An archive is a special file that contains any number of files inside. It can be restored via special programs, for example, tar.inside.
- .tar – archive files are usually not compressed.
- .tar.gz – archive file compressed with gzip tool
- .tar.bz2 – archive file compressed with bzip2 tool
Syntax:
tar options [archive_name.tar] files_to_archive
The tar command does not create a compressed archive, instead, it uses external utilities like gzip and bzip2.
Command functionality:
Option | Full format | Description |
---|---|---|
-a | –concatenate | Concentrate two archives |
-c | –create | Creating a new archive |
-d |
–diff –delete |
Showing the difference between archives Delete file from the archive |
-r | –append | add files at the end of the existing archive |
-t | –list | Show archive content |
-u | –update | Update an archive |
-x | –extract | Extract files from the archive |
Command parameters:
Parameter | Full format | Description |
---|---|---|
-C dir | –directory=DIR | change directory before executing |
-f | –file=ARCHIVE | Use specified archive file |
-j | –bzip2 | compress using bzip2 |
-p | –same-permissions | Save file permissions to file |
-v |
–verbose –total |
Show process information Show final result |
-z | –gzip | compress using gzip |
Example of using the tar command:
1) Compress one file using the tar command:
tar -czvf one-file-compressed.tar.gz hello_world
2) Compress directory using the tar command:
tar -czvf dir-compressed.tar.gz test_directory/
3) Show the archive content:
tar -tf archive.tar.gz
4) Add content to the existing archive:
tar -rvf existing-archive-name.tar file-directory-to-compress/
5) Update content in an archive:
6) Compress with bzip2:
tar -cjvf one-file-compressed.tar.bz2 hello_world
7) Extract files from a .tar archive:
tar -xf archive.tar.gz
The same with .tar.gz and .tar.bz2