LPIC-1 GNU and Unix Commands Practice Question
After receiving a compressed tarball archive.tar.gz from a colleague, you want to list its contents without extracting. Which command should you use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse the `-x` (extract) flag with `-t` (list) because both are used for reading archives, but only `-t` lists without extracting; LPI often tests this by offering `-xzf` as a distractor, assuming candidates will misremember the flag for listing.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
tar -tvf archive.tar.gz
The `tar -tvf archive.tar.gz` command lists the contents of a compressed tarball without extracting it. The `-t` option tells tar to list the archive's table of contents, `-v` provides verbose output (showing file permissions, ownership, etc.), and `-f` specifies the archive file. Tar automatically detects and decompresses the gzip compression when reading the file, so no separate decompression step is needed.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
tar -xzf archive.tar.gz
Why it's wrong here
This extracts the archive, not list contents.
- ✗
tar -cvf archive.tar.gz
Why it's wrong here
This creates an archive, not list contents.
- ✗
gzip -d archive.tar.gz | tar -t
Why it's wrong here
While this works, it decompresses and then lists, which is less efficient than using -tvf directly.
- ✓
tar -tvf archive.tar.gz
Why this is correct
-t lists the contents of the archive without extracting.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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