cli-tarHow do I use the Unix command tar?

The Unix command tar is a utility used to archive multiple files into a single file. It is commonly used for backing up files, transferring files between systems, and compressing files.

Below is an example of how to use the tar command to create an archive file from two existing files:

tar -cvf archive.tar file1 file2

This command will create a new file called archive.tar containing the contents of file1 and file2. The flags used in the command are:

• -c: Create an archive.
• -v: Verbosely list files which are processed.
• -f: Use archive file or device ARCHIVE.

To extract files from an existing archive, use the -x flag instead of -c:

tar -xvf archive.tar

This command will extract the contents of archive.tar into the current working directory.

For more information on the tar command, see the GNU tar manual.

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