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File Compression and Archiving Commands

Linux provides several commands for creating, extracting, and managing compressed and archived files. These commands help you to save space and organize your files efficiently.

tar - Archive Files

tar is a utility for creating and extracting archive files. It supports many formats, including .tar, .tar.gz, .tar.bz2, and more.

Basic Usage:

tar [options] [archive_file] [file(s)_to_archive]

Common Options:

Option Description Example
-c Create a new archive. tar -cvf archive.tar /path/to/folder
-x Extract files from an archive. tar -xvf archive.tar
-v Verbose mode, shows files being processed. tar -cvf archive.tar -v /path/to/folder
-f Specify the archive file name. tar -cf archive.tar /path/to/folder
-z Compress the archive with gzip (for .tar.gz). tar -czf archive.tar.gz /path/to/folder
-j Compress the archive with bzip2 (for .tar.bz2). tar -cjf archive.tar.bz2 /path/to/folder
-J Compress the archive with xz (for .tar.xz). tar -cJf archive.tar.xz /path/to/folder
-t List the contents of an archive without extracting. tar -tf archive.tar
-r Append files to an existing archive. tar -rvf archive.tar newfile.txt
-u Update an archive with newer files. tar -uvf archive.tar updatedfile.txt
-C Extract or create an archive in a specific directory. tar -xvf archive.tar -C /target/dir
-A Concatenate multiple archives. tar -Af archive1.tar archive2.tar
--exclude Exclude files matching the pattern. tar -czf archive.tar.gz --exclude="*.log" /path/to/folder

zip - Create Zip Archives

zip is used to compress files and directories into .zip archives.

Basic Usage:

zip [options] archive.zip file1.txt file2.txt

Common Options:

Option Description Example
-r Recursively zip a directory. zip -r archive.zip /path/to/folder
-e Encrypt the archive with a password. zip -e archive.zip /path/to/folder
-9 Set maximum compression level. zip -9 archive.zip /path/to/folder
-q Quiet mode, suppress output. zip -q archive.zip /path/to/folder
-v Verbose mode. zip -v archive.zip /path/to/folder
-d Delete files from the archive. zip -d archive.zip file.txt
-x Exclude files from the archive. zip -r archive.zip /path/to/folder -x "*.log"
-u Update files in the archive. zip -u archive.zip updatedfile.txt
-z Compress files that are already compressed. zip -z archive.zip /path/to/folder

unzip - Extract Zip Archives

unzip is used to extract files from .zip archives.

Basic Usage:

unzip archive.zip

Common Options:

Option Description Example
-l List the contents of the archive without extracting. unzip -l archive.zip
-d Extract files to a specific directory. unzip archive.zip -d /path/to/dir
-o Overwrite existing files without prompting. unzip -o archive.zip
-n Never overwrite existing files. unzip -n archive.zip
-t Test the integrity of the archive. unzip -t archive.zip
-p Extract to standard output (stdout). unzip -p archive.zip

gzip - Compress Files Using Gzip

gzip is used to compress individual files using the .gz format.

Basic Usage:

gzip file.txt

Common Options:

Option Description Example
-d Decompress a .gz file. gzip -d file.gz
-c Output to standard output without modifying the original file. gzip -c file.txt > file.txt.gz
-r Recursively compress files in directories. gzip -r /path/to/folder
-k Keep the original file after compression. gzip -k file.txt
-v Verbose mode, show compression ratio. gzip -v file.txt
-1 to -9 Set compression level (1 = fastest, 9 = maximum compression). gzip -9 file.txt

gunzip - Decompress Gzip Files

gunzip is used to decompress .gz files.

Basic Usage:

gunzip file.txt.gz

Common options

Option Description Example
-d Decompress a .gz file. gunzip file.gz
-c Output to standard output without modifying the original file. gunzip -c file.gz > file.txt
-k Keep the original file after decompression. gunzip -k file.gz
-v Verbose mode, show decompression details. gunzip -v file.gz

bzip2 - Compress Files Using Bzip2

bzip2 is used to compress files using the .bz2 format. It typically offers better compression than gzip.

Basic Usage:

bzip2 file.txt

Common Options:

Option Description Example
-d Decompress a .bz2 file. bzip2 -d file.bz2
-k Keep the original file after compression. bzip2 -k file.txt
-z Compress the file (default action). bzip2 file.txt
-v Verbose mode, show compression ratio. bzip2 -v file.txt
-1 to -9 Set compression level (1 = fastest, 9 = maximum compression). bzip2 -9 file.txt

bunzip2 - Decompress Bzip2 Files

bunzip2 is used to decompress .bz2 files.

Basic Usage:

bunzip2 file.txt.bz2

Common Options

Option Description Example
-d Decompress a .bz2 file. bunzip2 file.bz2
-k Keep the original file after decompression. bunzip2 -k file.bz2
-v Verbose mode, show decompression details. bunzip2 -v file.bz2

xz - Compress Files Using Xz

xz is a command-line tool used for compressing files using the .xz format, which provides high compression ratios.

Basic Usage:

xz file.txt

Common Options:

Option Description Example
-d Decompress a .xz file. xz -d file.xz
-k Keep the original file after compression. xz -k file.txt
-z Compress the file (default action). xz file.txt
-v Verbose mode, show compression ratio. xz -v file.txt
-1 to -9 Set compression level (1 = fastest, 9 = maximum compression). xz -9 file.txt

7z - Compress Files Using 7zip

7z is a powerful compression tool used for creating .7z archives. It supports a wide range of compression formats.

Basic Usage:

7z a archive.7z file1.txt file2.txt

Common Options:

Option Description Example
a Add files to the archive. 7z a archive.7z /path/to/folder
x Extract files from an archive. 7z x archive.7z
e Extract files to the current directory. 7z e archive.7z
l List the contents of an archive. 7z l archive.7z
-p Set the password for encrypted archives. 7z a -pPASSWORD archive.7z file.txt
-y Assume "yes" to all queries (no confirmation). 7z a -y archive.7z /path/to/folder
-r Recursively add files in directories. 7z a -r archive.7z /path/to/folder
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