How to Extract Tar.xz Files on Ubuntu Linux with examples

This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to extract or unzip archived tar files compressed with xz compression ending in .tar.xz or .txz on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

The tar command allows you to create and extract tar archives. The tar command uses many compression algorithms, including gzip, bzip2, bz2, xz, and more.

Tar archives compressed with xz will end with either .tar.xz or .txz.

Learning to extract tar.xz files on Ubuntu Linux is essential for anyone who regularly works with compressed files. Tar.xz is a popular compression format used to archive multiple files into a single file for easy transfer and storage.

By learning how to extract tar.xz files on Ubuntu Linux, you can access the contents of these files quickly and easily.

This skill is especially useful for students, developers, and system administrators who work with Linux systems, as tar.xz files are commonly used in this environment.

When you’re ready to learn how to extract files compressed with tar, follow the guide below:

About tar command:

The tar command creates, maintains, and extracts files archived in tar format on Linux systems, including Ubuntu. “Tar” stands for tape archive. It is one of the many archiving file formats available.

Syntax:

The syntax is the rule and format of how the tar command can be used. These syntax options can be reordered, but a straight format must be followed.,.

Below is an example syntax of how to use the tar command.

tar [OPTION.] [FILE].

Options:

The command line options are switches or flags that determine how the commands are executed or controlled. They modify the behavior of the commands. They are separated by spaces and followed after the commands.

Below are some options for the tar command:

FILE.	Replace FILE.. with the name of the archived file you want to extract.
-x, –extract, –get	Use the -x or –extract or –get to extract files from an archive
-f, –file=ARCHIVE	Use the -form –file to specify the use of the archive file to extract
-v, –verbose	Use the -v or –verbose to verbosely list files being processed
-t, –list	Use the -t or -list to list the content of an archive
–help	Display a help message and exit.

Install xz-utils

Before creating or extracting tar.xz files, you must first install xz-utils.

To do that, run the commands below:

sudo apt-get install xz-utils

After installing the utility, you can begin creating .tar.xz file using the commands below;

tar -cJf confidential.tar.xz private

That should create a .tar.xz confidential.tar.xz file of the private content.

Examples:

Below are some examples of how to run and use the tar on Ubuntu Linux.

Simply run the tar command to invoke it.

To extract a tar archive file compressed with xz compression algorithm, you run the command below:

tar -xvf archive.tar.xz

The command above will extract the archive file into the current working directory. If you want to extract a tar file into another directory, simply run it with the -C option.

Example:

tar -xvf archive.tar.xz -C /remote/directory/

The command above will extract the archive file into /remote/directory or folder.

Suppose you want to list the content of an archived file compressed with tar.xz, you use the -t or –list command options. This option lists all files in archive.tar verbosely.

tar -tvf archive.tar.xz

That should list the content of the archive. Always use the -f option to tell the command you’re working with a file archive.

When you run su with the –help option, you’ll see the help text below:

Usage: tar [OPTION.] [FILE].
GNU 'tar' saves many files together into a single tape or disk archive, and can
restore individual files from the archive.

Examples:
  tar -cf archive.tar foo bar  # Create archive.tar from files foo and bar.
  tar -tvf archive.tar         # List all files in archive.tar verbosely.
  tar -xf archive.tar          # Extract all files from archive.tar.

 Local file name selection:

      --add-file=FILE        add given FILE to the archive (useful if its name

That’s it!

Congratulations! You’ve learned how to use the tar command to extract archived compressed with .tar.xz or .txz on Ubuntu.

If you find any error, please report it in the comment form below.

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