performance
medium
Apply
archive
2 points
Question 30. CSCD240-E1-A
Create gzip-compressed tarball backup.tar.gz of all .txt files in pwd.
Work the drill
Answer on paper or in a terminal before revealing the ideal answer.
Ideal answer
tar -czvf backup.tar.gz *.txt
Acceptable alternatives: ["tar -czf backup.tar.gz *.txt", "tar czvf backup.tar.gz *.txt"]
Misconception bank
Each row below is a plausible wrong answer, the thinking that produces it, and the remedy that corrects the misconception. These are the foundation of the multiple-choice framing and the targeted feedback a student receives after answering.
tar -cvf backup.tar.gz *.txt
Misconception. Missing z (no gzip compression) — creates .tar not .tar.gz by content.
Remedy. Remember: z = gzip. Filename alone does not compress.
tar -cz backup.tar.gz *.txt
Misconception. Missing f; tar tries to write to stdout or to a default device.
Remedy. Always use -czvf NAME FILES; f precedes the archive name.
gzip *.txt
Misconception. gzip compresses individual files, does not archive.
Remedy. Explain: gzip = compression only, tar = archiving. Combine with -z.
Authority mappings
Hover any chip for the mapping justification; click to open the authority record.
DCWF roles:
IT-451 System Administrator
DCWF tasks:
T0186
O*NET tasks:
SOC 15-1244.00: task 2
Course-artifact links
Lectures
- CSCD240-S26-L08. Pipes, filters, grep, sort, uniq, wc, tar
Lab questions
- CSCD240-S26-LAB5: tar -czvf backup.tar.gz *.txt. Then tar -xzvf to extract.