Note that this command will throw an error unless you specify the exact filename listed in the .tar file. As we cover more in the next section, you can verify file names by listing contents with the tar -tf filename.tar.gz command. Compressing and extracting these files, however, isn’t always intuitive. This article provides detailed guides to unzip .tar.gz files in Linux and Windows, as well as a few helpful tips and tricks. DEB is the native and most common package format Ubuntu and other Debian-based Linux distributions use. It contains compiled binaries, libraries, configuration files, and metadata required to install and manage software on a Ubuntu system.
Likewise, we don’t need the -j option to list the files in a tar.bz2 file. Files that have a .tar.gz or a .tar.bz2 extension are compressed archive files. A file with just a .tar extension is uncompressed, but those will be very rare. This format is common in the Unix/Linux world and is widely used to create compressed archives.
Method 1: Using the Command Line
Sometimes you need to view the content of a tar file as it collects many files and ensures if a specific file is present. You can choose which files to extract from the archive. To do so, simply pass the file names with the default command.
The .gz or .bz2 extension suffix indicates that the archive has been compressed, using either the gzip or bzip2 compression algorithm. The tar command will work happily with both types of file, so it doesn’t matter which compression method was used — and it should be available everywhere you have a Bash shell. You just need to use the appropriate tar command line options. Gzip compression uses a checksum to make sure data integrity.
Note that if you are working with TAR files, you can remove the -z flag from the commands. To extract all the files from a directory within a tar file use the following command. Note that the path is wrapped in quotation marks because there are spaces in the path. If we want to extract the files to a location other than the current directory, we can specify a target directory using the -C (specified directory) option.
What command do I need to unzip/extract a .tar.gz file?
To extract a single file, provide the path and the name of the file. The -p (parents) option causes mkdir to create any parent directories that are required, ensuring the target directory is created. As the files are extracted, they are listed in the terminal window. It also integrates with the Windows Explorer context menu, which enables users to create and extract archives directly from the right-click menu. You can easily extract .tar.gz files using third-party tools like 7 zip and Winrar on the Windows system. You can open most .tar.gz files using the tar command built in to Linux, macOS, and Windows 10.
Canonical released its first official version of the OS, Ubuntu 4.10, codenamed ‘Warty Warthog’ in October 2004. If you find this article helpful or have additional ideas, please use the comment box below. This simplifies file management and reduces the risk of data loss during transfers.
You will learn how to list the contents of a tar archive without unpacking it and how to extract only a single file or a single directory. The most often used algorithm for compressing tar files is Gzip. By convention, the name of a tar archive compressed with gzip becomes .tar.gz or .tgz. To do this we’ll use almost exactly the same command as before but with one important difference. The .bz2 extension suffix tells us it has been compressed using the bzip2 command.
- This example uses example1.tar.gz in the Home directory.
- It also integrates with the Windows Explorer context menu, which enables users to create and extract archives directly from the right-click menu.
- You’ll encounter them frequently while using a Linux distribution like Ubuntu or even while using the terminal on macOS.
- If we want to extract the files to a location other than the current directory, we can specify a target directory using the -C (specified directory) option.
Right-click the first result and select the “Run as administrator” option. Ubuntu Core is a minimalistic and immutable version explicitly designed for the Internet of Things (IoT) and embedded systems. It is based on Ubuntu and tailored for use in scenarios where reliability, security, and ease of maintenance are critical, relying on the Snap package and atomic transactional updates. Ubuntu versions are usually named using an alliterative adjective and an animal name, both starting with the same letter. The Ubuntu logo, often called the «Circle of Friends,» comprises three people holding hands. It signifies the strong sense of community and interconnectedness at the core of Ubuntu’s philosophy.
If you’re not comfortable with the terminal or command line, third-party tools such as 7-Zip offer a more user-friendly alternative. You can also add the verbose output option (-v) to provide detailed listings, including dates, securities/permissions, and more. Otherwise, keep reading to learn how to unzip .tar.gz files in Linux, macOS, and Windows. Any remotely modern version of tar should auto-detect that the archive is gzipped, and add «z» for you. The -C option is used to specify a different directory other than the current working directory.
How to Unzip or Extract TAR and TAR.GZ
Locate the compressed archive file and right-click on it to bring up the menu. Similarly, you can unzip specific directories from the archive as well. Creating archives is an important step when you’re backing up your Linux file system. This ensures that your backup remains unaffected and the files don’t corrupt if anything breaks on your system. Once you’ve downloaded and installed 7-Zip, double-click on the tar.gz file that you’re trying to open, and then select «Choose an app on your PC» from the popup dialog that shows up.
How to Unzip .tar.gz in Linux using tar
You can easily unzip the resulting .tar.gz file with the decompress (-d) option. This is because most versions of tar allow both gnu and bsd style options (simplistically, gnu requires a hyphen, bsd doesn’t). See the help file (7-zip.chm) in the install directory for more info on the command line commands and switches. For example, it goes without saying, that it is inadvisable to untar the whole large archive if you need for example to extract only a dingle file or a directory from it. Ubuntu LTS (Long-Term Support) versions, known for their stability and extended support periods, are typically released every two years in April. These are popular for what is the inventory turnover ratio organizations and users who require a reliable and well-supported Ubuntu operating system.
List the files in the directory with ls and you’ll see that a directory has been created called Ukulele Songs. It was contained in the tar file, and was extracted along with the files. 7-Zip is a free and open-source tool with high compression ratios & supports a wide range of archive formats.