Forrest logo
back to the tar tool

tar:tldr:e18bf

tar: [c]reate a compressed archive and write it to a [f]ile, using [a]rchive suffix to determine the compression program.
$ tar caf ${path-to-target-tar-xz} ${filename1 filename2 ---}
try on your machine

This command is used to create a compressed tarball (.tar.xz) file with the specified filenames.

Here is the breakdown of the command:

  • tar: This is the command-line utility used to manipulate tar archives.
  • c: This flag indicates that we want to create a new archive.
  • a: This flag tells tar to automatically determine the compression method based on the archive file extension (in this case, it will use xz compression).
  • f: This flag specifies the filename of the archive we want to create.
  • ${path-to-target-tar-xz}: This is the path to the target tar.xz file. Replace this placeholder with the desired path on your system.
  • ${filename1 filename2 ---}: These are the filenames or directories that you want to include in the archive. Replace filename1, filename2, and so on with the actual filenames you want to include.

To use this command, you need to replace ${path-to-target-tar-xz} with the desired path and filename for the tarball, and ${filename1 filename2 ---} with the actual filenames or directories you want to include.

This explanation was created by an AI. In most cases those are correct. But please always be careful and never run a command you are not sure if it is safe.
back to the tar tool