js (Javascript files), you would use: tar -xf -wildcards '*.js' Extracting tar.gz File from stdin # You can also extract files from a tar.gz file based on a wildcard pattern, by using the -wildcards option and quoting the pattern to prevent the shell from interpreting it.įor example, to extract files whose names end in. Tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors If you attempt to extract a file that does not exist, you will see an error message similar to the one below: tar -xf README tar: README: Not found in archive To extract one or more directories from an archive, you can follow the same process as extracting individual files: tar -xf dir1 dir2 When extracting files, you must provide their exact names along with the path, as listed by tar -list ( tar -t). To extract specific files from a tar.gz archive, include a space-separated list of the file names after the archive name: tar -xf file1 file2 Extracting Specific Files from a tar.gz File # On Windows computers, you can use a software tool called 7zip To extract (unzip) a tar.gz file, right-click on the file you want to extract and select “Extract”. If you’re a desktop user and prefer not to use the command-line interface, you can use your File manager instead. Use the -directory ( -C) option to specify a directory in which you want to unpack the archive.įor instance, to extract the archive contents to the /home/linuxize/files directory, you can use the following command: tar -xf -C /home/linuxize/files tar -xvf īy default, tar extracts the archive contents in the current working directory The -v option makes the tar command more visible and prints the names of the files being extracted on the terminal. You can use the same command to extract tar archives compressed with other algorithms such as. The tar command will auto-detect the compression type and extract the archive. To extract a tar.gz file, use the -extract ( -x) option and specify the archive file name after the f option: tar -xf The tar command is pre-installed by default on most Linux distributions and macOS. This article will teach you how to extract (or unzip) tar.gz and tgz archives. tar archive compressed with gzip.īesides creating new archives, the tar command can also be used for various other operations, including extracting tar archives, displaying a list of files included in the archive, and adding additional files to an existing archive. By convention, the name of a tar archive compressed with gzip should end with either. Is the most popular algorithm for compressing tar files.

Tar was originally designed for creating archives to store files on magnetic tape which is why it is named “ Tape ARchive”.

It supports a vast range of compression programs such as gzip, bzip2, lzip, lzma, lzop, xz and compress. In Linux and Unix systems, you can create tar archives using the tar command. These archives are mostly used for backup or software distribution purposes. Tar archives, often referred to as tarballs, are created by converting a group of files into an archive. Open-source packages are often distributed in. If you are using open-source software, chances are you encounter.

Linux untar to correct directory