Archives Compression

Archives & Compression — Quick Reference

tar — Pack / Unpack Archives

The most common tool. Often combined with gzip (.tar.gz / .tgz) or bzip2 (.tar.bz2).

Create Archives

tar -czf archive.tar.gz ./dir         # create gzip archive
tar -cjf archive.tar.bz2 ./dir        # create bzip2 archive (smaller, slower)
tar -cf archive.tar ./dir             # create uncompressed archive
tar -czf archive.tar.gz file1 file2   # archive specific files

Extract Archives

tar -xzf archive.tar.gz               # extract gzip archive
tar -xjf archive.tar.bz2              # extract bzip2 archive
tar -xf archive.tar                   # extract uncompressed
tar -xzf archive.tar.gz -C /dest/     # extract to specific directory

Inspect Without Extracting

tar -tzf archive.tar.gz               # list contents of gzip archive
tar -tf archive.tar                   # list contents of uncompressed

Common Flags

Flag	Meaning
`-c`	Create archive
`-x`	Extract archive
`-t`	List contents
`-z`	Use gzip compression
`-j`	Use bzip2 compression
`-J`	Use xz compression
`-f`	Specify filename (always last)
`-v`	Verbose — show files as processed
`-C`	Change to directory before extracting

zip / unzip

zip archive.zip file1 file2           # zip specific files
zip -r archive.zip ./dir              # zip a directory recursively
zip -r archive.zip . -x "*.git*"      # exclude a pattern

unzip archive.zip                     # extract to current directory
unzip archive.zip -d /dest/           # extract to specific directory
unzip -l archive.zip                  # list contents without extracting
unzip -o archive.zip                  # overwrite existing files

gzip / gunzip — Compress Single Files

Replaces the original file by default.

gzip file.txt                         # compress → file.txt.gz (removes original)
gzip -k file.txt                      # keep original
gzip -d file.txt.gz                   # decompress (same as gunzip)
gunzip file.txt.gz                    # decompress

gzip -9 file.txt                      # maximum compression
gzip -1 file.txt                      # fastest compression

# Compress multiple files
gzip file1.txt file2.txt

xz — High Compression

Better compression ratio than gzip, but slower.

xz file.txt                           # compress → file.txt.xz
xz -d file.txt.xz                     # decompress
xz -k file.txt                        # keep original
xz -9 file.txt                        # maximum compression

zcat / zless — Read Compressed Files Without Extracting

zcat file.txt.gz                      # print contents of gzip file
zcat file.txt.gz | grep "error"       # grep inside compressed log
zless file.txt.gz                     # page through gzip file

Quick Reference — File Extensions

Extension	Tool	Command to extract
`.tar`	tar	`tar -xf file.tar`
`.tar.gz` / `.tgz`	tar + gzip	`tar -xzf file.tar.gz`
`.tar.bz2`	tar + bzip2	`tar -xjf file.tar.bz2`
`.tar.xz`	tar + xz	`tar -xJf file.tar.xz`
`.gz`	gzip	`gunzip file.gz`
`.zip`	zip	`unzip file.zip`
`.xz`	xz	`xz -d file.xz`

Tips

tar -xzf is the one you’ll use 90% of the time.
Add -v while learning to see what’s happening; drop it in scripts.
Use tar -tzf archive.tar.gz before extracting to know where files will land — avoids spilling into your current directory.
zcat logs.gz | grep ERROR | tail -100 lets you search compressed logs without unpacking them.
For large files, prefer xz for storage and gzip when speed matters.

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