Learn / tar command builder

tar command builder

tar packs many files into one archive and, if you want, compresses it. Its letters are hard to remember: choose what you want to do and read why each letter is there.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO

COMPRESSION

NAME OF THE NEW ARCHIVE FOLDER OR FILE TO PUT IN IT

COMMAND

WHAT EACH PART DOES

Good habits. List an archive you received before extracting it (tar -tf), so you know where its files will land. Names with spaces need quotes: the tool adds them for you. Paths are relative to the folder you are in: pwd tells you which one.

Extracting overwrites. Files with the same name in the destination folder are replaced without asking. Extract into a new empty folder when in doubt: mkdir new && tar -xvf backup.tar.gz -C new.

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