Tar command to preserve the folder/file arrangement


 
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# 1  
Old 08-09-2012
Tar command to preserve the folder/file arrangement

Hi,

I do have question for un tar a file. I have several 'tar'ed files. For example: SRS.tar.bz2. I was trying to untar them in a linux server using the command:
Code:
tar xvjf SRS.tar.bz2

It worked perfectly. but when I open this file in my mac computer all the files are extracted into a folder SRS (which is part of the compressed file). But in the linux cluster it is extracted into the main folder with out preserving the inherent file/folder arangement.

Pleass let me know the right command to preserve the folder arrangement?

Thanks
# 2  
Old 08-09-2012
Linux doesn't do anything special to tarballs, and doesn't ignore paths stored in tarballs. I'm thinking you just happened to be in the correct folder when extracting it, that the right arrangement was there already.

Try tar -jtf filename.tar.bz2 to see what pathnames are actually stored in the file.

Last edited by Corona688; 08-09-2012 at 03:39 PM..
# 3  
Old 08-09-2012
IT has to do with the way you created the tar file, only partly how you extract it.

You have to create it as a relative path. Suppose you have a directory /srs/main
and you want to keep "main" but not "srs" because you want to rerstore main into /path/elsewhere getting /path/elsewhere/main....

Code:
cd /srs
# ./main is a relative path
tar cvf /tmp/mytar.tar ./main
cd /path/elsewhere
tar xvf /tmp/mytar.tar

# 4  
Old 08-09-2012
But in mac when double click using a mouse it extracts the files and keeps in the folder SRS (in my example) but the tar command just extracts the file where the command was given. So when I do the extraction of the next compressed file say SRS1; the files are extracted to the same folder where SRS1.tar.bz2, the files are extracted to the same folder where the extracted files of SRS.tar.bz2 are present.
# 5  
Old 08-09-2012
I think OSX's gui extractor always creates a folder. You are comparing a shell command to a GUI utility; not the same thing. If you used the shell command in OSX, it would do the same thing as the shell command in Linux.

tar in linux certainly extracts paths. I don't know any way to make it not extract paths.

I suspect the path that's being "preserved" isn't actually in the tarball at all. Try tar -jtf filename.tar.bz2 to see what pathnames are actually stored in the file.

Last edited by Corona688; 08-09-2012 at 03:47 PM..
# 6  
Old 08-09-2012
But I didn't compress the files
# 7  
Old 08-09-2012
@Corona688: we can strip path while extract tar file in linux. We have to use below options in tar command.

Code:
-strippath 1
below will be used later versions of tar version 4
-stripcomponent 1

here 1 represents folder level to be strip.
Cheers,
Ranga:-)
 
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