Convert CAB to TGZ

Understanding CAB and TGZ file formats

CAB (Cabinet) files are compressed archive files developed by Microsoft, commonly used for software installation packages and Windows system files. They support lossless data compression and can contain multiple files and folders in a single archive.

TGZ files, also known as .tar.gz, are compressed archives widely used in Unix and Linux environments. A TGZ file is created by first archiving files into a TAR file and then compressing it using Gzip, resulting in efficient storage and transfer.

Why convert CAB to TGZ?

Converting a CAB file to TGZ is useful when you need to extract files from a Windows environment and use or distribute them in Unix-based systems, which natively support TGZ archives.

How to convert CAB to TGZ

There is no direct one-step converter from CAB to TGZ, but the process is straightforward:

1. Extract the contents of the CAB file.
2. Archive the extracted files into a TAR file.
3. Compress the TAR file into a TGZ archive.

Recommended software for CAB to TGZ conversion

• 7-Zip (Windows):
  • Open 7-Zip and File → Open to select your CAB file.
  • Extract the contents to a folder.
  • Select the extracted files, right-click, and choose 7-Zip → Add to archive....
  • Set Archive format to tar, then click OK.
  • Right-click the resulting TAR file, choose 7-Zip → Add to archive... again, and set Archive format to gzip to create a TGZ file.
• PeaZip (Windows/Linux):
  • Open PeaZip and extract the CAB file.
  • Select the extracted files and use Add to create a TAR archive, then compress it as TGZ.
• Linux command line:
  • Install cabextract if not already available: sudo apt-get install cabextract
  • Extract CAB: cabextract file.cab
  • Create TGZ: tar czvf archive.tgz extracted_folder/

Summary

While there is no direct CAB to TGZ converter, using tools like 7-Zip, PeaZip, or the Linux command line allows you to extract CAB files and repackage them as TGZ archives for cross-platform compatibility.