Extract Files tar on linux

How to extract or uncompress a file from tar ball downloaded from the Internet under Linux using bash command prompt?

Extract or Unpack a TarBall File

To unpack or extract a tar file, type:

tar -xvf file.tar

To save disk space and bandwidth over the network all files are saved using compression program such as gzip or bzip2. To extract / unpack a .tar.gz (gzip) file, enter (note -z option):

tar -xzvf file.tar.gz

To extract / unpack a .tar.bz2 (bzip2) file, enter (note -j option):

tar -xjvf file.tar.bz2

Where,
-x : Extract a tar ball.
-v : Verbose output or show progress while extracting files.
-f : Specify an archive or a tarball filename.
-j : Decompress and extract the contents of the compressed archive created by bzip2 program (tar.bz2 extension).
-z : Decompress and extract the contents of the compressed archive created by gzip program (tar.gz extension).