Pack file with tar.gz from root directory

Question

I try to pack a .csv file with tar.gz, while being in the root directory.

The file myfile.csv is located at /mnt/sdb1/ So the full filename is /mnt/sdb1/myfile.csv

I try to save the tar.gz under /mnt/sdb1/old_files

I tried it like this:

tar -czf /mnt/sdb1/old_files/new.tar.gz mnt/sdb1/myfile.csv

But when i extract the file, then a folder with name "mnt" will be extracted which cointains another folder called "sdb1", which contains the file.

Is it possible to compress the file only, instead of copying all the directories?

Community · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-11 12:04:56Z

12

use the --directory option from man tar :

-C,- -directory DIR

change to directory DIR

i.e.:

tar -C /mnt/sdb1/ -czf /mnt/sdb1/old_files/new.tar.gz myfile.csv

1

answered Jul 20, 2015 at 13:31

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dr_ · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-20 13:31:56Z

3

You have first to cd /mnt/sdb1, then launch the tar command.

FYI, you don't need to use tarhere as its purpose is to agglomerate several files in a tarball. Since you have only one file here, just use gzip.

answered Jul 20, 2015 at 13:30

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Jeff Schaller · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-20 13:31:35Z

Use the -C option to tar:

 -C Directory Causes the tar command to perform a chdir subroutine to the directory specified by the Directory variable.

3 Answers 3