Linux command: tar

Compression

.tar.gz

tar -zcvf /var/my-backup.tar.gz /home/rafa/

.tar.gz split with max size

tar cvzf - dir/ | split --bytes=200MB - sda1.backup.tar.gz.
tar cvzf - dir/ | split -b 200m - sda1.backup.tar.gz.
tar cvzf - /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/ | split -b 4294967295 - /Volumes/UNTITLED/install_macos_sierra.tgz.

.tar.gz exclude files

tar --exclude='./folder' --exclude='./upload/folder2' -zcvf /backup/filename.tgz .

Extraction

View .tar.gz contents

tar -ztvf file.tar.gz

Extract .tar.gz

tar -zxvf archive.tar.gz

Extract .txz

tar Jxvf file.txz

Extract .tar.xz

tar -xvf file.tar.xz

Extract .tar.bz2

tar -jtvf file.tar.bz2

Note: .gz files are decompressed with gunzip file.gz