Bundling Files with tar

What tar is for

tar (tape archive) packs many files and folders into a single file, an archive, keeping their names, folders, permissions and timestamps. It's how Linux software, backups and project releases are shipped around. On its own, tar only bundles; the next lesson adds compression to make the bundle smaller.

Think of it like this: A tar archive is a cardboard box. You put a whole shelf of files in it, tape it shut into one parcel, and later open it to find everything exactly where it was.

The three jobs: c, t, x

tar does one of three things, chosen by the first letter: c create, t list (the table of contents) or x extract. You almost always add f to name the archive file and v (verbose) to see what it's doing. Create an archive of the project folder:

tar -cvf project.tar project
ls -l project.tar

In the terminal

student@vulntech:~$ tar -cvf project.tar project
project/
project/src/
project/src/main.py
project/src/util.py
project/docs/
project/docs/readme.txt
project/VERSION
student@vulntech:~$ ls -l project.tar
-rw-r--r-- 1 student student 10240 Oct 17 15:08 project.tar

-cvf project.tar project reads as create, verbosely, into the file project.tar, the folder project. Now look inside without unpacking:

tar -tvf project.tar

In the terminal (t lists; nothing is unpacked)

student@vulntech:~$ tar -tvf project.tar
drwxr-xr-x student/student   0 2026-10-17 15:05 project/
drwxr-xr-x student/student   0 2026-10-17 15:05 project/src/
-rw-r--r-- student/student  12 2026-10-17 15:05 project/src/main.py
-rw-r--r-- student/student   7 2026-10-17 15:05 project/src/util.py
drwxr-xr-x student/student   0 2026-10-17 15:05 project/docs/
-rw-r--r-- student/student  11 2026-10-17 15:05 project/docs/readme.txt
-rw-r--r-- student/student   5 2026-10-17 15:05 project/VERSION

Extracting

-x unpacks. Do it somewhere empty so you can see what comes out:

mkdir restore
cd restore
tar -xvf ../project.tar
ls
ls project/src

In the terminal

student@vulntech:~$ mkdir restore
student@vulntech:~$ cd restore
student@vulntech:~/restore$ tar -xvf ../project.tar
project/
project/src/
project/src/main.py
project/src/util.py
project/docs/
project/docs/readme.txt
project/VERSION
student@vulntech:~/restore$ ls
project
student@vulntech:~/restore$ ls project/src
main.py  util.py

Common mistake: An archive usually contains a top folder (project/), so extract it in an empty directory. Unpacking in a folder full of work can scatter files everywhere and overwrite them. Always tar -tf archive.tar first to see what's inside.

Tip: tar -xf archive.tar -C /path/to/dir extracts straight into another folder, without cd-ing there first. Make the folder with mkdir beforehand.

Remember: tar -cf out.tar stuff creates, tar -tf out.tar lists, tar -xf out.tar extracts. Add v to watch, f always names the file.