SoFunction
Updated on 2025-03-03

How to use linux compression decompression command (no nonsense version)

1. gzip

Only single files can be compressed, but not directories.

Quick compression of individual files, especially for text files

  • Compress a single file

gzip -> The original changed to directly, the source file is not retained

  • Decompress a single file

gunzip -> The file before compression is not retained, it becomes

2. bizp2

Only single files can be compressed, but not directories.

Provides higher compression ratios, especially for files with higher data redundancy.

This means that despite the slower compression process, the file size can be compressed smaller, suitable for occasions where extreme space optimization is required.

  • Compress a single file

bzip2 -> .bz2 file The file before compression is not retained, it becomes

  • Decompress a single file

bunzip2.bz2 -> File The file before decompression is not retained, it becomes

3. tar

Package the directory. No compression is provided, and the size after packaging has not changed.

Usually, the directory is packaged first and then compressed with gzip and bzip2.

Usually we need to compress the entire folder. The first two commands can only compress a single file. If you want to compress a folder, you need to package the folder into a file type before you can compress the file.

  • Package folders

Package the hello folder in the current directory into a file and store it in the current directory, and the source folder will be retained.

tar -cf hello -> File

  • Unpack the file

Unpack the file into a hello folder and store it in the current directory.

tar -xf -> hello folder

  • General integration

The most commonly used combination of packaging and compression commands.

If you want to use bzip2, just replace it with: -jzcf | -jzxf

  • Directly pack and compress folders

Package and compress the hello folder in the current directory into

tar -zcf hello -> File

  • Directly unpack and unzip the folder

Unpack and unzip the files in the current directory into hello folder

tar -zxf -> hello folder

4. Zip

Cross-platform compatibility.

Ideal for fast packaging of multiple files or entire directory structures.

  • Directly compress the entire folder

zip -r hello -> Compress the hello folder in the current directory into

Summarize

The above is personal experience. I hope you can give you a reference and I hope you can support me more.