Untar Tar gz Linux Tar Command HowTo: Extract Tar File
If you’re using a Linux OS, you can open the tar archive just as you open any other directory. The .tar section of the file extension stands for “tape archive”. Even though most of us have hard drives instead of magnetic tape, we still call them tar files. A user-friendly way to extract files from a .tar.gz archive is via a Graphical User Interface (GUI). A GUI is more suitable for beginners than a command-line tool. In this guide, you will learn how to extract or unzip .tar.gz files in Linux.
How to Extract Tar Files to a Specific Directory
The tar program takes one or more files and “wraps” them into a self-contained file. Similar to the previous error, this error occurs when an archive was saved as a .tar despite not being a .tar archive. You can also add the verbose output option (-v) to provide detailed listings, including dates, securities/permissions, and more. This example uses example1.tar.gz in the Home directory. Rest assured that your email address will remain private and will not be published or shared with anyone. We prioritize the privacy and security of our users.
Linux Server Monitoring Tools
Knowing how to unzip a .tar.gz file allows users to extract and access the archives’ contents efficiently. Moreover, if you want to extract the tar file at different location you can use the option -C, which specifies change to directory before performing any operations. Both commands will have the same effect, because current working directory doesn’t matter when you use absolute path. Any path that starts with a forward slash / is an absolute path. Whether you prefer command-line tools or graphical file archivers, the extraction process is pretty simple. When the archive is extracted, these attributes are restored.
This command extracts (-x) the file (-f) specified (in this case, filename.tar.gz) to the current directory. Note that this command also works with other common compression formats such as .tar.bz2. From videos to entire software packages, many files are compressed and stored using the .tar.gz format. While extracting a .tar.gz file isn’t quite as easy as unzipping a .zip, it’s still pretty straightforward.
List the Contents of a tar, tar.gz, tar.bz2 Files
Any remotely modern version of tar should auto-detect that the archive is gzipped, and add “z” for you. If you plan to distribute and store .tar.gz files on your website, Kinsta’s managed hosting services can help make the most of your space. You can also use –wildcards to extract all files with a certain extension or name. Otherwise, keep reading to learn how to unzip .tar.gz files in Linux, macOS, and Windows.
This format is common in the Unix/Linux world and is widely used to create compressed archives. But it does not compress the data, which results in a larger file size compared to compressed formats. Ubuntu LTS (Long-Term Support) versions, known for their stability and extended support periods, are typically released every two years in April.
- You can easily unzip the resulting .tar.gz file with the decompress (-d) option.
- This means it takes all the specified files and puts them together into one container.
- Where most operating systems make it easy to extract and create .zip files, the same can’t really be said for .tar files — at least not in ways that are easy to notice.
- Technical details aside, all you need to remember is that .zip files are more accessible but less space-efficient, while .tar files are less accessible but more space-efficient.
These are popular for organizations and users who require a reliable and well-supported Ubuntu operating system. Many of the downloadable Linux/Unix files found on the internet are compressed using a tar.gz format. Therefore, knowing how to open or untar tar.gz files is very useful. This is because most versions of tar allow both gnu and bsd style options (simplistically, gnu requires a hyphen, bsd doesn’t). You can easily unzip the resulting .tar.gz file with etoro share dealing review the decompress (-d) option.
Short for “Tape ARchive,” the name “TAR” is a throwback to when files were stored on magnetic tape drives. If you want to extract the files to a location other than the current directory, you’ll need to specify a target directory using the -c option (specified directory). On the other hand, Windows users can rely on third-party file archiver tools like 7-zip or WinRAR to effortlessly extract files.
Using third-party tools
For example, it goes without saying, that it is inadvisable to untar the whole large archive if you need for example to extract only a dingle file or a directory from it. The -p (parents) option lets mkdir create and parent directories you need. Now we will extract the contents of documents.tgz file to separate /tmp/tgz/ directory. The how to set a stop loss and take profit tar command is one of the utilities that you can use to create a backup on a Linux system. It includes many options that one can use to specify the task to achieve.
If you want to untar a tar file, you’ll need the -x and -f options. You can use the tar command to unzip or extract a .tar.gz file using command line in Ubuntu. It also integrates with the Windows Explorer context menu, which enables users to create and extract archives directly from the right-click menu. You can easily extract .tar.gz files using third-party tools like 7 zip and Winrar on the Windows system.
7-Zip is a free and open-source tool with high compression ratios & supports a wide range of archive formats. It offers AES-256 encryption to protect sensitive data within archives. Users can utilize the 7-zip command-line interface for automated & scripted extraction tasks.
Extract Files from a .tar.gz via GUI
Now we will be unpacking the documents.tbz2 files to /tmp/tar.bz2/ directory. In the above example, I used the -v option to monitor the progress of the tar extraction. You may also be interested in learning about the best WinZip alternatives to compress files. These files can be used in incremental backup strategies – where only new or modified files are added to the archive.
The .gz extension indicates the gzip program is used for compression. This error usually occurs when a .tar has been saved as a .gz despite having never been compressed using the gzip utility. It may sound like a silly mistake, but it’s surprisingly common in situations where users directly rename files and their extensions (such as .tar and .gz) in the process.
It’s important to note that we moderate all comments in accordance with our comment make money coding policy to ensure a respectful and constructive conversation. Let me also use the –directory option instead of -c for the example above. This simplifies file management and reduces the risk of data loss during transfers. The Ubuntu logo, often called the “Circle of Friends,” comprises three people holding hands.
That means they maintain their original characteristics. This compression is lossless – that means no data is lost during the compression process, and the original files can be fully restored upon extraction. Perhaps you might also be interested in learning how to unzip files in Linux. This error occurs if you try to decompress a file without specifying a decompression utility, specifically -z for gzip.
Gzip compression reduces the overall file size, which makes it more efficient for distribution, backup, and storage purposes. It just bundles files & directories together while preserving their file structure and metadata. This means it takes all the specified files and puts them together into one container. Then we’ll jump into the step-by-step process of unzipping on both Linux and Windows platforms. However, while tools like 7-Zip are free, many more “robust” solutions are only available for a price after a trial period.
