A lot of the downloadable Linux or Unix files found on the internet are compressed using a tar or tar.gz compression format. So, knowing how to open or untar these compressed files becomes very important. In the following examples, we will explain how to untar both popular formats and how to extract the contents to a different directory.
How to open or Untar a 'tar.gz' file in Linux or Unix:
I'm attempting to get a Windows Preinstallation Environment to boot over PXE from a Linux server. The end goal will be to install Windows but that's pretty easy once I can get WinPE to start up (I've got the samba share with the windows OS disk etc.).
The following tutorial assumes the name of your file is yourfile.tar.gz Replace with your actual filename.
- From the terminal, change to the directory where yourfile.tar.gz has been downloaded.
- Type tar -zxvf yourfile.tar.gz to extract the file to the current directory.
You can specify a different directory to extract to using -C parameter and a path to the directory as follows:
Example: tar -C /myfolder -zxvf yourfile.tar.gz
How to open or Untar a 'tar' file in Linux or Unix:
- From the terminal, change to the directory where yourfile.tar has been downloaded.
- Type tar -xvf yourfile.tar to extract the file to the current directory.
- Or tar -C /myfolder -xvf yourfile.tar to extract to another directory.
How to open a tar file in Unix or Linux published under Using and Configuring Linux
File TypeSlax Module
Developer | Slax |
Popularity | |
Category | Compressed Files |
Format | N/A |
What is an LZM file?
Compressed module or package file that may contain multiple files; used by Slax, a small and fast Linux operating system; often used for program installation packages.
LZM modules can be created by right-clicking a folder and selecting 'Build Slax Module.' Unix .TGZ packages can be converted to LZM modules using the tgz2lzm command. LZM modules can be extracted by right-clicking the LZM file and clicking 'Extract Slax Module.'
NOTE: These commands are only available in the Slax (v6) distribution of Linux.
Unknown files on your Mac? Try File Viewer.Programs that open LZM files