Introduction to 'tar xz - CSS'

Overview

When dealing with large files or archives, it is often necessary to compress them to save storage space or transfer time. One of the most commonly used compression formats is the tarball compressed with gzip.

Tar is a utility program used to create and manipulate archive files. Gzip, on the other hand, is a compression algorithm that is often used to compress tar files. Additionally, xz is a newer compression algorithm that is known for its high compression ratios.

In this tutorial, we will explore how to use the tar xz command to extract files from a tarball that has been compressed with xz.

Prerequisites

To follow along with this tutorial, you will need to have a basic understanding of the Linux command line. You should also have access to a Linux terminal and a tarball that has been compressed with xz.

Syntax

The tar xz command has the following syntax:

tar xzf <file.tar.xz>

• x: Extract files from the archive.
• z: Filter the archive through gzip to decompress it.
• f: Use the following file as the input archive.

Examples

Example 1: Extracting a tarball compressed with xz

To extract all files from a tarball that has been compressed with xz, use the following command:

tar xzf example.tar.xz

This command will extract all files from the example.tar.xz archive and place them in the current directory.

Example 2: Extracting a single file from a tarball

To extract a single file from a tarball, use the --extract or -x option, followed by the file name:

tar xzf example.tar.xz file.txt

Example 3: Extracting to a different directory

To extract files from a tarball to a different directory, use the -C option followed by the directory path:

tar xzf example.tar.xz -C /tmp

This command will extract all files from the example.tar.xz archive and place them in the /tmp directory.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have learned how to extract files from a tarball that has been compressed with xz using the tar xz command. We explored the syntax of the command and provided several examples to help you better understand how to use it.