Tar

The tar command will pack multiple files in a single file - this is useful for subsequent compression and for file transfer; e.g. to zip up and move an entire directory you can use tar, gzip and then scp (secure copy for copying between UNIX machines)

• Tar and zip all in one step:
  • >tar cvzf file.tgz name_of_files_or_directories
  • use scp to move /tmp/file.tar.gz to another location
  • locally, >tar xvzf file.tgz
• Or do it separately
  • >tar cvf /tmp/file.tar name_of_files_or_directories
  • >gzip /tmp/file.tar
  • use scp to move /tmp/file.tar.gz to another location
  • locally, >gunzip file.tar.gz; tar xvf file.tar