Short for “Tape ARchive,” the name “TAR” is a throwback to when files were stored on magnetic tape drives. Knowing how to unzip a .tar.gz file allows users to extract and access the archives’ contents efficiently. 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.

Thankfully, unless you’re somehow missing your tar or gzip utility, most common errors are very easy to fix. This command will extract (-x) the file (-f) specified (in this case, filename.tar.gz) to the current directory. Note that this command also works with other common compression https://www.cryptominer.services/ formats such as .tar.bz2. If that’s not entirely clear, don’t worry. As a result, one isn’t necessarily better than the other — it’s all a matter of application. People new to the .tar format usually equate it to a .zip archive, but a tar archive is not compressed.

Extract Files with gzip

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. Sometimes you need to view the content of a tar file as it collects many files and ensures if a specific file is present. After reading this article, you know how to extract or unzip .tar.gz file in Linux using different methods and tools. The command extracts files to a new directory called example1, which is located in the current directory.

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. 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 organizations and users who require a reliable and well-supported Ubuntu operating system.

In this guide, you will learn how to extract or unzip .tar.gz files in Linux. In this example, the user tried to extract the file titled “FILE” from filename.tar.gz. However, tar was unable to find FILE within .tar.gz, meaning that the user either misspelled the name or that the file simply doesn’t exist in filename.tar.gz. Another common cause of errors is case sensitivity, where Linux treats “FILE” and “file” as two separate entities. If you want to keep the original file after compression, there are two options.

Rather, they both accomplish the same task (file compression) in the same way. Here’s a breakdown of how it all works. It’s often useful to list the contents of a .tar.gz file without having to unzip the entire archive. The -list (-t) option will output a https://www.crypto-trading.info/ list of filenames. Note that this command will throw an error unless you specify the exact filename listed in the .tar file. As we’ll cover more in the next section, you can verify file names by listing contents with the tar -tf filename.tar.gz command.

For sending and storing, both .zip and .tar.gz files will allow you to send relatively large packages as a single file. However, there are some pretty major differences when it comes to accessing data within the files and the compression efficiency. A “.tar” file is a collection of files compressed into a single file or archive.

Canonical released its first official version of the OS, Ubuntu 4.10, codenamed ‘Warty Warthog’ in October 2004. Most Linux distributions come https://www.cryptonews.wiki/ with the tar command pre-installed by default. For more information and to schedule a live demo, contact a hosting expert from Kinsta today.

Some common examples include .tar.bz2 (bzip2), .tar.br (Brotli), and .tar.zst (zstd), among many others. Like many archive and compression formats, .tar.gz is an effective way to save storage space and make it easier to send large amounts of data. If you plan to distribute and store .tar.gz files on your website, Kinsta’s managed hosting services can help make the most of your space. Where commands have little (if any) room for typos or omissions, many common errors are the result of small mistakes, misspellings, or incorrect formats.

Many of the downloadable Linux/Unix files found on the internet are compressed using a tar.gz format. Therefore, knowing how to open or untar tar.gz files is very useful. Similar to the previous error, this error occurs when an archive was saved as a .tar despite not being a .tar archive.

Unzip .tar.gz From stdin in Linux

The name “Tar” stands for “Tape Archiver” because it was used to place data on storage tapes when tar was invented. A .tar.gz file is nothing but an archive. The tar program takes one or more files and “wraps” them into a self-contained file. This example uses example1.tar.gz in the Home directory. While there are many tools to choose from, the most popular include 7-Zip and WinZip.

1. Another common cause of errors is case sensitivity, where Linux treats “FILE” and “file” as two separate entities.
2. However, there are also many third-party tools you can install for a more user-friendly experience.
3. This error occurs if you try to decompress a file without specifying a decompression utility, specifically -z for gzip.
4. These are popular for organizations and users who require a reliable and well-supported Ubuntu operating system.
5. If you’re not comfortable with the terminal or command line, third-party tools such as 7-Zip offer a more user-friendly alternative.
6. It contains compiled binaries, libraries, configuration files, and metadata required to install and manage software on a Ubuntu system.

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. A user-friendly way to extract files from a .tar.gz archive is via a Graphical User Interface (GUI). A GUI is more suitable for beginners than a command-line tool. This error occurs when trying to extract specific files or directories from a .tar.gz file using tar.

How to Unzip .tar.gz in Linux via Terminal

Choose the directory to extract your files to. The output shows a newly created archive example1.tar.gz. However, while tools like 7-Zip are free, many more “robust” solutions are only available for a price after a trial period. As a result, we recommend sticking to free (but trustworthy) tools or simply using the command line.

While slightly different, they are quite lightweight and offer a much simpler alternative to using the command line. 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.

tar: Unrecognized archive format

This error occurs if you try to decompress a file without specifying a decompression utility, specifically -z for gzip. With the command prompt open, use the appropriate commands to change the current working directory (cd) to the location of the .tar.gz file you want to unzip. Alternatively, you can also specify a source and destination file path when using the tar utility. Again, the above commands will extract to the current working directory by default.