Jeff,
Jeff Higgins wrote:
> Here's the problem: I downloaded a program called "X-ISP". It came in .tar
> format. When I used the command "tar" with the "-x" or "--extract"
> settings, it just sat there. This is what I was typing:
>
> tar --extract xisp_5p9_tar.tar
>
> After I typed this, it just sat there. Nothing happened. I ended up
> ctrl-c'ing it so I could do something again. I tried this multiple
> times, to no avail. So... any idea what's going on? Better question:
> What am >I< doing wrong? Are there any alternitaves to "tar"?
Well, the file should be something like: xisp_5p9.tar.gz
'tar' indicates that a group of files was archived into a single file. 'gz'
indicates that the file was compressed with the gzip utility. Sometimes
you'll see a shorted form like: xisp_5p9.tgz. It's the same thing.
Anyway, to untar and uncompress the file, type:
tar xzvf xisp_5p9.tar.gz
The above uncompresses the archive into the current directory, so be carefull
where you uncompress files. If you want to uncompress archives in a specific
directory, type:
tar xzvf xisp_5p9.tar.gz -C /usr/local
The above will untar and uncompress the file in /usr/local...obviously you
can choose whatever directory you want.
If you want to archive and compress a group of files, type:
tar czvf filename.tar.gz /directory/name
The above will recursively archive and compress files in the stated
directory.
If you want to view the contents of a compressed archive, but don't want to
extract it, type:
tar tzvf filename.tar.gz | less
Hope that helps,
Regards,
Chris
