tar Error Messages
Archive files.All tar pages
- gzip: stdin: not in gzip format / tar: Child returned status 1tar -xzf fails with gzip: stdin: not in gzip format when the file is not gzip: a plain tar, an xz or zstd archive, or an HTML page. Check it with file, drop -z.
- tar: Cowardly refusing to create an empty archiveGNU tar was asked to create an archive without any file names. Add the files or the directory after the archive name, and keep -f right before the archive.
- tar: Removing leading `/' from member namesGNU tar prints Removing leading / from member names when archiving an absolute path. The archive is fine; use -C to store relative paths, or -P to keep them.
- tar: This does not look like a tar archiveGNU tar prints 'This does not look like a tar archive' when the file is not a valid tar, often an HTML error page or a truncated download. Check it with file.