TAR - CMD

Overview

The tar command in Windows Command Prompt is a powerful tool used for archiving and managing file collections into a single archive file commonly known as tarball. Originally developed for UNIX, this command is essential for bundling a set of files, compressing, or extracting archives. It is particularly useful in backup processes, data distribution, and file storage optimization.

Syntax

The basic syntax of the tar command is as follows:

tar [options] <operation> [<options>] <archive-file> [<file or directory>...]

Where:

  • <operation> is one of the key operations like -c (create), -x (extract), or -t (list).
  • <options> modify the behavior of the specified operation.
  • <archive-file> is the name of the tar file to create or extract.
  • <file or directory> specifies the files or directories to be archived or extracted.

Options/Flags

Here are some of the common options/flags used with the tar command:

  • -c: Creates a new archive containing the specified items.
  • -x: Extracts files from an archive.
  • -t: Lists the contents of an archive.
  • -f: Specifies the filename of the archive.
  • -v: Verbose mode; display progress in the terminal.
  • -z: Compress the archive using gzip.
  • -j: Compress the archive using bzip2.
  • --exclude=<pattern>: Exclude files that match the pattern.
  • -C: Changes to a specific directory before performing any operations.

Examples

  1. Creating an archive:

    tar -cvf archive.tar file1.txt file2.txt folder/

    This command creates an archive named archive.tar containing file1.txt, file2.txt, and everything in the folder directory.

  2. Extracting an archive:

    tar -xvf archive.tar

    Extracts the contents of archive.tar to the current working directory, displaying the names of files as they are extracted.

  3. Viewing the content of an archive:

    tar -tvf archive.tar

    Lists the contents of archive.tar without extracting it.

Common Issues

  • File Not Found: Ensure paths are correct when creating or extracting archives.
  • Permissions Error: Run the command prompt as an administrator if you encounter permission issues.
  • Compression not working: Make sure to include the -z or -j options for gzip or bzip2 compression respectively.

Integration

The tar command can be integrated with other CMD commands for advanced tasks. For example, combining it with find can be useful:

dir /B | findstr /R ".*\.txt$" > list.txt
tar -cvf text_files.tar -T list.txt

This script archives all .txt files listed in list.txt into text_files.tar.

  • gzip/gunzip: Tools for file compression and decompression.
  • zip/unzip: Manage zip archives.
  • find: Searches for files in a directory hierarchy.

For more information on using the tar command, visit the GNU Tar documentation.