How can I extract .tar.xz or .xz files on my Linux system?. xz is a lossless compression program and file format which incorporates the LZMA/LZMA2 compression algorithms. The XZ format is a single-file compression format and does not offer archiving capabilities.
In this guide, we will see how to extract .xz files on Linux. The process will include the installation of necessary utilities and demonstrates usage with an example.
To extract .xz files on Linux – CentOS / Ubuntu, we need an xz-utils package installed on the system we’re working on. See installation below.
Install xz-utils Package on CentOS / Ubuntu / Debian
Install xz-utils package using the relevant package manager for your Linux and matched package name.
### Ubuntu / Debian ###
sudo apt update
sudo apt install xz-utils
### CentOS / Fedora / RHEL ###
sudo yum -y install xzExtract .xz files on Linux
After package installation, extract your file using the command:
$ unxz file.xz
or --decompress option of xz:
$ xz --decompress file.xzHere are supported options.
Usage: unxz [OPTION]... [FILE]...
Compress or decompress FILEs in the .xz format.
-z, --compress force compression
-d, --decompress, --uncompress
force decompression
-t, --test test compressed file integrity
-l, --list list information about .xz files
-k, --keep keep (don't delete) input files
-f, --force force overwrite of output file and (de)compress links
-c, --stdout, --to-stdout
write to standard output and don't delete input files
-0 ... -9 compression preset; default is 6; take compressor *and*
decompressor memory usage into account before using 7-9!
-e, --extreme try to improve compression ratio by using more CPU time;
does not affect decompressor memory requirements
-T, --threads=NUM use at most NUM threads; the default is 1; set to 0
to use as many threads as there are processor cores
-q, --quiet suppress warnings; specify twice to suppress errors too
-v, --verbose be verbose; specify twice for even more verbose
-h, --help display this short help and exit
-H, --long-help display the long help (lists also the advanced options)
-V, --version display the version number and exit
With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
In my case, I have a file fedora-coreos-*-openstack.qcow2.xz. To extract it, I’ll use:
$ unxz -v fedora-coreos-35.20220410.3.1-openstack.x86_64.qcow2.xz
fedora-coreos-35.20220410.3.1-openstack.x86_64.qcow2.xz (1/1)
100 % 399.9 MiB / 1,555.3 MiB = 0.257 85 MiB/s 0:18 The .xz file is automatically deleted after decompression.
Recommended Linux Books to read:
- Best Linux Books for Beginners & Experts
- Best Linux Kernel Programming Books
- Best Linux Bash Scripting Books
- Top RHCSA / RHCE Certification Study Books
- Best Top Rated CompTIA A+ Certification Books
- Best LPIC-1 and LPIC-2 certification study books
More articles to check out:
