I have been reading and trying commands for eight hours now.I get the file into ark and then I extract it to the folder I want it in, but when I go to the folder it still acts like it wasn't extracted.I tried the instructyons from Alien bob.It would tell me command not recognized.I have a copy of my screen so maybe you can tell me what mistake I am making.

bash-4.2$ su -
Password:

That's one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind.
-- Neil Armstrong

root@chuck:~# ./configure
-su: ./configure: No such file or directory
root@chuck:~# tar -xvzf file.tar.gz
tar (child): file.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
root@chuck:~# tar -xvzf miro,tar.gz
tar (child): miro,tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
root@chuck:~# % tar -xvzf filename.tar.gz
-su: fg: %: no such job
root@chuck:~# gunzip miro.tar.gz|tar -xvf
tar: option requires an argument -- 'f'
Try `tar --help' or `tar --usage' for more information.
gzip: miro.tar.gz: No such file or directory
root@chuck:~# tar --help
Usage: tar [OPTION...] [FILE]...
GNU `tar' saves many files together into a single tape or disk archive, and can
restore individual files from the archive.

Examples:
tar -cf archive.tar foo bar # Create archive.tar from files foo and bar.
tar -tvf archive.tar # List all files in archive.tar verbosely.
tar -xf archive.tar # Extract all files from archive.tar.

Main operation mode:

-A, --catenate, --concatenate append tar files to an archive
-c, --create create a new archive
-d, --diff, --compare find differences between archive and file system
--delete delete from the archive (not on mag tapes!)
-r, --append append files to the end of an archive
-t, --list list the contents of an archive
--test-label test the archive volume label and exit
-u, --update only append files newer than copy in archive
-x, --extract, --get extract files from an archive

Operation modifiers:

--check-device check device numbers when creating incremental
archives (default)
-g, --listed-incremental=FILE handle new GNU-format incremental backup
-G, --incremental handle old GNU-format incremental backup
--ignore-failed-read do not exit with nonzero on unreadable files
--level=NUMBER dump level for created listed-incremental archive
-n, --seek archive is seekable
--no-check-device do not check device numbers when creating
incremental archives
--no-seek archive is not seekable
--occurrence[=NUMBER] process only the NUMBERth occurrence of each file
in the archive; this option is valid only in
conjunction with one of the subcommands --delete,
--diff, --extract or --list and when a list of
files is given either on the command line or via
the -T option; NUMBER defaults to 1
--sparse-version=MAJOR[.MINOR]
set version of the sparse format to use (implies
--sparse)
-S, --sparse handle sparse files efficiently

Overwrite control:

-k, --keep-old-files don't replace existing files when extracting
--keep-newer-files don't replace existing files that are newer than
their archive copies
--no-overwrite-dir preserve metadata of existing directories
--overwrite overwrite existing files when extracting
--overwrite-dir overwrite metadata of existing directories when
extracting (default)
--recursive-unlink empty hierarchies prior to extracting directory
--remove-files remove files after adding them to the archive
-U, --unlink-first remove each file prior to extracting over it
-W, --verify attempt to verify the archive after writing it

Select output stream:

--ignore-command-error ignore exit codes of children
--no-ignore-command-error treat non-zero exit codes of children as
error
-O, --to-stdout extract files to standard output
--to-command=COMMAND pipe extracted files to another program

Handling of file attributes:

--atime-preserve[=METHOD] preserve access times on dumped files, either
by restoring the times after reading
(METHOD='replace'; default) or by not setting the
times in the first place (METHOD='system')
--delay-directory-restore delay setting modification times and
permissions of extracted directories until the end
of extraction
--group=NAME force NAME as group for added files
--mode=CHANGES force (symbolic) mode CHANGES for added files
--mtime=DATE-OR-FILE set mtime for added files from DATE-OR-FILE
-m, --touch don't extract file modified time
--no-delay-directory-restore
cancel the effect of --delay-directory-restore
option
--no-same-owner extract files as yourself (default for ordinary
users)
--no-same-permissions apply the user's umask when extracting permissions
from the archive (default for ordinary users)
--numeric-owner always use numbers for user/group names
--owner=NAME force NAME as owner for added files
-p, --preserve-permissions, --same-permissions
extract information about file permissions
(default for superuser)
--preserve same as both -p and -s
--same-owner try extracting files with the same ownership as
exists in the archive (default for superuser)
-s, --preserve-order, --same-order
sort names to extract to match archive

Device selection and switching:

-f, --file=ARCHIVE use archive file or device ARCHIVE
--force-local archive file is local even if it has a colon
-F, --info-script=NAME, --new-volume-script=NAME
run script at end of each tape (implies -M)
-L, --tape-length=NUMBER change tape after writing NUMBER x 1024 bytes
-M, --multi-volume create/list/extract multi-volume archive
--rmt-command=COMMAND use given rmt COMMAND instead of rmt
--rsh-command=COMMAND use remote COMMAND instead of rsh
--volno-file=FILE use/update the volume number in FILE

Device blocking:

-b, --blocking-factor=BLOCKS BLOCKS x 512 bytes per record
-B, --read-full-records reblock as we read (for 4.2BSD pipes)
-i, --ignore-zeros ignore zeroed blocks in archive (means EOF)
--record-size=NUMBER NUMBER of bytes per record, multiple of 512

Archive format selection:

-H, --format=FORMAT create archive of the given format

FORMAT is one of the following:

gnu GNU tar 1.13.x format
oldgnu GNU format as per tar <= 1.12
pax POSIX 1003.1-2001 (pax) format
posix same as pax
ustar POSIX 1003.1-1988 (ustar) format
v7 old V7 tar format

--old-archive, --portability
same as --format=v7
--pax-option=keyword[[:]=value][,keyword[[:]=value]]...
control pax keywords
--posix same as --format=posix
-V, --label=TEXT create archive with volume name TEXT; at
list/extract time, use TEXT as a globbing pattern
for volume name

Compression options:

-a, --auto-compress use archive suffix to determine the compression
program
-I, --use-compress-program=PROG
filter through PROG (must accept -d)
-j, --bzip2 filter the archive through bzip2
-J, --xz filter the archive through xz
--lzip filter the archive through lzip
--lzma filter the archive through lzma
--lzop
--no-auto-compress do not use archive suffix to determine the
compression program
-z, --gzip, --gunzip, --ungzip filter the archive through gzip
-Z, --compress, --uncompress filter the archive through compress

Local file selection:

--add-file=FILE add given FILE to the archive (useful if its name
starts with a dash)
--backup[=CONTROL] backup before removal, choose version CONTROL
-C, --directory=DIR change to directory DIR
--exclude=PATTERN exclude files, given as a PATTERN
--exclude-backups exclude backup and lock files
--exclude-caches exclude contents of directories containing
CACHEDIR.TAG, except for the tag file itself
--exclude-caches-all exclude directories containing CACHEDIR.TAG
--exclude-caches-under exclude everything under directories containing
CACHEDIR.TAG
--exclude-tag=FILE exclude contents of directories containing FILE,
except for FILE itself
--exclude-tag-all=FILE exclude directories containing FILE
--exclude-tag-under=FILE exclude everything under directories
containing FILE
--exclude-vcs exclude version control system directories
-h, --dereference follow symlinks; archive and dump the files they
point to
--hard-dereference follow hard links; archive and dump the files they
refer to
-K, --starting-file=MEMBER-NAME
begin at member MEMBER-NAME in the archive
--newer-mtime=DATE compare date and time when data changed only
--no-null disable the effect of the previous --null option
--no-recursion avoid descending automatically in directories
--no-unquote do not unquote filenames read with -T
--null -T reads null-terminated names, disable -C
-N, --newer=DATE-OR-FILE, --after-date=DATE-OR-FILE
only store files newer than DATE-OR-FILE
--one-file-system stay in local file system when creating archive
-P, --absolute-names don't strip leading `/'s from file names
--recursion recurse into directories (default)
--suffix=STRING backup before removal, override usual suffix ('~'
unless overridden by environment variable
SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX)
-T, --files-from=FILE get names to extract or create from FILE
--unquote unquote filenames read with -T (default)
-X, --exclude-from=FILE exclude patterns listed in FILE

File name transformations:

--strip-components=NUMBER strip NUMBER leading components from file
names on extraction
--transform=EXPRESSION, --xform=EXPRESSION
use sed replace EXPRESSION to transform file
names

File name matching options (affect both exclude and include patterns):

--anchored patterns match file name start
--ignore-case ignore case
--no-anchored patterns match after any `/' (default for
exclusion)
--no-ignore-case case sensitive matching (default)
--no-wildcards verbatim string matching
--no-wildcards-match-slash wildcards do not match `/'
--wildcards use wildcards (default for exclusion)
--wildcards-match-slash wildcards match `/' (default for exclusion)

Informative output:

--checkpoint[=NUMBER] display progress messages every NUMBERth record
(default 10)
--checkpoint-action=ACTION execute ACTION on each checkpoint
--full-time print file time to its full resolution
--index-file=FILE send verbose output to FILE
-l, --check-links print a message if not all links are dumped
--no-quote-chars=STRING disable quoting for characters from STRING
--quote-chars=STRING additionally quote characters from STRING
--quoting-style=STYLE set name quoting style; see below for valid STYLE
values
-R, --block-number show block number within archive with each
message
--show-defaults show tar defaults
--show-omitted-dirs when listing or extracting, list each directory
that does not match search criteria
--show-transformed-names, --show-stored-names
show file or archive names after transformation
--totals[=SIGNAL] print total bytes after processing the archive;
with an argument - print total bytes when this
SIGNAL is delivered; Allowed signals are: SIGHUP,
SIGQUIT, SIGINT, SIGUSR1 and SIGUSR2; the names
without SIG prefix are also accepted
--utc print file modification times in UTC
-v, --verbose verbosely list files processed
--warning=KEYWORD warning control
-w, --interactive, --confirmation
ask for confirmation for every action

Compatibility options:

-o when creating, same as --old-archive; when
extracting, same as --no-same-owner

Other options:

-?, --help give this help list
--restrict disable use of some potentially harmful options
--usage give a short usage message
--version print program version

Mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also mandatory or optional
for any corresponding short options.

The backup suffix is `~', unless set with --suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX.
The version control may be set with --backup or VERSION_CONTROL, values are:

none, off never make backups
t, numbered make numbered backups
nil, existing numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
never, simple always make simple backups

Valid arguments for the --quoting-style option are:

literal
shell
shell-always
c
c-maybe
escape
locale
clocale

*This* tar defaults to:
--format=gnu -f- -b20 --quoting-style=escape --rmt-command=/usr/libexec/rmt
--rsh-command=/usr/bin/rsh

Report bugs to <bug-tar@gnu.org>.
root@chuck:~# gunzip /home/chuck/Documents/ tar =xvf
gzip: /home/chuck/Documents/ is a directory -- ignored
gzip: tar.gz: No such file or directory
gzip: =xvf.gz: No such file or directory
root@chuck:~# tar -xvzf /home/chuck/Documents/miro.tar.gz
tar (child): /home/chuck/Documents/miro.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
root@chuck:~# gunzip miro.tar.gz | tar -xvf
tar: option requires an argument -- 'f'
Try `tar --help' or `tar --usage' for more information.
gzip: miro.tar.gz: No such file or directory
root@chuck:~# gunzip miro.tar.gz | tar --xvf
tar: unrecognized option '--xvf'
Try `tar --help' or `tar --usage' for more information.
gzip: miro.tar.gz: No such file or directory
root@chuck:~# tar xvzf miro.tar.gz
tar (child): miro.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
root@chuck:~# cd $HOME
root@chuck:~# cp /chuck/home/documents/miro.tar.gz
cp: missing destination file operand after '/chuck/home/documents/miro.tar.gz'
Try 'cp --help' for more information.
root@chuck:~#

First, please use [CODE]..[/CODE] around your code and shell output, it makes it all much more easy to read in your posts.

Next, please refrain from pseudo-spamming us with the output of tar --help, it adds no useful info to your posts and causes people to turn away rather than try to help, which I very nearly did myself...

But as I see you flailing about with no direction, let's see if I can give you little direction to get started in...

OK, what file, and what directory was it extracted into? How does it act like it wasn't extracted, what do you mean by that?

AlienBob has written a lot of useful instructions on many subjects - and thanks AlienBob!

But what instructions on what subject are you referring to?

If you tell us nothing useful we won't be able to help you...

So from that I see that you have su'ed to become root, and are in root's home directory and you are trying to untar an archive named file.tar.gz. But as that file does not exist in root's home directory you get an error message instead...

How does that file relate to the location and file name mentioned in your first few sentences?

You then try a file named micro,tar.gz, which also apparently does not exist.

You then try to gunzip a different file, named micro.tar.gz and pipe that into an incompatible tar command (no file argument), in addition to which this file does not exist either.

So please, take a deep breath and try to explain exactly what you are trying to do, what are the actual file names involved, and where they are located and who should own them.

Then maybe we can make sense of what you are seeing.

1. Don't dump out the man pages
2. use code tags for cmds & output https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...do=bbcode#code
3. insert some blank lines if there's a lot; its hard to read and people won't bother

4. ok, let's start from the top; you think you've got a file 'miro.tar.gz' somewhere on your machine.
You can try the following cmds (as root) to find it
The first works if you have the relevant service (updatedb) running & current.
The 'find ..' cmd will find it regardless, so it should always work. I strongly suggest you read up on this cmd; its extremely useful and has many options.

5. The next step would be to 'cd' into the dir found and
HTH

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