1. tar exclude VCS folders like svn/cvs/git etc (Note repo is NOT execluded!)
tar zcf ~/my.tgz --exclude-vcs myfolder_with_cvs_svn_git
You can try directly with the tar option --exclude-vcs:
--exclude-vcs: Exclude version control system directories For example:
tar cvfj nameoffile.tar.bz2 directory/ --exclude-vcs
tar cvf ~/app.tar --exclude .git --exclude "*.log" .
2. Jxf for xz file/tar
tar Jxf gcc-linaro-7.2.1-2017.11-x86_64_aarch64-linux-gnu.tar.xz