CheatPress

tar Archive files

Version 1.35 · source

tar, Postcard, light preview Light · Postcard 102 × 152 mm · PDF tar, Postcard, dark preview Dark · Postcard 102 × 152 mm · PDF tar, Postcard, ink saver preview Ink saver · Postcard 102 × 152 mm · PDF
tar, A5, light preview Light · A5 148 × 210 mm · PDF tar, A5, dark preview Dark · A5 148 × 210 mm · PDF tar, A5, ink saver preview Ink saver · A5 148 × 210 mm · PDF
tar, A4, light preview Light · A4 210 × 297 mm · PDF tar, A4, dark preview Dark · A4 210 × 297 mm · PDF tar, A4, ink saver preview Ink saver · A4 210 × 297 mm · PDF
tar, A4 landscape, light preview Light · A4 landscape 297 × 210 mm · PDF tar, A4 landscape, dark preview Dark · A4 landscape 297 × 210 mm · PDF tar, A4 landscape, ink saver preview Ink saver · A4 landscape 297 × 210 mm · PDF
tar, A3, light preview Light · A3 297 × 420 mm · PDF tar, A3, dark preview Dark · A3 297 × 420 mm · PDF tar, A3, ink saver preview Ink saver · A3 297 × 420 mm · PDF
tar, A3 landscape, light preview Light · A3 landscape 420 × 297 mm · PDF tar, A3 landscape, dark preview Dark · A3 landscape 420 × 297 mm · PDF tar, A3 landscape, ink saver preview Ink saver · A3 landscape 420 × 297 mm · PDF
tar, Letter, light preview Light · Letter 8.5 × 11 in · PDF tar, Letter, dark preview Dark · Letter 8.5 × 11 in · PDF tar, Letter, ink saver preview Ink saver · Letter 8.5 × 11 in · PDF
tar, Tabloid, light preview Light · Tabloid 11 × 17 in · PDF tar, Tabloid, dark preview Dark · Tabloid 11 × 17 in · PDF tar, Tabloid, ink saver preview Ink saver · Tabloid 11 × 17 in · PDF

Start here

tar -czf <out.tar.gz> <path>
Pack and gzip
tar -xf <archive>
Unpack here
tar -tf <archive>
List contents
tar -xf <archive> -C <dir>
Unpack elsewhere
tar -xf <archive> <member>
Extract one file
tar -cJf <out.tar.xz> <path>
Pack with xz
tar -czf <out.tar.gz> --exclude=<pat> <path>
Skip files
tar -tvf <archive>
Verbose listing

Concepts

  1. Files on disk
  2. Archive .tar
  3. Compressed .tar.gz .bz2 .xz
  4. Files restored

Create

tar -cf <out.tar> <path>...
Create an archive
tar -czf <out.tar.gz> <path>...
Create gzip archive
tar -cjf <out.tar.bz2> <path>...
Create bzip2 archive
tar -cJf <out.tar.xz> <path>...
Create xz archive
tar --zstd -cf <out.tar.zst> <path>...
Create zstd archive
Needs the zstd program installed.
tar -czvf <out.tar.gz> <path>
Create, list files as added
tar -czf <out.tar.gz> -C <dir> .
Pack a dir's contents, no prefix
tar -rf <out.tar> <path>
Append to an uncompressed archive
Does not work on compressed archives.
tar -uf <out.tar> <path>
Append only newer files
tar -cf - <path> | gzip > <out.tar.gz>
Write the archive to stdout

Extract

tar -xf <archive>
Extract everything
tar -xf <archive> -C <dir>
Extract into a directory
The directory must already exist.
tar -xzf <archive>
Extract, forcing gzip
tar -xf <archive> <member>...
Extract named members only
tar -xf <archive> --wildcards '*.conf'
Extract members by pattern
tar -xf <archive> --strip-components=1
Drop leading path levels
tar -xvf <archive>
Extract and show names
tar -xf <archive> --keep-old-files
Never overwrite existing files
tar -xf <archive> --one-top-level
Extract into a dir named after archive
tar -xpf <archive>
Keep permissions as stored
Permissions are kept by default only when running as root.
tar -xf <archive> -O <member>
Print one member to stdout

List and check

tar -tf <archive>
List member names
tar -tvf <archive>
List with size, owner, date
tar -tf <archive> | grep <pat>
Find a file in an archive
tar -df <archive>
Compare archive with disk
tar -tf <archive> | head
Peek at the first entries

Select files

--exclude=<pattern>
Skip matching names
Put it before the paths to archive; quote the pattern.
--exclude-from=<file>
Read exclude patterns from file
--exclude-vcs
Skip .git, .svn and similar
--exclude-vcs-ignores
Honour .gitignore-style files
--exclude-caches
Skip dirs tagged CACHEDIR.TAG
-C <dir>
Change directory first
Applies to the names after it, so it can appear several times.
-T <file>
Read paths from a file
--null -T <file>
Read NUL-separated paths
--no-recursion
Do not descend into dirs
--newer=<date>
Only files changed after a date
--one-file-system
Stay on one filesystem

Compression

-z / --gzip
Filter through gzip
-j / --bzip2
Filter through bzip2
-J / --xz
Filter through xz
--zstd
Filter through zstd
-a / --auto-compress
Pick compressor from the suffix
Used when creating: -caf out.tar.xz picks xz.
-I '<prog> -9'
Use a custom compress program
--use-compress-program=<prog>
Same, long form

Metadata and safety

--numeric-owner
Store uid/gid numbers, not names
--owner=<name> --group=<name>
Force ownership in archive
--same-owner
Restore ownership on extract
--xattrs --acls
Keep extended attributes and ACLs
--mtime=<date>
Set all times, for reproducible archives
--sort=name
Stable member order
-h / --dereference
Archive link targets, not links
-P / --absolute-names
Keep leading / in names
Risky; by default tar strips the leading slash.
--remove-files
Delete sources after archiving
-S / --sparse
Store sparse files compactly
--checkpoint=<n> --checkpoint-action=dot
Show progress dots

Recipes

Backup a project, skipping junk
tar -czf proj.tar.gz \  --exclude-vcs --exclude='node_modules' \  -C ~/code proj
Copy a tree over ssh
tar -cf - -C <src> . | ssh <host> 'tar -xf - -C <dst>'# no temporary archive on either side
Pull one file out of a big archive
tar -tf big.tar.gz | grep app.conftar -xzf big.tar.gz path/to/app.conf -C /tmp
Unpack a release tarball flat
tar -xzf app-1.2.tar.gz --strip-components=1 -C /opt/app