From videos to entire software packages, many files are compressed and stored using the .tar.gz format. While extracting a .tar.gz file isn’t quite as easy as unzipping a .zip, it’s still pretty straightforward. The tar command can extract the resulting archives, too. Since .tar.gz compresses multiple files all at once, it can take advantage of similarities between individual files to save on space.
Extract Files to the Specific Directory
While slightly different, they are quite lightweight and offer a much simpler alternative to using the command line. 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. Canonical released its first official version of the OS, Ubuntu 4.10, codenamed ‘Warty Warthog’ in October 2004. Canonical released its ratcoin how to buy first official version of the OS, Ubuntu 4.10, codenamed ‘Warty Warthog’ in October 2004.
Extract Files with gzip
It contains compiled binaries, libraries, configuration files, and metadata required to install and manage software on a Ubuntu system. Now you know how to untar a tar.gz file in Linux. Perhaps you might also be interested in learning how to unzip files in Linux. Gzip is faster, but it generally compresses a bit less, so you get a somewhat larger file. Bzip2 is slower, but it compresses a bit more, so you get a somewhat smaller file.
- So far we’ve just taken a leap of faith and extracted the files sight unseen.
- Tar.gz has become the standard format used for distributing Linux and open source software since it’s easy to extract on basically any platform that isn’t Windows.
- Gzip is also more common, with some stripped-down Linux systems including gzip support by default, but not bzip2 support.
- Thankfully, you don’t need to be a 1960s computer technician to use and extract .tar files – nor do modern .tar files even have anything to do with old computers.
Compressing Files using the tar Command
In other words, .zip files are a collection of compressed files, while .tar files are a compressed collection of files. You’ll want to replace “tarfile” with the path to the tar.gz file that you’re trying to extract. For a more detailed explanation on how the tar command works, be sure to read our guide to compressing and how to invest in an ieo on binance extracting files in the Linux Terminal.
Troubleshooting Common Errors
As a result, we recommend sticking to free (but trustworthy) tools or storing bitcoins in a wallet simply using the command line. You can also use –wildcards to extract all files with a certain extension or name. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Ubuntu Core is a minimalistic and immutable version explicitly designed for the Internet of Things (IoT) and embedded systems.
So far we’ve just taken a leap of faith and extracted the files sight unseen. You can review the contents of a tar file before you extract it by using the -t (list) option. It is usually convenient to pipe the output through the less command. 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.
This is because it’s the combination of two processes. 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. You can open most .tar.gz files using the tar command built in to Linux, macOS, and Windows 10. 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’ll encounter them frequently while using a Linux distribution like Ubuntu or even while using the terminal on macOS. Here’s how to extract — or untar — the contents of a tar file, also known as a tarball. Like the tar utility, gzip also allows you to zip and unzip multiple files or entire directories at a time.