extract file from tar
 

I want to extract a file from tar file , if I use tar -xvf will extract all files , if I want to only extract a directory , can advise what can i do ? thx

have you read the output of these two commands
also please state the nix distro you are running in your posts
i can tell you how to grab 1 file using Gnome or kde ( file roller or ark )
just double click on the file and extract that 1 file .

extract the file blah.txt from foo.tar.gz
a similar approach should work for packed directories, though for very nested directories you need to pass the pathname relative to the tarball, I guess.

Linux Archive

How to extract directory from tgz directory within tgz file?
 

I have a very large backup.tgz file that contains another file dirs.tgz and I would like to extract a directory within the dirs.tgz file.

I can accomplish this by tar -xzvf backup.tgz
then tar -xzvf dirs.tgz

The problem is that it takes hours to exract the files, fills up my drive and I only need a directory from the dirs.tgz.

Does anyone have a simple command to extract a directory?

then don't tar.gz the dir. in that tar.gz
that in my opinion is a wast anyway
-- this should be

Still seeking answer
 

Thanks for the post, but I'm seeking an answer to my question. I didn't tar the directory to begin with...it is the situation that I've been provided.

ust:

===I want to extract a file from tar file , if I use tar -xvf will extract all files , if I want to only extract a directory , can advise what can i do ? thx===

tadosborn:

===Does anyone have a simple command to extract a directory?===

use command:

cpio -i

to learn how to use it:

man cpio

Goodluck. Hope this helps.

OK;