Linux tar Command

The tar(tape archive) command bundles a bunch of files together and creates an archive on a tape, disk drive etc.


Simple way for creating a tar file.
Go to the relevant path.In our example go to the path where "myfolder" resides.So if I want to add files in myfolder to a tar file issue below command.It will create the tar file in /my location.


tar -cvf  /my/test.tar  myfolder


How to untar...
Go to the location where you want to untar the files/folder and issue below command.


tar -xvf  /my/test.tar


You can use below command to list the contents of a tar file to a log.


tar -tvf  test.tar  > temp/test.log




Options available with tar command:


c Create a new archive.
t List the contents of an archive.
x Extract the contents of an archive.
f The archive file name is given on the command line (required whenever the tar output is going to a file)
M The archive can span multiple floppies.
v Print verbose output (list file names as they are processed).
u Add files to the archive if they are newer than the copy in the tar file.
z Compress or decompress files automatically.