Common Linux Compression and Decompression Commands

Common Linux compression and decompression commands are listed below.

.tar

Extract: tar xvf FileName.tar
Create archive: tar cvf FileName.tar DirName
(Note: tar creates an archive but does not compress.)

.gz

Extract 1: gunzip FileName.gz
Extract 2: gzip -d FileName.gz
Compress: gzip FileName

.tar.gz and .tgz

Extract: tar zxvf FileName.tar.gz
Compress: tar zcvf FileName.tar.gz DirName

.bz2

Extract 1: bzip2 -d FileName.bz2
Extract 2: bunzip2 FileName.bz2
Compress: bzip2 -z FileName

.tar.bz2

Extract: tar jxvf FileName.tar.bz2
Compress: tar jcvf FileName.tar.bz2 DirName

.bz

Extract 1: bzip2 -d FileName.bz
Extract 2: bunzip2 FileName.bz

.tar.bz

Extract: tar jxvf FileName.tar.bz

.Z

Extract: uncompress FileName.Z
Compress: compress FileName

.tar.Z

Extract: tar Zxvf FileName.tar.Z
Compress: tar Zcvf FileName.tar.Z DirName

.zip

Extract: unzip FileName.zip
Compress: zip FileName.zip DirName

.rar

Extract: rar x FileName.rar
Compress: rar a FileName.rar DirName

.lha

Extract: lha -e FileName.lha
Compress: lha -a FileName.lha FileName

.rpm

Extract: rpm2cpio FileName.rpm | cpio -div

.deb

Extract: ar p FileName.deb data.tar.gz | tar zxf -

Various other formats (e.g., .cpio, .slp, .arj, .ace, .lzh, .lzx, .arc, .sda, .sfx, .lnx, .zoo, .cab, .kar, .cpt, .pit, .sit, .sea)

Extract: sEx x FileName.*
Compress: sEx a FileName.* FileName

gzip command

Reducing file size saves storage space and shortens network transfer time; gzip is a commonly used Linux command for compressing and decompressing files.

Syntax: gzip [options] file

-a or --ascii: use ASCII mode
-d or --decompress or --uncompress: decompress files
-f or --force: force compression, ignore existing files or links
-h or --help: display help
-l or --list: list archive contents
-L or --license: show license information
-n or --no-name: do not store original name and timestamp
-N or --name: store original name and timestamp
-q or --quiet: suppress warnings
-r or --recursive: process directories recursively
-S
or --suffix
: change suffix string
-t or --test: test archive integrity
-v or --verbose: show detailed operation
-V or --version: display version
-1 to -9: set compression level (1 fastest, 9 best; default 6)
--best: same as -9
--fast: same as -1
-c or --stdout or --to-stdout: output to standard output