Compress in .tgz

Question

I want to compress files in .tgz. I know how to make tar.gz(with tar and gzip) and some people say it is almost the same, but I need to make a .tgz, how??

Solution 1

A tar.gz file and a .tgz file are similar.

Compress files using tar:

tar -cvzf <name of tarball>.tgz /path/to/source/folder

for example, I want to create a backup.tgz or backup.tar.gz from folder /home/user/project

tar -cvzf backup.tgz /home/user/project

tar -cvzf backup.tar.gz /home/user/project

You can use tar cvzf instead of tar -cvzf as well.

Extract .tgz or .tar.gz files using tar

tar -xvzf backup.tgz

tar -xvzf backup.tar.gz

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Mnemonic for compression (the order of the flags do not matter)

• C ompress
• Z ee
• F ile
• V erbose

Mnemonic for extraction (the order of the flags do not matter)

• e X tract
• Z ee
• F ile
• V erbose

Solution 2

It's the same. Just rename the file from file.tar.gz to file.tgz.

Comments

[Lekensteyn]

You've forgotten the command for renaming a file: mv file.tar.gz file.tgz. Obvious, but worth mentioning

[Dorian Dore]

Is there a flag to have a password when you compress your file?

[Andres F.]

Nitpick: the order of the flags does matter for f: it must be the last flag, otherwise it fails.

[spencer7593]

For the flags, c is better remembered as create, and z is remembered as compression, as in the z from zlib, gzip, zip. A better mnemonic would be C reate Z ipped F ile.

[James]

Aren't .tar.gz file and a .tgz exactly the same?

[Neurotransmitter]

@ImmanuelWeihnachten these are just file extensions without any explicit meaning. You give meaning to them. And yes, .tar.gz and a .tgz considered the same.