extract 1 file out of a .tar.bz2

oldsko0l · 10-15-2006, 01:29 PM

Hi everyone,
I have a .tar.bz2 from my previous system (a backup)
can someone tell my how to get 1 file out of there without extracting the whole file? thanks

acid_kewpie · 10-15-2006, 01:53 PM

just put the file name at the end of the command line

oldsko0l · 10-15-2006, 02:18 PM

Code:

tar xvjf package.tar.bz2 /etc/X11/xorg.conf

for example?

kevkim55 · 10-15-2006, 02:40 PM

Quote:

tar xvjf package.tar.bz2 /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Yep !

If you have a GUI tool like "ark" installed, you can use it to browse and extract the files you want.

acid_kewpie · 10-15-2006, 03:02 PM

you wouldn't have an absolute path, as there aren't absloulte paths in tar's... it's be etc/whatever not /etc/whatever

oldsko0l · 10-15-2006, 03:21 PM

oldsko0l@localhost ~/stage4 $ tar xvjf localhost-stage4-2006.10.04-custom.tar.bz2 etc/X11/xorg.conf

& then it just 'keeps working'

it does not stop...

kevkim55 · 10-15-2006, 03:33 PM

Quote:

you wouldn't have an absolute path, as there aren't absloulte paths in tar's... it's be etc/whatever not /etc/whatever

Ooops ! Looks like I missed a slash !! Damned Guinness ! A bit strong on me ! ;-)

dracolich · 10-15-2006, 06:14 PM

I usually do this from Midnight Commander (mc) at a console or in a terminal window. On one side navigate to where you want to extract the file to. Tab to the other side and go to where the .bz2 file is. When you press enter on it it opens just like a directory and you can continue to browse to the file you want. Select the file and hit F5 to copy it. Works with bz2, gz, zip and probably others as well.