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-   -   what is .tar file format and how do i unzip it (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/what-is-tar-file-format-and-how-do-i-unzip-it-603667/)

jafryar 11-30-2007 11:37 PM

what is .tar file format and how do i unzip it
 
I am trying to install Ubuntu Linux MythTV but I keep getting the message that this file is a WinZip file...but WinZip does not recognize that file format. What program would I use to unzip these files?
Any help appreciated.

Thanx
Joe

DemetriusCrisco 11-30-2007 11:44 PM

man tar
tar -xf filename

-x extract
-f filename

Bruce Hill 11-30-2007 11:52 PM

Welcome to LQ!

Well, first you can open a terminal. Then cd to the directory with the .zip file:
Code:

mingdao@wired_silas:/server2/Linux-apps$ ls -l *zip
-rw-r--r-- 1 1001 users 148502 2006-04-01 10:14 downloads:monobook-03302006.zip

Next, you can find out what type of file that is:
Code:

mingdao@wired_silas:/server2/Linux-apps$ file downloads:monobook-03302006.zip
downloads:monobook-03302006.zip: Zip archive data, at least v1.0 to extract

Next, if your pants are zipped, and you need to get into them, you would "unzip" them first, right?
Code:

mingdao@wired_silas:/server2/Linux-apps$ unzip downloads:monobook-03302006.zip
Archive:  downloads:monobook-03302006.zip
  creating: monobook/
 extracting: monobook/bullet.gif
 extracting: monobook/button-css.png
 extracting: monobook/button-dw.png
 extracting: monobook/button-php.gif
 extracting: monobook/button-rss.png
 extracting: monobook/button-xhtml.png
  creating: monobook/common/
  inflating: monobook/common/cologneblue.css
  inflating: monobook/common/common.css
  inflating: monobook/common/common_rtl.css
  inflating: monobook/common/commonPrint.css
  inflating: monobook/common/feed.css
  inflating: monobook/common/IEFixes.js
  creating: monobook/common/images/
  inflating: monobook/common/images/Arr_.png
 extracting: monobook/common/images/Arr_d.png
 extracting: monobook/common/images/Arr_l.png
 extracting: monobook/common/images/Arr_r.png
  inflating: monobook/common/images/Arr_r.xcf
 extracting: monobook/common/images/bullet.gif
  inflating: monobook/common/images/button_bold.png
  inflating: monobook/common/images/button_extlink.png
 extracting: monobook/common/images/button_headline.png
  inflating: monobook/common/images/button_hr.png
  inflating: monobook/common/images/button_image.png
  inflating: monobook/common/images/button_italic.png
  inflating: monobook/common/images/button_link.png
 extracting: monobook/common/images/button_math.png
  inflating: monobook/common/images/button_media.png
 extracting: monobook/common/images/button_nowiki.png
  inflating: monobook/common/images/button_sig.png
  inflating: monobook/common/images/button_template.png
  inflating: monobook/common/images/fileicon.xcf
 extracting: monobook/common/images/gnu-fdl.png
  inflating: monobook/common/images/gnu-fdl.xcf
  inflating: monobook/common/images/link_icon.gif
 extracting: monobook/common/images/magnify-clip.png
 extracting: monobook/common/images/magnify-clip.png.old
  inflating: monobook/common/images/mediawiki-small.xcf
  inflating: monobook/common/images/redirect.png
 extracting: monobook/common/images/Zoom_sans.gif
  inflating: monobook/common/nostalgia.css
  inflating: monobook/common/preview.js
 extracting: monobook/common/quickbar-right.css
 extracting: monobook/common/quickbar.css
  inflating: monobook/common/sticky.js
  inflating: monobook/common/wikibits.js
  inflating: monobook/common/wikiprintable.css
  inflating: monobook/common/wikistandard.css
  inflating: monobook/discussionitem_icon.gif
 extracting: monobook/external.png
  inflating: monobook/file_icon.gif
  inflating: monobook/headbg.jpg
  inflating: monobook/IE50Fixes.css
  inflating: monobook/IE55Fixes.css
  inflating: monobook/IE60Fixes.css
  inflating: monobook/IEMacFixes.css
  inflating: monobook/interwiki.png
  inflating: monobook/KHTMLFixes.css
  inflating: monobook/LICENSE
  inflating: monobook/link_icon.gif
  inflating: monobook/lock_icon.gif
 extracting: monobook/magnify-clip.png
  inflating: monobook/mail_icon.gif
  inflating: monobook/media.php
  inflating: monobook/mediaedit.php
  inflating: monobook/mediaref.php
 extracting: monobook/news_icon.png
  inflating: monobook/Opera6Fixes.css
  inflating: monobook/Opera7Fixes.css
  inflating: monobook/README
 extracting: monobook/required.gif
  inflating: monobook/rtl.css
  inflating: monobook/tocdot2.gif
  creating: monobook/user/
  inflating: monobook/user.gif
  inflating: monobook/user/script.php
  inflating: monobook/user/site_notice.php
  inflating: monobook/user/copyright.php
  inflating: monobook/user/navigation.php
  inflating: monobook/user/php.php
  inflating: monobook/style.ini
  inflating: monobook/user/logo.png
  inflating: monobook/detail.php
  inflating: monobook/doku.css
  inflating: monobook/user/toolbox.php
  inflating: monobook/main.php
  inflating: monobook/main.css
mingdao@wired_silas:/server2/Linux-apps$

Every command in Linux should have a manual page. You can read it by issuing "man command-name" where command-name is the ... yes, name of the command.
Code:

mingdao@wired_silas:/server2/Linux-apps$ man unzip
UNZIP(1L)                                                                                                                                                            UNZIP(1L)

NAME
      unzip - list, test and extract compressed files in a ZIP archive

SYNOPSIS
      unzip [-Z] [-cflptTuvz[abjnoqsCKLMVWX$/:]] file[.zip] [file(s) ...]  [-x xfile(s) ...] [-d exdir]

DESCRIPTION
      unzip  will  list,  test,  or extract files from a ZIP archive, commonly found on MS-DOS systems.  The default behavior (with no options) is to extract into the current
      directory (and subdirectories below it) all files from the specified ZIP archive.  A companion program, zip(1L), creates ZIP archives; both programs are compatible with
      archives created by PKWARE's PKZIP and PKUNZIP for MS-DOS, but in many cases the program options or default behaviors differ.

<blah, blah, blah> yes, there's a few hundred more lines.

And read more Linux Commands.

hildebrand_us 12-01-2007 03:28 AM

I think you are trying to do this in linux. tar command is ofcourse good for command line. But for non-command line guys ark and file-roller work great!

Bruce Hill 12-01-2007 03:44 AM

Joe,

What instructions are you following from where? Please give us a link. This will help us to see where your problem arises.

There is a bit of a HOW-TO titled MythTV Feisty, and when I navigate to the MythTV link from there, the downloadable files are .bz2, in the bzip2 format. You would untar (unzip) them with "tar -xvjf mythtv-0.20.2.tar.bz2", for instance.

If you can provide the output of "ls -l" in the directory where those files exist, or just the filenames, that will help us help you.

XavierP 12-01-2007 05:45 PM

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Linux-Newbie and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.


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