5 Best Command Line Archive Tools for Linux – Part 1

In our day-to-day life, we often come across archived files on various platforms, whether it’s Windows, Mac, or Linux. Several applications are available on all these platforms to create and extract archived files. When it comes to working on the Linux platform, dealing with archived files is a frequent task.

In this article, we will explore archive tools available on standard Linux distributions, along with their features, usage, and examples.

The article is divided into two parts, with each part covering five command-line archive tools (a total of 10 best command-line archive tools).

1. tar Command

tar is the standard UNIX/Linux archiving tool, which was initially designed as a Tape Archiving Program, it has evolved into a general-purpose archiving utility that can handle archive files of all kinds.

tar supports various archiving filters with multiple options.

• -A : Append tar files to existing archives.
• -c : Create a new archive file.
• -d : Compare the archive with the specified filesystem.
• -j : Compress using bzip.
• -r : Append files to existing archives.
• -t : List contents of existing archives.
• -u : Update an existing archive.
• -x : Extract files from an existing archive.
• -z : Compress using gzip.
• --delete : Delete files from an existing archive.

Create a tar archive file:

tar -zcvf name_of_tar.tar.gz /path/to/folder

Extract a tar archive file:

tar -zxvf name_of_tar_file.tar.gz

For more detailed examples, read Tar Command Examples in Linux.

2. shar Command

shar, short for Shell Archive, is a shell script that, when executed, creates the original files. It is a self-extracting archive format that is now considered a legacy tool and requires the Unix Bourne Shell to extract the files.

shar has the advantage of being in plain text format, but it can be potentially dangerous since it outputs an executable.

shar Options:

• -o : Save output to archive files as specified.
• -l : Limit the output size but do not split it.
• -L : Limit the output size and split it.
• -n : Name of the archive to be included in the header.
• -a : Allow automatic generation of headers.

Note: The -o option is required if the -l or -L option is used, and the -n option is required if the -a option is used.

Create a shar archive file:

shar file_name.extension > filename.shar

Extract a shar archive file:

unshar file_name.shar

3. ar Command

ar (short for archiver) is a utility for creating and manipulating archives, primarily used for binary object file libraries. It can create archives of any kind but has largely been replaced by tar. Nowadays, it is primarily used for creating and updating static library files.

ar Options:

• -d : Delete modules from the archive.
• -m : Move members to the archive.
• -p : Print specified members of the archive.
• -q : Quick append.
• -r : Insert file members to archive.
• -s : Add an index to the archive.
• -a : Add a new file to the existing archive members.

Create an archive using ar:

ar cr libmath.a subtraction.o division.o

Extract an ar archive file:

ar x libmath.a

4. cpio Command

cpio (Copy In and Out) is a general-purpose archiving tool in Linux, which is commonly used by the Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) and in the initramfs of the Linux kernel. cpio is also an important archiving tool in Apple’s Installer (pax).

cpio Options:

• -0 : Read a list of filenames terminated by a null character instead of a new line.
• -a : Reset access time.
• -A : Append to an archive.
• -b : Swap bytes.
• -d : Create directories as needed.

Create a cpio archive file:

ls | cpio -ov > /path/to/output_folder/obj.cpio

Extract a cpio archive file:

cpio -idv < /path/to/folder/obj.cpio

5. gzip Command

gzip is a widely used compression and decompression utility, which compresses files and produces tarballs in the format *.tar.gz or *.tgz. gzip also supports file concatenation.

gzip Options:

• --stdout or --to-stdout : Produce output on standard output.
• --decompress or --uncompress : Decompress a file.
• -d : Decompress a file.
• -f : Force compression or decompression.

Create a gzip archive:

tar -cvzf name_of_archive.tar.gz /path/to/folder

Extract a gzip archive:

gunzip file_name.tar.gz

After decompression, extract the tar archive using:

tar -xvf file_name.tar

Note: Due to the architecture and functionality of gzip, it is difficult to recover corrupted .gz archive files. It is recommended to create multiple backups of critical files at different locations.

Conclusion

That’s all for now. In the next article, we will cover other compression and decompression utilities available for Linux. Stay tuned and connected to Tecmint. Don’t forget to leave your valuable feedback in the comments section below.