How to create and extract tar archives in Linux

Bundle files into a tar archive, optionally gzip-compressed (.tar.gz). Remember the letters: c=create, x=extract, t=list, f=file, z=gzip, v=verbose.

Extracting an archive overwrites existing files with the same names in the target directory. List the contents with -t first, and extract into a clean directory when unsure.

# Create a gzip-compressed archive
tar czvf backup.tar.gz /etc/myapp

# List the contents (check before extracting)
tar tzvf backup.tar.gz

# Extract into a specific directory
tar xzvf backup.tar.gz -C /restore

# Compress / decompress a single file
gzip bigfile
gunzip bigfile.gz