How to install tarbal.gz files?

[source_monkey]

I'm a complete noob to Linux, but am glad to say that I have wiped Windows and have loved the Mandriva experience this far.


How does one go about installing tarball.gz files? I figure one day I'm going to need to learn how to do this stuff, but don't understand the basic concepts.


Can anyone guide me here? I understand that for each package you download it's essential to read the install read me, but I don't understand where I'm supposed to begin running the commands to extract the package and so forth.

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

There are tons of packages available in sources and if your machine has internet access, there is no need to download/install tar.bz package.

Anyways, check this tutorial on how to install softwares in Linux.

[source_monkey]

Hi and Welcome !

There are tons of packages available in sources and if your machine has internet access, there is no need to download/install tar.bz package.

Anyways, check this tutorial on how to install softwares in Linux.

Thanks for the welcome!

Okay: According to the instructions from the link,

You'll probably want to operate from inside your home directory. If your user is (for example) username, your home directory will be /home/username/. For the rest of this section we will assume you have downloaded your zip file to /home/username/src. If you do not have a src directory, you can create it with the following "mkdir" (make directory) command:

Code:

mkdir /home/username/src/



Where do you type "mkdir," and where do you input the code?

[oz]

You'll input your commands in the Terminal (Gnome), or Konsole (KDE), or you can use a virtual console.

Check here for some quick and easy lessons on using the command line under Linux:

LinuxCommand.org: Learn the Linux command line. Write shell scripts.

UNIX / Linux Tutorial for Beginners

[mhanan]

Once you've got your files dl'd to the correct directory, you'll want to cd to it in a terminal/konsole window and run the following command:

tar -xvzf file.tar.gz

(the z flag is what tells it to filter through gunzip)

Then more than likely you'll want to run

./configure
make
su
(enter root password)
make install

See the man page for tar for more information. (in a terminal/konsole window type:
man tar)

[source_monkey]

Once you've got your files dl'd to the correct directory, you'll want to cd to it in a terminal/konsole window and run the following command:

tar -xvzf file.tar.gz

(the z flag is what tells it to filter through gunzip)

Then more than likely you'll want to run

./configure
make
su
(enter root password)
make install

See the man page for tar for more information. (in a terminal/konsole window type:
man tar)

Okay:

When I type in tar -xzvf file.tar.gz , how does file need to be typed? If I were to extract the downloaded file called "units-1.74.tar.gz," does the whole name and version number have to be typed in with your command?

[source_monkey]

Once you've got your files dl'd to the correct directory, you'll want to cd to it in a terminal/konsole window and run the following command:

tar -xvzf file.tar.gz

(the z flag is what tells it to filter through gunzip)

Then more than likely you'll want to run

./configure
make
su
(enter root password)
make install

See the man page for tar for more information. (in a terminal/konsole window type:
man tar)

When I type in "tar -xvzf file.tar.gz" by itself, I get no such directory exists.

Also, do I need to have a certain file from the tar file opened when inputting the commands into the konsole?

[oz]

tar -xvzf file_name.tar.gz

...changing the "file_name" part to equal your file.

You also need to change to the directory holding the tarball to run the command.

More info on using the command line under Linux can be found in the links I posted for you above.

Have fun with it.

[mhanan]

Okay:

When I type in tar -xzvf file.tar.gz , how does file need to be typed? If I were to extract the downloaded file called "units-1.74.tar.gz," does the whole name and version number have to be typed in with your command?

Yes, the full file name needs to be typed in.

so it would be

tar -xvzf units-1.74.tar.gz

this should create a units-1.74 directory

cd units-1.74
./configure
make
su
(enter root password)
make install

[gypsy7]

I was trying to install a file using this and it worked up until "make", it then returned

make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found. Stop.

If it makes any difference I'm using Ubuntu and I'm trying to install the vlc audio player version 0.8.6c