Editing Tar (computing) (section)

{{Short description|Shell command to combine files into a single file}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2012}}
{{lowercase}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = tar
| logo                   = 
| screenshot             = 
| screenshot size        = 
| caption                = 
| author                 = [[Bell Laboratories]]
| developer              = Various [[open-source software|open-source]] and [[commercial software|commercial]] developers
| released               = {{Start date and age|1979|1}}
| ver layout             = stacked
| latest release version = {{Multiple releases
| branch1                = BSD tar
| version1               = 3.7.2<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.libarchive.org/|title=libarchive - C library and command-line tools for reading and writing tar, cpio, zip, ISO, and other archive formats @ GitHub|website=www.libarchive.org}}</ref>
| date1                  = 2023-09-12
| branch2                = GNU tar
| version2               = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q21283172|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| date2                  = {{wikidata|qualifier|raw|preferred|single|Q21283172|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| branch3                = pdtar
| version3               = 1986-10-29<ref>{{cite newsgroup| author=John Gilmore|title=v07i088: Public-domain TAR program|date=1986-12-10|newsgroup=mod.sources|url=https://groups.google.com/g/mod.sources/c/j1tSNLD0OFk|access-date=2022-02-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207070912/https://groups.google.com/g/mod.sources/c/j1tSNLD0OFk|archive-date=2022-02-07|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.decuslib.com/decus/vax87d/rcaf87/tarrdr/posixtar/|title=posixtar}}</ref>
| date3                  = 1986-10-29
| branch4                = Plan 9 tar
| version4               = ?
| date4                  = ?
| branch5                = star
| version5               = 2023-09-28<ref>{{cite web|url=https://codeberg.org/schilytools/schilytools/releases/tag/2023-09-28|title=star|access-date=2023-11-12|archive-date=2023-11-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112053301/https://codeberg.org/schilytools/schilytools/releases/tag/2023-09-28|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| date5                  = 2023-09-28
}}
| programming language   = pdtar, star, [[Plan 9 from Bell Labs|Plan 9]], [[GNU]]: [[C (programming language)|C]]
| operating system       = [[Unix]], [[Unix-like]], [[Plan 9 from Bell Labs|Plan 9]], [[Microsoft Windows]], [[IBM i]]
| platform               = [[Cross-platform]]
| genre                  = [[Command (computing)|Command]]
| license                = BSD tar: [[BSD licenses|BSD-2-Clause]]<br />GNU tar: [[GNU General Public License|GPL-3.0-or-later]]<br />pdtar: [[Public domain]]<br />Plan 9: [[MIT License|MIT]]<br />star: [[Common Development and Distribution License|CDDL-1.0]]
| website                = 
}}
{{Infobox file format
| name                   = tar
| icon                   = 
| extension              = .tar
| mime                   = application/x-tar
| uniform type           = public.tar-archive
| magic                  = <code>u&nbsp;s&nbsp;t&nbsp;a&nbsp;r&nbsp;\0&nbsp;0&nbsp;0&nbsp;</code> at byte offset 257 (for POSIX versions)
<code>u&nbsp;s&nbsp;t&nbsp;a&nbsp;r&nbsp;\040&nbsp;\040&nbsp;\0&nbsp;</code> (for old GNU tar format)<ref name = "GnuTarFormat">{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/software/tar/manual/html_node/Standard.html|title=Basic Tar Format|last1=Gilmore|first1=John|last2=Fenlason|first2=Jay|others=and others|date=4 February 2019|website=gnu.org|publisher=[[Free Software Foundation]]|access-date=17 April 2019}}</ref>
absent in pre-POSIX versions
| latest release version = various
| latest release date    = various
| open                   = Yes
| standard               = POSIX since POSIX.1, presently in the definition of ''pax''[http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/pax.html#tag_20_92_13_06]
| genre                  = [[File archiver]]
}}

In [[computing]], '''tar'''  is a [[Shell (computing)|shell]] [[command (computing)|command]] for combining multiple [[computer file]]s into a single [[archive file]]. It was originally developed for [[magnetic tape]] [[computer storage|storage]] {{endash}} reading and writing data for a sequential [[Input/output|I/O]] device with no [[file system]], and the name is short for the format description "'''t'''ape '''ar'''chive". When stored in a file system, a file that tar reads and writes is often called a ''tarball''.

A tarball contains [[metadata]] for the contained files including the [[file name|name]], ownership, [[timestamp]]s, [[File-system permissions|permissions]] and [[Directory (computing)|directory]] organization. As a file containing other files with associated metadata, a tarball is useful for [[software distribution]] and [[backup]]. 

[[POSIX]] abandoned ''tar'' in favor of ''[[pax (command)|pax]]'', yet ''tar'' continues to have widespread use.