ‘path/to/target.tar’: Specifies the path and filename of the target archive.
- ‘path/to/file1 path/to/file2 …’: Specifies the path and filename(s) of the file(s) to be included in the archive.
Example output:
If the command is executed as follows:
tar cf /tmp/archive.tar /home/user/file1.txt /home/user/file2.txt
The command will create a tar archive named ‘archive.tar’ in the ‘/tmp’ directory, including ‘file1.txt’ and ‘file2.txt’ from the ‘/home/user’ directory.
Use case 2: Create a gzipped archive and write it to a file
Code:
tar czf path/to/target.tar.gz path/to/file1 path/to/file2 ...
Motivation: This use case allows you to create a compressed tar archive in gzip format, which can greatly reduce the file size for efficient storage or transmission.
Explanation:
- ‘c’ flag: Specifies the action to create a new archive.
- ‘z’ flag: Enables gzip compression for the archive.
- ‘f’ flag: Indicates that the following argument is the filename of the archive.
- ‘path/to/target.tar.gz’: Specifies the path and filename of the target archive.
- ‘path/to/file1 path/to/file2 …’: Specifies the path and filename(s) of the file(s) to be included in the archive.
Example output:
If the command is executed as follows:
tar czf /tmp/archive.tar.gz /home/user/file1.txt /home/user/file2.txt
The command will create a gzipped tar archive named ‘archive.tar.gz’ in the ‘/tmp’ directory, including ‘file1.txt’ and ‘file2.txt’ from the ‘/home/user’ directory.
Use case 3: Create a gzipped archive from a directory using relative paths
Code:
tar czf path/to/target.tar.gz --directory=path/to/directory .
Motivation: This use case is useful when you want to create a gzipped archive from an entire directory, preserving the directory structure.
Explanation:
- ‘c’ flag: Specifies the action to create a new archive.
- ‘z’ flag: Enables gzip compression for the archive.
- ‘f’ flag: Indicates that the following argument is the filename of the archive.
- ‘path/to/target.tar.gz’: Specifies the path and filename of the target archive.
- ‘–directory=path/to/directory’: Changes to the specified directory before adding files to the archive.
- ‘.’: Specifies that all files and subdirectories under the current directory should be included in the archive.
Example output:
If the command is executed as follows:
tar czf /tmp/archive.tar.gz --directory=/home/user .
The command will create a gzipped tar archive named ‘archive.tar.gz’ in the ‘/tmp’ directory, including all files and subdirectories under the ‘/home/user’ directory.
Use case 4: Extract a (compressed) archive file into the current directory verbosely
Code:
tar xvf path/to/source.tar[.gz|.bz2|.xz]
Motivation: This use case allows you to extract the contents of a tar archive, displaying the verbose output to see the progress and details of the extraction.
Explanation:
- ‘x’ flag: Specifies the action to extract files from the archive.
- ‘v’ flag: Displays verbose output during extraction.
- ‘f’ flag: Indicates that the following argument is the filename of the source archive.
- ‘path/to/source.tar[.gz|.bz2|.xz]’: Specifies the path and filename of the source archive.
Example output:
If the command is executed as follows:
tar xvf /tmp/archive.tar.gz
The command will extract the contents of the ‘archive.tar.gz’ into the current directory, displaying the verbose output with the list of extracted files.
Use case 5: Extract a (compressed) archive file into the target directory
Code:
tar xf path/to/source.tar[.gz|.bz2|.xz] --directory=path/to/directory
Motivation: This use case is useful when you want to extract the contents of a tar archive into a specific target directory.
Explanation:
- ‘x’ flag: Specifies the action to extract files from the archive.
- ‘f’ flag: Indicates that the following argument is the filename of the source archive.
- ‘path/to/source.tar[.gz|.bz2|.xz]’: Specifies the path and filename of the source archive.
- ‘–directory=path/to/directory’: Changes to the specified directory before extracting files from the archive.
Example output:
If the command is executed as follows:
tar xf /tmp/archive.tar.gz --directory=/home/user
The command will extract the contents of the ‘archive.tar.gz’ into the ‘/home/user’ directory.
Use case 6: Create a compressed archive and write it to a file, using the file extension to automatically determine the compression program
Code:
tar caf path/to/target.tar.xz path/to/file1 path/to/file2 ...
Motivation: This use case allows you to create a compressed archive while automatically determining the compression program based on the file extension (.tar.xz).
Explanation:
- ‘c’ flag: Specifies the action to create a new archive.
- ‘a’ flag: Automatically determines the compression program based on the file extension.
- ‘f’ flag: Indicates that the following argument is the filename of the archive.
- ‘path/to/target.tar.xz’: Specifies the path and filename of the target archive.
- ‘path/to/file1 path/to/file2 …’: Specifies the path and filename(s) of the file(s) to be included in the archive.
Example output:
If the command is executed as follows:
tar caf /tmp/archive.tar.xz /home/user/file1.txt /home/user/file2.txt
The command will create a compressed tar archive named ‘archive.tar.xz’ in the ‘/tmp’ directory, including ‘file1.txt’ and ‘file2.txt’ from the ‘/home/user’ directory.
Use case 7: List the contents of a tar file verbosely
Code:
tar tvf path/to/source.tar
Motivation: This use case allows you to view the contents of a tar archive in a verbose format, displaying detailed information about each file stored in the archive.
Explanation:
- ’t’ flag: Specifies the action to display the contents of the archive.
- ‘v’ flag: Displays verbose output during listing.
- ‘f’ flag: Indicates that the following argument is the filename of the source archive.
- ‘path/to/source.tar’: Specifies the path and filename of the source archive.
Example output:
If the command is executed as follows:
tar tvf /tmp/archive.tar
The command will list the contents of the ‘archive.tar’ in a verbose format, showing the file names and additional information such as permissions, owner, size, and modification timestamp.
Use case 8: Extract files matching a pattern from an archive file
Code:
tar xf path/to/source.tar --wildcards "*.html"
Motivation: This use case allows you to extract specific files from a tar archive using a wildcard pattern, which can be handy when you only need to retrieve certain files matching a specific pattern.
Explanation:
- ‘x’ flag: Specifies the action to extract files from the archive.
- ‘f’ flag: Indicates that the following argument is the filename of the source archive.
- ‘path/to/source.tar’: Specifies the path and filename of the source archive.
- ‘–wildcards “*.html”’: Specifies the wildcard pattern for selecting files to be extracted. In this example, it selects all files with the extension ‘.html’.
Example output:
If the command is executed as follows:
tar xf /tmp/archive.tar --wildcards "*.html"
The command will extract all files with the extension ‘.html’ from the ‘archive.tar’ into the current directory.
