Common Linux Compression and Archiving Tools: Commands and Usage

This article summarizes the common compression tools available on Linux— zip, gzip, bzip2, xz —and the tar archiving command, covering their basic commands, special parameters, and how to combine them for packaging and compression.

The primary compression commands and their associated file extensions are: zip →

.zip

gzip

→

.gz

bzip2

→

.bz2

xz

→ .xz Packaging commands include tar (producing .tar) and its combinations with compression formats, such as .tar.gz / .tgz, .tar.bz2, and .tar.xz. The compression ratio is calculated as (compressed size) / (original size).

Note that gzip, bzip2, and xz can only compress single files; to compress directories you must use tar together with one of these tools or use zip, which can handle directories directly.

gzip

gzip

compresses a file in place, creating <file_name>.gz. Use the -v flag to display the compression ratio. gzip -v <file_name> Decompress with:

gzip -d <file_name>.gz

gunzip <file_name>.gz

bzip2

bzip2

also compresses in place, producing <file_name>.bz2. The -v flag shows the compression ratio. bzip2 -v <file_name> Decompress with:

bzip2 -d <file_name>.bz2

bunzip2 <file_name>.bz2

xz

xz

compresses in place, creating <file_name>.xz. Use -v to see the ratio and -l to list compression details.

xz -v <file_name>

xz -l <file_name>.xz

Decompress with:

xz -d <file_name>.xz

zip

zip

does not overwrite the original files. To compress a single file: zip <compressed>.zip <file_name> To compress multiple files: zip <compressed>.zip a.txt b.txt c.txt To compress a directory recursively: zip -r dir.zip <dir_name> Decompress with:

unzip <compressed>.zip

tar

tar

is a packaging command that can also compress when combined with gzip, bzip2, or xz. Core options include: -c: create archive -t: list archive contents -x: extract archive -z: filter through

gzip

-j

: filter through

bzip2

-J

: filter through

xz

-f

: specify archive file name -v: verbose output -C: change to directory before extracting

Examples:

tar -cvf target.tar a.txt b.txt c.txt

tar -cvf target.tar dir1 dir2

tar -cvf target.tar dir1 dir2 a.txt b.txt

Pack and compress with gzip: tar -cvz -f target.tar.gz dir1 dir2 a.txt Pack and compress with bzip2: tar -cvj -f target.tar.bz2 dir1 dir2 a.txt Pack and compress with xz: tar -cvJ -f target.tar.xz dir1 dir2 a.txt List contents:

tar -tvz -f target.tar.gz

tar -tvJ -f target.tar.xz

Extract: tar -xvz -f target.tar.gz Extract to a specific directory using -C: tar -xvz -f target.tar.gz -C ~/test In summary, tar can bundle any files or directories into a single archive; by default extraction dumps the contents into the current directory, but the -C option allows extraction to a chosen path.