To extract to another location in the file system it is best practice to use an absolute path. Extract test_archive.tar into the Music directory. Here we are in the Home directory, and most Linux distributions feature a Music directory which we can extract the archive to.
So we can extract the archive to a sub directory inside a current directory, or we can specify the full path to another location in the file system. Another alternative compression method for a tar archive is bzip2, which is invoked using the j argument. Archives typically end with either a tar.bz2 or tbz suffix.
This error occurs if you try to decompress a file without specifying a decompression utility, specifically -z for gzip. It’s often useful to list the contents of a .tar.gz file without having to unzip the entire archive. The -list (-t) option will output a list of filenames.
- We’re going to use two of the most popular compression methods, gzip and bzip2 along with a tar archive that has no compression.
- This example uses example1.tar.gz in the Home directory.
- As a result, one isn’t necessarily better than the other — it’s all a matter of application.
- Create a bzip2 archive by adding the j argument to the tar command.
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While slightly different, they are quite lightweight and offer a much simpler alternative to using the command line. 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. Extract test_archive.tar to your desktop directory.
How to List Contents of .tar.gz File in Linux
Gzip is one of the most popular and available options, especially since it comes built in to most Linux distributions and macOS. While every tar.gz file is a .tar archive, not every .gz is a .tar file. The .gz extension represents the gzip compression format, which can will smith appeared to slap chris rock after he made a joke about smith’s wife be applied to almost any file format to compress data and save space. Though gzip is the most common compression utility, it’s not the only one. As you might imagine, using a different compression utility on a .tar file will result in a different double extension.
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Some common examples include .tar.bz2 (bzip2), .tar.br (Brotli), and .tar.zst (zstd), among many others. This error usually occurs when a .tar has been saved as a .gz despite having never been compressed using the gzip utility. 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. Using test_directory as a target we’ll make a standard uncompressed .tar archive. This kind of archive is useful to group small files, such as logs into a single archive.
Another common cause of errors is case sensitivity, where Linux treats “FILE” and “file” as two separate entities. If you want to keep the original file after compression, there are two options. The first is the -k option, and the other uses the -c option to output the compressed file to a different file, preserving the original.
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The tar command also provides support for extracting only specific files or directories from a .tar.gz file. Simply add a space-separated list of the files you want to extract. Again, the above commands will extract to the current working directory by default. You can use the -C option to extract to a different directory (in this case, /home/user/files). Of course, that’s not to say .tar files are some kind of “lesser” format than .zip. Rather, they both accomplish the same task (file compression) in the same way.
Easy Ways to Open TAR, TGZ, and TAR.GZ Files on PC & Mac
Compression is added using different tar compression tools which is why you will see tar archives with extra suffixes such as .tar.xz or .tar.gz. Compressing files is a quick and easy way to archive and group files. There are many occasions where archives are useful, a driver download, file backup or Linux distro download. In this how-to we’ll look at various commands to create and extract data from compressed and uncompressed archive files. Like many archive and compression formats, .tar.gz is an effective way to save storage space and make it easier to send large amounts of data. 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.
Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Choose the directory to extract your files to. The output shows a newly created archive example1.tar.gz. However, while tools like 7-Zip are free, many more “robust” solutions are only available for a price after a trial period. As a result, we recommend sticking to free (but trustworthy) tools or simply using the command line. To access the Windows command line, search for “command prompt” or “cmd” in the search bar.
But with .zip being the easier of the two to use, why use .tar in the first place? As we’ll see in the next section, .tar comes with a few extra features that make it the better compression format for certain files and applications. A “.tar” file is a collection of files compressed into a single file or archive. Short for “Tape ARchive,” the name “TAR” is a throwback to when files were stored on magnetic tape drives. Extracting TAR archives is straightforward. Instead of adding the c argument to create an archive we replace it with the x argument.
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This error occurs when trying to extract specific files or directories from a .tar.gz file using tar. If the command line isn’t your thing, there are plenty a complete beginner’s guide to bitcoin of user-friendly tools available to unzip tar.gz files. You can just as easily unzip the resulting .tar.gz file with the decompress (-d) option.
In this guide, you will learn how to extract or unzip .tar.gz files in Linux. You can open most .tar.gz files using the tar command built in to Linux, macOS, how to buy moonriver token and Windows 10. If you’re not comfortable with the terminal or command line, third-party tools such as 7-Zip offer a more user-friendly alternative.
Though both .zip and .tar.gz archive and compress files, they do so in different ways. In other words, .zip is a collection of compressed files, while .tar.gz is a compressed collection of files. Where .zip files consist of many individually compressed files, .tar files are compressed as a single package, leaving its files uncompressed. In other words, .zip files are a collection of compressed files, while .tar files are a compressed collection of files. To extract a gzip compressed tar archive we need to add the z argument to identify that the archive uses the gzip compression method. A gzip compressed tar archive (tar.gz) is one of many popular compression tools for TAR archives and it is common to find a .