Linux gzip Command examples

gzip is one of the compression method in linux. It compresses the normal file and stores into single .gz extension file, this compression is much better compare with zip compression.

Syntax:

Common syntax for gzip and gunzip.

# gzip (Compress) syntax #
root@2daygeek [~]# gzip [file to be compressed]

# gzip (Decompress) syntax #
root@2daygeek [~]# gunzip [.gz file name]

# gzip (Decompress) syntax #
root@2daygeek [~]# gzip -d [.gz file name]

1) How to compress the file using gzip command

The below example compress the “test-gzip.txt” file to test-gzip.txt.gz file. See the output.

# File compression #
# gzip test-gzip.txt

# Checking compressed file #
# ls -lh /home/mageshm/test-gzip.txt.gz
-rw-r--r--.  1 root    root      92 Dec 27 13:31 test-gzip.txt.gz

2) How to view gzip/compressed file content without extracting

The below command is show the gzip/compressed file contents without extracting. See the output.

# gzip -l test-gzip.txt.gz
         compressed        uncompressed  ratio uncompressed_name
                 92                  60  13.3% test-gzip.txt

3) Unzip/Decompress the gzip file

The below command is Unzip/Decompress the gzip file.

# gunzip test-gzip.txt.gz
or
# gzip -d test-gzip.txt.gz

4) Compress the file/folder recursively

The below example compress the “link” folder recursively using gzip command.

# gzip -r links

Here i’m going to check the mentioned folder was compressed or not. It seems that the link folder is shown as a folder. I’m confused to move it inside the links directory as the gzip command compresses only the files recursively and stores their original location.

# ll -h

total 56K
drwx------.  6 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:04 ./
drwx--x--x. 16 root    root    4.0K Dec 24 01:16 ../
-rw-------.  1 mageshm mageshm 1.2K Dec 26 14:09 .bash_history
-rw-r--r--.  1 mageshm mageshm   18 May 10  2012 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r--.  1 mageshm mageshm  176 May 10  2012 .bash_profile
-rw-r--r--.  1 mageshm mageshm  124 May 10  2012 .bashrc
-rw-r--r--.  1 root    root      26 Dec 27 12:25 liks
drwxr-xr-x.  3 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:13 links/
drwxrwxr-x.  2 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Nov 16 10:14 perl5/
drwxr-xr-x.  2 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Nov 16 10:07 public_ftp/
drwxr-xr-x.  3 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Nov 16 10:07 public_html/
lrwxrwxrwx.  1 root    root      31 Dec  7 09:41 s-link-file -> /links/soft-link/test-soft-link
lrwxrwxrwx.  1 root    root      38 Dec  7 09:42 s-link-folder -> /links/soft-link/test-soft-link-folder
-rw-r--r--.  1 root    root      61 Dec 27 13:33 test1-gzip.txt
-rw-r--r--.  1 root    root      61 Dec 27 13:35 test2-gzip.txt
-rw-r--r--.  1 root    root      60 Dec 27 13:31 test-gzip.txt

Links folder contain 2 folders and 3 files recursively, the gzip command compress all the files recursively and stored their location. See the output.

# ll -h
total 16K
drwxr-xr-x. 3 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:14 ./
drwx------. 6 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:04 ../
drwxr-xr-x. 3 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:14 soft-link/
-rw-r--r--. 1 root    root      92 Dec 27 14:10 test-gzip.txt.gz 

root@server57324 [/home/mageshm/links/soft-link]# ll -h
total 16K
drwxr-xr-x. 3 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:14 ./
drwxr-xr-x. 3 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:14 ../
-rw-r--r--. 1 root    root      94 Dec 27 14:10 test2-gzip.txt.gz
drwxr-xr-x. 2 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:14 test-soft-link-folder/ 

root@server57324 [/home/mageshm/links/soft-link/test-soft-link-folder]# ll -h
total 12K
drwxr-xr-x. 2 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:14 ./
drwxr-xr-x. 3 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:14 ../
-rw-r--r--. 1 root    root      94 Dec 27 14:10 test1-gzip.txt.gz

5) How to view the gzip/compressed file/folder recursively

Again i’m going to check the gzip/compressed file contents without extracting.

# less links
total 16
drwxr-xr-x. 3 mageshm mageshm 4096 Dec 27 14:14 ./
drwx------. 6 mageshm mageshm 4096 Dec 27 14:04 ../
drwxr-xr-x. 3 mageshm mageshm 4096 Dec 27 14:14 soft-link/
-rw-r--r--. 1 root    root      92 Dec 27 14:10 test-gzip.txt.gz
links (END)

The output clearly shows the file and folders recursively compressed.

6) How to unzip/compressed files/folders recursively

The below example is unzip the files/folders recursively.

# gunzip -r links

Once again i’m going to check whether the files/ folder unzip/de-compressed recursively.

# ll -h
total 16K
drwxr-xr-x. 3 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:14 ./
drwx------. 6 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:04 ../
drwxr-xr-x. 3 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:14 soft-link/
-rw-r--r--. 1 root    root      92 Dec 27 14:10 test-gzip.txt 

root@server57324 [/home/mageshm/links/soft-link]# ll -h
total 16K
drwxr-xr-x. 3 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:14 ./
drwxr-xr-x. 3 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:14 ../
-rw-r--r--. 1 root    root      94 Dec 27 14:10 test2-gzip.txt
drwxr-xr-x. 2 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:14 test-soft-link-folder/ 

root@server57324 [/home/mageshm/links/soft-link/test-soft-link-folder]# ll -h
total 12K
drwxr-xr-x. 2 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:14 ./
drwxr-xr-x. 3 mageshm mageshm 4.0K Dec 27 14:14 ../
-rw-r--r--. 1 root    root      94 Dec 27 14:10 test1-gzip.txt