diff --git a/engine/resources/tar.go b/engine/resources/tar.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a3ddc3836
--- /dev/null
+++ b/engine/resources/tar.go
@@ -0,0 +1,566 @@
+// Mgmt
+// Copyright (C) 2013-2021+ James Shubin and the project contributors
+// Written by James Shubin <james@shubin.ca> and the project contributors
+//
+// This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package resources
+
+import (
+	"archive/tar"
+	"bytes"
+	"compress/gzip"
+	"crypto/sha256"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"path"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/engine"
+	"github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/engine/traits"
+	"github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/lang/funcs/vars"
+	"github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/lang/interfaces"
+	"github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/lang/types"
+	"github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/recwatch"
+	"github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/util/errwrap"
+)
+
+const (
+	// KindTar is the kind string used to identify this resource.
+	KindTar = "tar"
+	// ParamTarState is the name of the state field parameter.
+	ParamTarState = "state"
+	// TarStateExists is the string that represents that the tar file should exist
+	TarStateExists = "exists"
+	// TarStateAbsent is the string that represents that the tar file should not exist.
+	TarStateAbsent = "absent"
+)
+
+func init() {
+	engine.RegisterResource(KindTar, func() engine.Res { return &TarRes{} })
+
+	vars.RegisterResourceParams(KindTar, map[string]map[string]func() interfaces.Var{
+		ParamTarState: {
+			TarStateExists: func() interfaces.Var {
+				return &types.StrValue{
+					V: TarStateExists,
+				}
+			},
+			TarStateAbsent: func() interfaces.Var {
+				return &types.StrValue{
+					V: TarStateAbsent,
+				}
+			},
+		},
+	})
+}
+
+// TarRes
+type TarRes struct {
+	traits.Base // add the base methods without re-implementation
+	traits.Edgeable
+	traits.GraphQueryable // allow others to query this res in the res graph
+
+	init *engine.Init
+
+	// Inputs are the input filepaths for the tar resource
+	Inputs []string `lang:"inputs" yaml:"inputs"`
+
+	// State is the desired state of the tar resource. It can either be 'exist' or 'absent'
+	State string `lang:"state" yaml:"state"`
+
+	// Compress is a flag to determine whether to compress the tar archive with
+	// gzip or not. By default it is set to false (which won't compress the archive)
+	Compress bool `lang:"compress" yaml:"compress"`
+
+	// The path to local storage
+	vardir string
+
+	// The tar resource needs to determine if its input files are "dirty":
+	// if so, checkApply will create a new tar resource.
+	// The tar resource uses a hashmap to determine whether files are dirty or not.
+	// Each key is an input file for the tar resource and
+	// each value is a hash of the respective input file's content
+	inputsHashMapFilepath string
+}
+
+// Default returns some sensible defaults for this resource.
+func (obj *TarRes) Default() engine.Res {
+	return &TarRes{}
+}
+
+// Validate if the params passed in are valid data.
+func (obj *TarRes) Validate() error {
+	if len(obj.Inputs) == 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("expected one or more inputs")
+	}
+	if obj.Compress && !strings.HasSuffix(strings.ToLower(obj.Name()), ".gz") {
+		return fmt.Errorf("expected a suffix of .gz, .Gz, or .gZ for compressed archive")
+	}
+	if obj.State != TarStateExists && obj.State != TarStateAbsent {
+		return fmt.Errorf("the State is invalid")
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Init runs some startup code for this resource.
+func (obj *TarRes) Init(init *engine.Init) error {
+	obj.init = init // save for later
+
+	// enables Debug logs
+	obj.init.Debug = false
+
+	dir, err := obj.init.VarDir("tar")
+	if err != nil {
+		return errwrap.Wrapf(err, "could not get VarDir in Init()")
+	}
+	obj.vardir = dir
+	obj.inputsHashMapFilepath = path.Join(obj.vardir, "Inputs_hashmap.json")
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Close is run by the engine to clean up after the resource is done.
+func (obj *TarRes) Close() error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Watch is the primary listener for this resource and it outputs events.
+func (obj *TarRes) Watch() error {
+
+	inputEvents := make(chan recwatch.Event)
+	defer close(inputEvents)
+
+	wg := &sync.WaitGroup{}
+	defer wg.Wait()
+
+	exit := make(chan struct{})
+	defer close(exit)
+
+	// need to send events from inputs to the tar file watcher
+	for _, inputFilepath := range obj.Inputs {
+		stat, err := os.Stat(inputFilepath)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		recurse := stat.IsDir()
+		rwInput, err := recwatch.NewRecWatcher(inputFilepath, recurse)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			for {
+
+				var event recwatch.Event
+				var ok bool
+				var shutdown bool
+
+				select {
+				case event, ok = <-rwInput.Events():
+				case <-exit:
+					return
+				}
+
+				if !ok {
+					err := fmt.Errorf("channel shutdown")
+					event = recwatch.Event{Error: err}
+					shutdown = true
+				}
+
+				select {
+				// need to signal the tar file watcher that an input is dirty
+				case inputEvents <- event:
+					if shutdown {
+						return
+					}
+				case <-exit:
+					return
+				}
+			}
+		}()
+	}
+
+	// when started, notify engine that we're running
+	obj.init.Running()
+
+	rwTar, err := recwatch.NewRecWatcher(obj.Name(), false)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer rwTar.Close()
+
+	var send = false
+	for {
+
+		select {
+
+		// from resource
+		case event, ok := <-rwTar.Events():
+			if !ok {
+				return fmt.Errorf("unexpected close")
+			}
+			if err := event.Error; err != nil {
+				return errwrap.Wrapf(err, "unknown %s watcher error", obj)
+			}
+			if obj.init.Debug {
+				// don't access event.Body if event.Error isn't nil
+				obj.init.Logf("Event(%s): %v", event.Body.Name, event.Body.Op)
+			}
+			send = true
+
+		// from inputs
+		case event, ok := <-inputEvents:
+			if !ok {
+				return fmt.Errorf("unexpected close")
+			}
+			if err := event.Error; err != nil {
+				return errwrap.Wrapf(err, "unknown %s input watcher error", obj)
+			}
+			if obj.init.Debug {
+				// don't access event.Body if event.Error isn't nil
+				obj.init.Logf("input event(%s): %v", event.Body.Name, event.Body.Op)
+			}
+			send = true
+
+		case <-obj.init.Done: // closed by the engine to signal shutdown
+			return nil
+		}
+
+		if send {
+			send = false
+			obj.init.Event()
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// CheckApply method for Tar resource
+func (obj *TarRes) CheckApply(apply bool) (bool, error) {
+
+	// Need the inputs hashmap if it doesn't exist to determine whether input files have been modified
+	_, err := os.Stat(obj.inputsHashMapFilepath)
+	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		err = obj.initInputsHashMap()
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, errwrap.Wrapf(err, "could not initialize vardir file for Inputs hashmap")
+		}
+	}
+
+	content, err := os.ReadFile(obj.inputsHashMapFilepath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, errwrap.Wrapf(err, "could not open inputs hashmap")
+	}
+	var inputsHashmap map[string][]byte
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(content, &inputsHashmap); err != nil {
+		return false, errwrap.Wrapf(err, "could not unmarshal Inputs hashmap")
+	}
+
+	// init or remove tar
+	_, err = os.Stat(obj.Name())
+	if obj.State == TarStateExists && os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		obj.createTar()
+	} else if obj.State == TarStateAbsent && !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		os.Remove(obj.Name())
+	}
+
+	// check
+	checkOk := true
+	// optimization: no need to check input files if the tar resource shouldn't exist
+	if obj.State == TarStateExists {
+		for _, inputPath := range obj.Inputs {
+
+			checkOk, err = obj.checkFile(inputPath, inputsHashmap)
+			if err != nil {
+				return false, errwrap.Wrapf(err, "could not check file %s", inputPath)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	// apply
+	if !checkOk && obj.State == TarStateExists {
+		err := obj.applyTar()
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, errwrap.Wrapf(err, "could not apply tar")
+		}
+		checkOk = true
+	}
+
+	return checkOk, nil
+}
+
+func (obj *TarRes) applyTar() error {
+	err := obj.createTar()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	content, err := os.ReadFile(obj.inputsHashMapFilepath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	var inputsHashmap map[string][]byte
+	json.Unmarshal(content, &inputsHashmap)
+
+	// Update inputs hashmap
+	for _, inputPath := range obj.Inputs {
+		obj.insertHash(inputPath, inputsHashmap)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Checks if an input file is dirty
+func (obj *TarRes) checkFile(filepath string, hashmap map[string][]byte) (bool, error) {
+	file, err := os.Stat(filepath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, errwrap.Wrapf(err, "could not get file stats for %s", filepath)
+	}
+
+	checkOK := true
+	if file.IsDir() {
+		files, err := os.ReadDir(filepath)
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, err
+		}
+		for _, file := range files {
+			result, err := obj.checkFile(path.Join(filepath, file.Name()), hashmap)
+			if err != nil {
+				return false, err
+			}
+			checkOK = checkOK && result
+			if obj.init.Debug {
+				obj.init.Logf("checkOK for input %s: %t \n", path.Join(filepath, file.Name()), checkOK)
+			}
+		}
+	} else {
+		currentHash, err := obj.createHash(filepath)
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, errwrap.Wrapf(err, "could not create hash from input file content")
+		}
+		oldHash := hashmap[filepath]
+		if !bytes.Equal(oldHash, currentHash) {
+			checkOK = false
+			if obj.init.Debug {
+				obj.init.Logf("oldHash %s != currentHash %s\n", oldHash, currentHash)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return checkOK, nil
+}
+
+func (obj *TarRes) initInputsHashMap() error {
+	inputsHashmap := map[string][]byte{}
+
+	for _, inputPath := range obj.Inputs {
+		obj.insertHash(inputPath, inputsHashmap)
+	}
+
+	bytes, err := json.Marshal(inputsHashmap)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	err = os.WriteFile(obj.inputsHashMapFilepath, bytes, 0666)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Creates a hash from some input file's content
+func (obj *TarRes) createHash(filepath string) ([]byte, error) {
+	file, err := os.Open(filepath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer file.Close()
+
+	buffer := make([]byte, 30*1024)
+	hash := sha256.New()
+	for {
+		n, err := file.Read(buffer)
+
+		if err == io.EOF {
+			break
+		}
+
+		if err != nil {
+			break
+		}
+
+		if n > 0 {
+			_, err := hash.Write(buffer[:n])
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	sum := hash.Sum(nil)
+	return sum, nil
+}
+
+func (obj *TarRes) insertHash(filepath string, hashmap map[string][]byte) (map[string][]byte, error) {
+
+	fileStat, err := os.Stat(filepath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return hashmap, err
+	}
+
+	if fileStat.IsDir() {
+		files, err := os.ReadDir(filepath)
+		if err != nil {
+			return hashmap, err
+		}
+		for _, file := range files {
+			obj.insertHash(path.Join(filepath, file.Name()), hashmap)
+		}
+	} else {
+		hash, err := obj.createHash(filepath)
+		if err != nil {
+			return hashmap, err
+		}
+		hashmap[filepath] = hash
+	}
+
+	return hashmap, nil
+}
+
+func (obj *TarRes) createTar() error {
+
+	tarfile, err := os.Create(obj.Name())
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer tarfile.Close()
+
+	if obj.init.Debug {
+		obj.init.Logf("writing to tar\n")
+	}
+	var tarWriter *tar.Writer
+	if obj.Compress {
+		gzipWriter := gzip.NewWriter(tarfile)
+		tarWriter = tar.NewWriter(gzipWriter)
+		defer gzipWriter.Close()
+	} else {
+		tarWriter = tar.NewWriter(tarfile)
+	}
+	defer tarWriter.Close()
+
+	for _, filepath := range obj.Inputs {
+		obj.writeToArchive(tarWriter, filepath)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (obj *TarRes) writeToArchive(tarWriter *tar.Writer, filepath string) error {
+	file, err := os.Open(filepath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer file.Close()
+
+	stat, err := file.Stat()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// The `tar` command first archives the folder and only after does it archive the folder contents
+	if stat.IsDir() {
+		files, err := os.ReadDir(filepath)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		for _, file := range files {
+			obj.writeToArchive(tarWriter, path.Join(filepath, file.Name()))
+		}
+	}
+
+	// We need to create a header to preserve the directory structure of the
+	// input files
+	header, err := tar.FileInfoHeader(stat, stat.Name())
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Need to remove the leading '/' to copy the same behaviour as 'tar'
+	// Otherwise, the files are inacessible
+	header.Name = strings.TrimPrefix(filepath, "/")
+	if err := tarWriter.WriteHeader(header); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if _, err := io.Copy(tarWriter, file); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Cmp compares two resources and returns an error if they are not equivalent.
+func (obj *TarRes) Cmp(r engine.Res) error {
+	// we can only compare TarRes to others of the same resource kind
+	res, ok := r.(*TarRes)
+	if !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("not a %s", obj.Kind())
+	}
+
+	if len(obj.Inputs) != len(res.Inputs) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("the Inputs differ")
+	}
+
+	for i := range obj.Inputs {
+		if obj.Inputs[i] != res.Inputs[i] {
+			return fmt.Errorf("the Inputs differ")
+		}
+	}
+
+	if obj.State != res.State {
+		return fmt.Errorf("the State differs")
+	}
+
+	if obj.Compress != res.Compress {
+		return fmt.Errorf("the Compress parameter differs")
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// UnmarshalYAML is the custom unmarshal handler for this struct. It is
+// primarily useful for setting the defaults.
+func (obj *TarRes) UnmarshalYAML(unmarshal func(interface{}) error) error {
+	type rawRes TarRes // indirection to avoid infinite recursion
+
+	def := obj.Default()     // get the default
+	res, ok := def.(*TarRes) // put in the right format
+	if !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not convert to TarRes")
+	}
+	raw := rawRes(*res) // convert; the defaults go here
+
+	if err := unmarshal(&raw); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	*obj = TarRes(raw) // restore from indirection with type conversion!
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/examples/lang/tar.mcl b/examples/lang/tar.mcl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5ffe1e97c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/lang/tar.mcl
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+$tarfilepath1 = "/tmp/mytar1.tar"
+
+file "/tmp/file1.txt" {
+	content => "julius caesar",
+	state => $const.res.file.state.exists,
+	Before => Tar["${tarfilepath1}"],
+}
+
+file "/tmp/file2.txt" {
+	content => "hello world",
+	state => $const.res.file.state.exists,
+	Before => Tar["${tarfilepath1}"],
+}
+
+file "/tmp/somedir/" {
+	state => $const.res.file.state.exists,
+}
+
+file "/tmp/somedir/file3.txt" {
+	state => $const.res.file.state.exists,
+}
+
+tar "${tarfilepath1}" {
+	inputs => ["/tmp/file1.txt", "/tmp/file2.txt", "/tmp/somedir/",],
+	state => $const.res.tar.state.exists,
+	compress => false,
+}
+
+$tarfilepath2 = "/tmp/mytar2.tar"
+tar "${tarfilepath2}" {
+	inputs => ["/tmp/file1.txt", "/tmp/file2.txt", "/tmp/somedir/",],
+	state => $const.res.tar.state.absent,
+	compress => false,
+}