Get Better Compression Ratios with tar, gzip or bzip2 Command

In this blog, we’ll explore the art of compressing and uncompressing files in bash. This is a crucial skill for who wants to optimize their file management and space utilization on their systems. Whether you’re working on a Linux or macOS system, bash provides a convenient and versatile platform for compressing and uncompressing files. In this blog, we’ll cover various tools, techniques, and tips for compressing and uncompressing files in bash.

Prerequisites

Before we dive into the topic, it’s important to mention that you should have a basic understanding of the bash shell and command-line interface. Additionally, you should have administrator or root privileges on your system.

Compressing Files

Compressing files is the process of reducing their size by encoding the data in a more efficient format. This is particularly useful when you want to transfer large files over a network, save space on your hard drive, or simply organize your files in an efficient manner.

Compress with tar Command

The tar command is the most commonly used tool for compressing and archiving files in bash. The tar command stands for Tape ARchive, and it’s been around since the early days of Unix. With tar, you can combine multiple files into a single archive file, which can then be compressed using various algorithms. To compress files using tar, you can use the following syntax:

tar -czvf <filename>.tar.gz <files>

In this command, the options -czvf stand for:

• c: Create a new archive
• z: Compress the archive using gzip
• v: Verbose output (shows the files being compressed)
• f: Specify the archive file name

For example, if you want to compress the files file1.txt and file2.txt into a single archive file files.tar.gz, you can run the following command:

tar -czvf files.tar.gz file1.txt file2.txt

Compress with gzip Command

The gzip command is a standalone tool for compressing files using the gzip algorithm. The gzip algorithm is one of the most widely used compression algorithms. To compress a file using gzip, you can use the following syntax:

gzip <file>

For example, if you want to compress the file file1.txt using gzip, you can run the following command:

gzip file1.txt

This will create a new compressed file file1.txt.gz in the same directory.

Compress with bzip2 Command

The bzip2 command is a standalone tool for compressing files using the bzip2 algorithm. The bzip2 algorithm is a more advanced compression algorithm that provides better compression ratios than gzip, but it’s slower. To compress a file using bzip2, you can use the following syntax:

bzip2 <file>

For example, if you want to compress the file file1.txt using bzip2, you can run the following command:

bzip2 file1.txt

This will create a new compressed file file1.txt.bz2 in the same directory.

Uncompressing Files

Uncompressing files is the process of restoring the original size of the data by decoding the compressed data. This is particularly useful when you want to extract the contents of an archive file or restore a compressed file to its original state.

Uncompress with tar Command

To uncompress a tar archive, you can use the following syntax:

tar -xzvf <filename>.tar.gz

In this command, the options -xzvf stand for:

• x: Extract the archive
• z: Use gzip to uncompress the archive
• v: Verbose output (shows the files being uncompressed)
• f: Specify the archive file name

For example, if you want to extract the contents of the archive file files.tar.gz, you can run the following command:

tar -xzvf files.tar.gz

Uncompress with gzip Command

To uncompress a gzip file, you can use the following syntax:

gzip -d <filename>.gz

In this command, the option -d stands for “decompress”.

For example, if you want to uncompress the file file1.txt.gz, you can run the following command:

gzip -d file1.txt.gz

This will create a new file file1.txt in the same directory, which is the original, uncompressed file.

Uncompress with bzip2 Command

To uncompress a bzip2 file, you can use the following syntax:

bzip2 -d <filename>.bz2

In this command, the option -d stands for “decompress”.

For example, if you want to uncompress the file file1.txt.bz2, you can run the following command:

bzip2 -d file1.txt.bz2

This will create a new file file1.txt in the same directory, which is the original, uncompressed file.

Tips and Tricks

Here are five tips and tricks to help you become an expert in compressing and uncompressing files in bash:

1. Use verbose output to monitor the progress of compression and uncompression.
2. Compress files using multiple algorithms to find the best compression ratio for your data.
3. Use tar to create archive files, which can make it easier to manage your files and folders.
4. Use the appropriate compression algorithm for your use-case. For example, use gzip for fast compression and decompression, and bzip2 for better compression ratios.
5. Be careful when uncompressing files from untrusted sources, as they may contain malware or other malicious content.