TAR.LZ (TLZ) to CPIO Converter
Convert your tar.lz files to cpio online & free
tar.lz
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How to convert TAR.LZ to CPIO
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About formats
TAR.LZ is a compound archive format combining TAR) archiving with lzip compression, a format created by Antonio Diaz Diaz and first released in 2009. The TAR layer bundles files with full Unix metadata into a single stream, and lzip applies LZMA compression with a robust container that includes per-member CRC-32 integrity checking and clean member boundaries. Lzip was designed with long-term archival in mind — it produces a simple, well-documented format with strong error recovery properties: if part of a TAR.LZ file is corrupted, undamaged members can still be extracted, unlike monolithic compressed streams where corruption propagates. The compression ratios are essentially identical to LZMA/XZ since lzip uses the same LZMA algorithm. One advantage is archival resilience — the member-based structure means a multi-part archive can survive partial corruption without losing all data, critical for long-term storage. The clean, minimal format design is another strength: lzip has a simple specification that independent implementations can follow precisely, reducing the risk of compatibility issues over decades of archival. TAR.LZ is used by the GNU Project for distributing source releases and is supported by GNU tar with the --lzip flag, as well as by plzip for parallel compression on multi-core systems.
CPIO (Copy In, Copy Out) is a Unix archive format dating to the PWB/UNIX system at AT&T Bell Labs in 1977, predating even the tar format. The name describes the tool's original operation: copying files in to an archive and out from an archive. CPIO stores files sequentially with per-file headers containing the filename, inode information, permissions, ownership, timestamps, and file size, followed by the file data itself. The format exists in several variants: the original binary format, the POSIX.1-defined octet-oriented (ODC) format, the SVR4 newc format with expanded device and inode fields, and the CRC variant that adds checksum verification. Unlike tar, CPIO reads the list of files to archive from standard input, making it naturally composable with find and other Unix utilities through pipes. One advantage is faithful Unix metadata preservation — CPIO records device numbers, inode information, and hard link relationships with higher fidelity than early tar implementations, making it suitable for system-level backups and device file archiving. The format's central role in Linux package management is another practical significance: the RPM package format uses CPIO as its internal payload container, meaning every RPM-based Linux installation relies on CPIO extraction. While tar has become more common for general archiving, CPIO persists in system administration, initramfs images, and package management infrastructure.