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List the contents of a tar.gz archive

harmlessrsync and backupalle
Adjust the values, the command updates live
user@server
tar -tzvf /var/backups/example.com-httpdocs-2026-10-09.tar.gz | head -50

Shows the first 50 entries of the archive with permissions, owner, size, date and path. This tells you whether a backup contains the expected files and how the paths are structured, which matters for restoring individual files. If the archive reads through to the end without errors, it is at least readable.

Note: To search for a specific file, use | grep wp-config instead of | head -50.

Also searched as

  • list tar.gz contents without extracting
  • what is in this backup
  • view files in archive
  • check backup archive

Related one-liners

All in rsync and backup

Create a compressed tar backup with the date in the name

#tar -czf /var/backups/example.com-httpdocs-$(date +%F).tar.gz -C /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs .
cautionrsync and backup

Extract a tar.gz archive without overwriting files

$mkdir -p /tmp/restore && tar -xzf /var/backups/example.com-httpdocs-2026-10-09.tar.gz -C /tmp/restore --skip-old-files
cautionrsync and backup

Restore a single file from a tar backup

$mkdir -p /tmp/restore && tar -xzf /var/backups/example.com-httpdocs-2026-10-09.tar.gz -C /tmp/restore ./wp-config.php
cautionrsync and backup

Stream a tar backup directly to another server over SSH

$tar -czf - -C /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs . | ssh webuser@backup.example.com 'cat > /home/webuser/backup/example.com-httpdocs.tar.gz'
cautionrsync and backup

Back up a Docker volume to a tar archive

#docker run --rm -v app_data:/data:ro -v /root/docker-backup:/backup alpine tar czf /backup/app_data.tar.gz -C /data .
cautionDocker

Incremental backup with hard links using rsync --link-dest

#rsync -a --link-dest=/backup/example.com/aktuell /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/ /backup/example.com/$(date +%F)/ && ln -sfn /backup/example.com/$(date +%F) /backup/example.com/aktuell
cautionrsync and backup

Read first, then run.

The commands on myline.de act directly on servers, files and databases. A wrong path or placeholder can delete data irreversibly or make a server unreachable.

  • All commands are provided without warranty and are not tested on every system.
  • Understand what a command does before running it, and check every placeholder.
  • Make a backup first and, if possible, try it on a test system.
  • You run commands at your own risk. Liability for damages is excluded to the extent permitted by law.