📁How to Manually Compress a Directory with tar

By /

Introduction

This article will walk you through manually compressing a directory using the tar command on the Linux command line. This is useful for backups, transfers, or archiving purposes.

Procedure

1. Identify the Directory Path

Before compressing, determine the full path of the directory you want to compress. You can use the pwd command to display your current working directory:

pwd

Example output:

/home/username/myproject

2. Compress the Directory

Use the following command to create a compressed .tar.gz archive:

tar -zcvf directory.tar.gz /path/to/directory

Explanation of the options:

  • -z – Compress the archive using gzip.
  • -c – Create a new archive.
  • -v – Verbose output (lists the files being processed).
  • -f – Specifies the filename of the archive to create.

Example:

tar -zcvf myproject.tar.gz /home/username/myproject

This will create a compressed archive named myproject.tar.gz in your current working directory.

Notes

  • Ensure you have write permission in the directory where you’re creating the archive.
  • The archive includes the full path unless you cd into the directory’s parent first:
cd /home/username
tar -zcvf myproject.tar.gz myproject

This results in a cleaner archive without full path references.

Conclusion

Using tar is a quick and effective way to compress directories manually. It’s widely supported and efficient for both personal use and scripting.

Scroll to Top