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tar

Introduction​

This cheat sheet provides a quick reference for common concepts and commands related to the tar command in Linux. tar is used for creating and manipulating tar archives, which are commonly used for bundling files and directories.

tar Concepts​

Basic Usage​

tar is primarily used for creating and extracting tar archives.

  • Create a tar archive from files or directories:

    tar -cvf archive.tar file1 file2 directory/

  • Extract files from a tar archive:

    tar -xvf archive.tar

Compression​

tar can compress archives using various compression algorithms.

  • Create a compressed tar.gz archive:

    tar -czvf archive.tar.gz file1 file2 directory/

  • Extract files from a compressed tar.gz archive:

    tar -xzvf archive.tar.gz

Archive Listing​

View the contents of a tar archive without extracting it.

  • List the contents of a tar archive:

    tar -tvf archive.tar

  • List the contents of a compressed tar.gz archive:

    tar -tzvf archive.tar.gz

Extracting to a Specific Directory​

Specify the destination directory when extracting files.

  • Extract files to a specific directory:
    tar -xvf archive.tar -C /path/to/destination/

Combining Files​

You can use tar to combine multiple tar archives.

  • Append files to an existing archive:
    tar -rvf existing-archive.tar newfile

Compression Algorithms​

tar supports various compression algorithms.

  • Create a compressed tar.bz2 archive:

    tar -cjvf archive.tar.bz2 file1 file2 directory/

  • Extract files from a compressed tar.bz2 archive:

    tar -xjvf archive.tar.bz2

Working with Remote Servers​

tar can be used to transfer files and directories over SSH.

  • Create a tar archive and send it to a remote server:

    tar -czvf - directory/ | ssh user@remote "cat > /path/to/remote/archive.tar.gz"

  • Extract a remote tar archive on the local machine:

    ssh user@remote "cat /path/to/remote/archive.tar.gz" | tar -xzvf -

tar Command-Line​

  • Create a tar archive from files or directories:

    tar -cvf archive.tar file1 file2 directory/

  • Extract files from a tar archive:

    tar -xvf archive.tar

  • Create a compressed tar.gz archive:

    tar -czvf archive.tar.gz file1 file2 directory/

  • Extract files from a compressed tar.gz archive:

    tar -xzvf archive.tar.gz

  • List the contents of a tar archive:

    tar -tvf archive.tar

  • Extract files to a specific directory:

    tar -xvf archive.tar -C /path/to/destination/

  • Append files to an existing archive:

    tar -rvf existing-archive.tar newfile

  • Create a compressed tar.bz2 archive:

    tar -cjvf archive.tar.bz2 file1 file2 directory/

  • Extract files from a compressed tar.bz2 archive:

    tar -xjvf archive.tar.bz2

  • Create a tar archive and send it to a remote server:

    tar -czvf - directory/ | ssh user@remote "cat > /path/to/remote/archive.tar.gz"

  • Extract a remote tar archive on the local machine:

    ssh user@remote "cat /path/to/remote/archive.tar.gz" | tar -xzvf -

Conclusion​

This cheat sheet covers common concepts and commands for using the tar command in Linux. tar is a versatile tool for creating and manipulating tar archives, making it essential for bundling and compressing files and directories; refer to the tar manual for more in-depth information and advanced usage.