TAR

for .tar.gz / .tgz / .tar.bz2 / .tbz2 files

To uncompress them, execute the following command(s) depending on the extension:

$ tar zxf file.tar.gz

$ tar zxf file.tgz

$ tar xfvj file.tar.bz2

$ tar xfvz file.tbz2

$ tar xfvz file.tar.gz

Now change directory

$ ls

$ cd path-to-software/

This is where things will differ.

Some packages will have an INSTALL or README file which will contain installation instructions. If it does have one, you can use the "more" command to read it, like so:

# more INSTALL

- Configure the installation

        # ./configure

This will perform some requirements testing on your system, and create a "Makefile" which will explain to the "make" utility how the software should be compiled.

- Compile the software

        # make

it will read the instructions in the Makefile and build the application binaries.

- Install the binaries

Once you are root, install the binaries using

        # make install

create a tar file

tar –cvf myfiles.tar mydir/

(add z if you are dealing with or creating .tgz (.tar.gz) file