Tar Command Cheatsheet

The tar command in Linux is used for archiving and compressing files and directories. It is a versatile utility with various options for creating, extracting, and managing archive files.

1. Create a Tar Archive:

To create a new tar archive, use the following command:

tar -cvf archive.tar file1 file2 directory/

• -c: Create a new archive.
• -v: Verbose mode (display progress).
• -f: Specify the archive file name.

This command will create an archive named archive.tar containing file1, file2, and all contents within the directory/ directory. Adjust the file and directory names as needed.

2. Create a Gzipped Tar Archive:

tar -czvf archive.tar.gz directory/

• -z: Compress the archive with gzip.

3. Extract a Tar Archive:

tar -xvf archive.tar

• -x: Extract files from an archive.

4. Extract a Gzipped Tar Archive:

tar -xzvf archive.tar.gz

• -z: Decompress a gzip-compressed archive.

5. List Contents of an Archive:

tar -tvf archive.tar

• -t: List archive contents.

6. Append Files to an Existing Archive:

tar -rvf archive.tar newfile.txt

• -r: Append files to an existing archive.

7. Create a Tar Archive with Compression (Using XZ):

tar -cJvf archive.tar.xz directory/

• -J: Compress the archive with xz.

8. Extract a Tar Archive with Compression (Using XZ):

tar -xJvf archive.tar.xz

• -J: Decompress an xz-compressed archive.

9. Create a Tar Archive and Exclude Files:

tar --exclude='file1' -cvf archive.tar directory/

• --exclude: Exclude specified files or directories from the archive.

10. Extract a Single File from an Archive:

tar -xvf archive.tar file_to_extract.txt

11. Create a Tar Archive and Set Compression Level (Using Bzip2):

tar -cvjf archive.tar.bz2 directory/

• -j: Compress the archive with bzip2.

12. Extract a Tar Archive with Compression (Using Bzip2):

tar -xjvf archive.tar.bz2

• -j: Decompress a bzip2-compressed archive.

Recommendations:

1. Use tar with options appropriate for your task, such as -c for creating, -x for extracting, and -t for listing.
2. When creating archives, specify a descriptive file name, and use compression options like -z (gzip), -J (xz), or -j (bzip2) for efficient storage.
3. Be cautious when using wildcards like * in archive creation; double-check which files are included.
4. Consider using the --exclude option to omit unnecessary files from your archive.
5. Always verify the contents of an archive with tar -tvf before extracting to avoid surprises.
6. Keep backups of important files before performing archive operations.