Master Linux File Compression: tar, gzip, bzip2, 7zip and More

Why Compress Files?

Compressing files reduces disk usage and can dramatically lower network bandwidth consumption when transferring data. Below is a practical reference of common Linux compression tools.

1. tar

tar is the most popular archiving tool on Linux, supporting gzip, bzip2, lzma, etc.

Installation

apt-get install tar

yum install tar

Example

fallocate -l 512M um.img

tar -cvfz um.tar.gz um.img

-c

– create archive -v – verbose output -f – specify archive file -z – compress with gzip

2. gzip

gzip is a fast, widely used compressor that keeps the original filename and adds a .gz extension.

Installation

apt-get install gzip

yum install gzip

Example

gzip examplefile

gzip -l examplefile.gz

gzip -d examplefile.gz

gzip -r examplefile

3. lzma

lzma offers faster compression than bzip2 and is built into most Linux distributions.

Example

lzma -c --stdout examplefile > examplefile.lzma

lzma -d --stdout examplefile.lzma > examplefile

4. xz

xz is the successor of lzma; it compresses single files and automatically adds a .xz extension.

Example

xz examplefile

xz -d examplefile.xz

5. bzip2

bzip2 provides tighter compression than gzip but requires more RAM; use -s for low‑memory mode.

Example

bzip2 examplefile

bzip2 -s examplefile

bzip2 -v examplefile

bzip2 -d examplefile.bz2

bunzip2 examplefile.bz2

6. pax

pax is a fast, versatile archiver that can also copy files remotely.

Installation apt-get install pax Example

# pax -wf examplefile.tar examplefile

# pax -wf examplefile.tar.gz examplefile

pax -f examplefile.tar

pax -r < examplefile.tar

7. Peazip

Peazip is a cross‑platform GUI front‑end based on 7zip, supporting over 180 formats.

Installation

wget sourceforge.net/projects/peazip/files/1/peazip_LINUX.Qt-2_i3deb

dpkg -i peazip_LINUX.Qt-2_i3deb

8. 7zip

7zip is an open‑source compressor known for high compression ratios.

Installation apt-get install p7zip-full p7zip-rar Example

7z a examplefile.7z examplefile

7z e examplefile.7z

9. shar

shar creates simple shell archives useful for bundling scripts.

Installation apt-get install sharutils Example

shar examplefile > examplefile.shar

unshar examplefile.shar

10. cpio

cpio reads a list of filenames from stdin and creates an archive; it requires no installation.

Example

cd /tmp

ls | cpio -ov > /home/username/backup.cpio

cpio -idv < backup.cpio

11. ar

ar is the ancestor of the RAR format, still used on Debian‑based systems.

Example

ar cvsr examplefile.a examplefile

ar -xv examplefile.a

12. ISO (dd)

Use dd to create an ISO image from a DVD or other media.

dd if=/media/dvd of=/home/username/filename.iso

13. kgb

kgb is a lesser‑known archiver that achieves high compression ratios.

Installation apt-get install kgb Example

kgb examplefile.kgb examplefile

kgb x examplefile.kgb

14. zpaq

zpaq handles large files with a lightweight implementation of the PAQ context‑mixing algorithm.

Installation apt-get install zpaq Example

zpaq c examplefile.tar examplefile

15. File Roller

File Roller is a GUI archive manager for Linux, supporting formats such as .iso, .7z, .gz, .zip, .bz2, etc.