Tar Command Builder
Pick what you want to do and get the exact tar command with every flag explained.
Tar Command Builder
Nobody remembers whether it's -xzvf or -zxvf, and the tar man page is famously long. This builder assembles the command for you from plain choices: create, extract or list; gzip, bzip2, xz or no compression; the archive name; and the files to include or the folder to extract into.
The command updates live as you change anything, so there's no generate button to press. Copy it when it looks right.
Every flag, explained
Under the command sits a table that decodes each flag in the exact order it appears, from the action letter down to -f and why it has to come last. This matters more than it sounds: reading the explanation a few times is how the flags finally stick, and the builder doubles as a memory aid.
Create mode extras
Exclude patterns are a single space-separated field. Type node_modules .git *.log and the builder expands them into properly quoted --exclude options. It also nudges you to match the compression flag to the file extension, so a -z archive ends in .tar.gz.
Extract mode, with guard rails
Extraction supports a destination directory via -C and a checkbox for --strip-components=1 when you don't want the archive's top folder recreated. Not sure what's inside an unknown archive? Switch to list mode first. It inspects contents without writing a single byte to disk, and the builder recommends exactly that.
Backups often ride along with scheduled jobs, so the Crontab Decoder is worth a look when you automate an archive. Selecting which files to back up in the first place is a search problem, which is what the Find Command Composer handles.
More tools from CommandLinux
Tar Command Builder Find Command Composer Crontab Decoder Chmod Permissions Calculator Systemd Service Generator SSH Config Generator Grep/Sed Regex Tester IP Subnet Calculator Command Line Quiz Bash Script Boilerplate Generator
