tar

Create an archive from files

$ tar -cvf [archive.tar] [file1] [file2]

$ tar -czvf [archive.tar.gz] [directory/]

$ tar -cjvf [archive.tar.bz2] [directory/]

$ tar -cJvf [archive.tar.xz] [directory/]

$ tar -xvf [archive.tar]

$ tar -xzvf [archive.tar.gz]

$ tar -xvf [archive.tar] -C [directory/]

$ tar -tvf [archive.tar]

$ tar -xvf [archive.tar] [file1] [file2]

tar [options] [archive] [file...]

tar (tape archive) creates, extracts, and manages archive files. It bundles multiple files and directories into a single file while preserving permissions, ownership, and directory structure.
Tar itself doesn't compress; compression is handled by external programs (gzip, bzip2, xz) invoked via options or automatically based on file extension with -a.
Common extensions: .tar (uncompressed), .tar.gz or .tgz (gzip), .tar.bz2 (bzip2), .tar.xz (xz). Modern tar auto-detects compression when extracting.
The order of options matters with short flags. -cvf works; -fvc archive.tar may not, as -f expects its argument immediately after.

-c, --create

Create a new archive

Extract files from archive

List archive contents

Verbose output

Use specified archive file

Filter through gzip

Filter through bzip2

Filter through xz

Determine compression from file extension

Change to directory before operation

Preserve file permissions

Exclude files matching pattern

Append files to archive

Update archive with newer files

Strip N leading path components

By default, tar extracts with paths from the archive. Archives with absolute paths or ../ can overwrite files outside the target directory. Use --strip-components or extract to an empty directory first.
Extracting as root preserves original ownership. As a regular user, files are owned by you regardless of archive metadata.
GNU tar differs from BSD tar in some options. For portability, stick to common options or check the specific implementation.

Tar originated in Version 7 Unix in 1979, designed for tape backups (hence "tape archive"). It became the standard Unix archiving tool and is specified by POSIX. GNU tar added many extensions including compression integration.

gzip(1), bzip2(1), xz(1), zip(1), cpio(1)