Extract from tar file to different directory in Bash

Question

I'm new to Bash and trying to unzip a tarball. Code so far:

#!/bin/bash
tar="/cdrom/java/jre1-8u181-x64tar.gz"

# Unpack tarball
gunzip < $tar | tar xf -

This extracts the archive in current directory. How can I specify a location?

Using Solaris 10, Bash 3.2.51

Edited the title and tags. You are already successfully decompressing a file to get an archive; your question is about extracting the contents of the archive. — chepner, Aug 01 '18 at 15:24

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 01 '18 at 14:31

3

To extract the file to a specific directory

gunzip < $tar | tar -xf - --directory /path/to/extract/to

or

gunzip < $tar | tar -xf - -C /path/to/extract/to

answered Aug 01 '18 at 14:31

vishnu narayanan

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`gunzip < $tar | tar -xf - -C /root/Documents/test` returns the error: `tar: 2 file(s) not extracted` on Solaris 10 – user9924807 Aug 01 '18 at 15:10
are you running as root ?only `root` will have permission to write files to `/root/Documents/test` – vishnu narayanan Aug 01 '18 at 16:21
yes running as root - the issue is with Solaris OS. Thanks for your help anyway. – user9924807 Aug 02 '18 at 09:57

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 01 '18 at 15:20

3

This works pretty well everywhere - including Solaris, and as you only change directory in a sub-shell, it doesn't affect your location in the current session:

gunzip < $tar | ( cd /some/where/else && tar xf -)

answered Aug 01 '18 at 15:20

Mark Setchell

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7 Reeds · Answer 3 · 2018-08-01T18:07:47.053

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The -xf part of tar means to extract into the "f" file. try changing the tar command to something like

Edit

...| tar -xf - -C /path/to/your/desired/result/folder

sorry, @pitseeker is correct. The -C option tells tar to change directory then do the extract

edited Aug 01 '18 at 18:07

answered Aug 01 '18 at 14:19

7 Reeds

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That seems not right. Following the "f" is the tar-file that is supposed to be extracted. – pitseeker Aug 01 '18 at 14:57
`...| tar -xf /root/Documents/test` returns the error: `tar: directory checksum error` on Solaris 10 – user9924807 Aug 01 '18 at 15:08

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 01 '18 at 14:53

As you wrote your command is unpacking in the current directory:

gunzip < $tar | tar xf -

Add the "-C" option to give it an alternate target directory:

gunzip < $tar | tar xf - -C /another/target/directory

Note that the Solaris tar does not understand the --directory option.
See the Solaris tar manpage.

Just for the sake of completeness if you have Gnu-Tar (which is available for Solaris too) you can use this simpler command (which unzips and unpacks in one go):

tar xzf $tar -C /another/target/directory

On a side note:
many people use a leading dash for the tar command parameters. That is redundant.
See the answers to this question if you are interested.

`gunzip < $tar | tar xf - -C /another/target/directory` returns the error: `tar: 2 file(s) not extracted` on Solaris 10 — user9924807, Aug 01 '18 at 15:11

Extract from tar file to different directory in Bash

4 Answers4