Tar is console based software for packaging a set of files as a single archive in tar format. A tarfile may be made on a tape drive, however, it is also common to write a tarfile to a normal file.
The function it performs is conceptually similar to cpio, and to software like PKZIP in the DOS world. It is heavily used by the Debian package management system, and is useful for performing system backups and exchanging sets of files with others.
Initially, tar archives were used to store files conveniently on magnetic tape. The name “Tar” comes from this use; it stands for tape archiver. Despite the utility’s name, Tar can direct its output to available devices, files, or other programs (using pipes), it can even access remote devices or files (as archives).
Key Features
- Store files in an archive.
- Extract files from an archive.
- Perform other types of archive manipulation.
- 8 different operating modes to perform a variety of tasks.
Website: www.gnu.org/software/tar
Support: Manual
Developer: Thomas Bushnell BSG, François Pinard, Paul Eggert, and Sergey Poznyakoff
License: GNU General Public License v3.0
tar is written in C. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Backup Tools | |
|---|---|
| restic | Fast, efficient and secure backup software |
| Borg | Deduplicating backup software |
| Duplicity | Encrypted bandwidth-efficient backup |
| TimeShift | Takes regular incremental snapshots of the filesystem |
| Duplicati | Store encrypted backups online |
| bup | Backup a system based on the git packfile format |
| Déjà Dup | Hides the complexity of doing backups the Right Way |
| Bacula | Network backup, recovery and verification |
| Kopia | Secure backup/restore tool that allows you to create encrypted snapshots |
| Clonezilla | Offers similar functionality to Symantec Ghost |
| Bareos | Backup Archiving Recovery Open Sourced |
| rsync | Fast remote file copy program |
| BackupPC | High-performance, enterprise-grade system for backing up PCs |
| Vorta | Desktop client for Borg Backup |
| Backrest | Web UI and orchestrator for restic backup |
| Back in Time | Equivalent of OS X's Time Machine |
| UrBackup | Easy to setup open source client/server backup system |
| Rescuezilla | Easy backup, recovery & bare metal restore |
| Mondo Rescue | A powerful disaster recovery suite |
| KBackup | Backup program targeted at non-computer experts |
| rsnapshot | Local and remote filesystem snapshot utility |
| Amanda | Advanced Maryland Automatic Network Disk Archiver |
| FOG | Cloning / imaging solution / rescue suite |
| Partclone | Provides utilities to save and restore used blocks on a partition |
| XtraBackup | Backup tool for InnoDB and XtraDB databases |
| Plakar | Scalable backup solution |
| kup | Backup scheduler for the Plasma desktop |
| BURP | Uses librsync to save network traffic and space |
| Btrbk | Backup tool for btrfs subvolumes |
| Pika Backup | App focused on backups of personal data |
| PING | Also offers similar functionality to Symantec Ghost |
| dar | Full featured archiver with support for differential backups |
| tar | Tar archiving utility |
| Cedar Backup | Local and remote backups to CD or DVD media |
| shallow-backup | Git-integrated backup tool |
| ArchiveKeep | Keeps your files archived in multiple places |
| ZnapZend | ZFS centric backup tool |
| Vykar | Fast, encrypted, deduplicated backups in Rust |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
| Terminal-Based Archive Managers | |
|---|---|
| DAR | Disk ARchive: Backup directory tree and files |
| tar | A file archiver and archive format developed since the early days of Unix |
| zpaqfranz | Deduplicating archiver with encryption and paranoid-level tests |
| patool | Portable archive file manager |
| 7-Zip | File archiver with a high compression ratio |
| tarlz | Massively parallel combined implementation of tar and lzip |
| TUI Archiver | Terminal application to list / manage archives |
| Simple Archiver | Fairly wide range of features |
| tarnation | Simple, extensible tar backup/restore utility |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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