The tar
command can be used to archive files, originally designed for storing data on Tape archives. It allows you to store multiple files and directories as a single file while retaining all the file attributes, such as owner, permissions, and so on. The file created by the tar
command is often referred to as a tarball. In this recipe, we will learn how to create archives using tar
.
The tar
command comes by default with all Unix-like operating systems. It has a simple syntax and is a portable file format. It supports these arguments: A
, c
, d
, r
, t
, u
, x
, f
, and v
. Each of these options can be used independently for different purposes corresponding to it.
We can use tar to create archives, and perform operations on existing archives. Let's see how:
To archive files with tar, use the following syntax:
$ tar -cf output.tar [SOURCES]
For example:
$ tar -cf output.tar file1 file2 file3 folder1 ..
To list files in an archive, use the
-t
option:$ tar...