Ubuntu: Mount a TAR File as a Directory

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This tutorial shows how to mount a TAR archive file (.tar.gz, .tgz, .tar.bz2, .tar, etc.) as a directory on Ubuntu so that you can access the contents without first unpacking them to disk. When you're done viewing (or even modifying) the contents, you can simply unmount the TAR file. Any changes you make will be applied to the TAR file itself.

If you're using an Ubuntu laptop or desktop, you can press Ctrl + Alt + T on your keyboard to open a new terminal window. If you're using a remote Ubuntu server, you can connect using SSH to open a new terminal session.

Make sure you have archivemount installed:

sudo apt install -y archivemount

sudo apt install -y archivemount

You can mount the TAR file at any directory (called the mount point), as long as you have write permission for the directory. Here, we'll mount it at /tmp/myfiles:

mkdir /tmp/myfiles

mkdir /tmp/myfiles

To mount a TAR file named myfiles.tar.gz at our mount point from the previous step:

archivemount myfiles.tar.gz /tmp/myfiles

archivemount myfiles.tar.gz /tmp/myfiles

Now you can access the contents of your TAR file by going to the mount point directory:

cd /tmp/myfiles
ls

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cd /tmp/myfiles
ls

When you're done with the contents, you can simply unmount:

cd && umount /tmp/myfiles

cd && umount /tmp/myfiles

Note that the command to unmount is umount (no n right after the u), not "unmount."

The cd && part of the command above moves you to your home directory before unmounting, so that you're not inside the mount point after it is unmounted.

Optionally after you unmount, you can delete your mount point:

rmdir /tmp/myfiles

rmdir /tmp/myfiles

You've just accessed the contents of a TAR file without first unpacking them to disk.

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