Archiving Tools


Info-ZIP | GNU tar | Gzip
 

Info-ZIP zip and unzip

These are 32-bit console programs that are fully compatible with Windows.  Info-ZIP programs are available for free (as in beer and as in speech), and exist on a variety of operating systems.  They are mostly compatible with PKZIP archives.

To archive a single file:

zip zipfile.zip filename.ext

where:

zipfile.zip is the name of the zip file that will be created or updated
filename.ext is the name of the file that added to the zip file

For example:

zip backup.zip mycopy.bat

To archive multiple files (in the current working directory):

zip zipfile.zip wildcard
zip zipfile.zip file1 file2 ...


where:

zipfile.zip is the name of the zip file that will be created or updated
wildcard is either * (all files) or *.ext  (all files with the same extension)

For example:

zip batchfiles.zip *.bat
zip batchfiles.zip mycopy.bat mbcopy.bat lab3parta.bat

To archive an entire directory (including subdirectories):

zip -r zipfile.zip directory
zip -r zipfile.zip directory1 directory2 ...

where:

zipfile.zip is the name of the zip file that will be created or updated
directory is the name of a directory (folder) -- you can specify more than one at a time

For example:

zip -r documents.zip "c:\My Documents"
zip -r labs.zip lab1 lab2 lab3

To use Maximum Compression:

Add -9 to your zip command line.

For example:

zip -r -9 documents.zip "c:\My Documents"
zip -r9 documents.zip "c:\My Documents"
zip -9 batchfiles.zip *.bat
zip -9 backup.zip mycopy.bat

To view the contents of a zip archive:

unzip -l zipfile.zip

To delete a file from a zip archive:

zip -d zipfile.zip filename

To unzip all files and directories from a zip archive:

unzip zipfile.zip

Info-ZIP unzip will automatically create subdirectories, if they exist in the zip archive.

To unzip only certain files or directories from a zip archive:

unzip zipfile.zip filename
unzip zipfile.zip directory

To unzip files created on another operating system:

If you use Info-ZIP zip to zip files on, say a Linux PC or Solaris workstation, you can unzip them on a Windows PC and properly convert the text files (so you can edit them.)  The same works when transfering a zip file created on Windows to Linux or Solaris.

unzip -a zipfile.zip

GNU tar

The tar program was originally designed to control a tape drive on a UNIX system (tar actually stands for "tape archive".)  With the popularity of free UNIX (and Linux) software on the WWW, tar is a popular format for archiving files.  Windows versions of tar exist; some of them are better than others.

To archive a single file:

tar cf tarfile.tar filename.ext
tar cvf tarfile.tar filename.ext

where:

tarfile.tar is the name of the tar file that will be created -- note:  tar will overwrite, instead of updating, previously existing tar files
filename.ext is the name of the file that added to the tar file

The c means "create"; the f means create a tar file instead of trying to use a tape drive (which most computers do not have.)  The v, which is optional, will list the filename as it is archived.

For example:

tar cf backup.tar mycopy.bat
tar cvf backup.tar mycopy.bat

To archive multiple files or directories:

tar cf tarfile.tar wildcard
tar cf tarfile.tar file1 file2 ...
tar cf tarfile.tar directory1 directory2 ...
tar cf tarfile.tar directory1 file2 file3 wildcard4 directory5 ...

where:

wildcard is either * (all files) or *.ext  (all files with the same extension)

By default, tar includes subdirectories.  You can also use cvf to list files and directories as they are archived.

For example:

tar cf batchfiles.tar *.bat
tar cf batchfiles.zip mycopy.bat mbcopy.bat lab3parta.bat
tar cvf labs.tar lab1 lab2 lab3
tar cvf work.tar lab* *.bat

To view the contents of a tar archive:

tar tf tarfile.tar
tar tvf tarfile.tar

Here, the v will displayed detailed file information.  Without it, only file and directory names are displayed.

To extract all files from a tar archive:

tar xf tarfile.tar
tar xvf tarfile.tar

Tar will automatically create subdirectories, if they exist in the tar archive.  Here, the v will list filenames and directories as they are extracted.

To extract a single file or directory from a tar archive:

tar xf tarfile.tar filename
tar xvf tarfile.tar filename
tar xf tarfile.tar directory
tar xvf tarfile.tar directory

This may take a while for a large tar file, as tar starts searching for the file or directory from the beginning, and does not stop until it reaches the end of the tar file (even if it already found the file or directory that you want.)

Gzip

The Gzip tool is used only for compression; not for archiving.  It is usually combined with tar to produce a tarball  -- which is a gzip-compressed tar archive.

To compress a file:

gzip filename.ext

where:

filename.ext is the name of any file.  Gzip will compress it and rename it to filename.ext.gz

To use Maximum Compression:

gzip -9 filename.ext

For large files, this may take a while.  Without the -9, Gzip uses its default compression level (equivalent to a -5).

To uncompress a file:

gzip -d filename.ext.gz
gunzip filename.ext.gz

Gzip will uncompress the file and remove the .gz extension.  Some computers will have gunzip installed; others will only have gzip.

To create a tarball:

tar cf tarfile.tar file(s)
gzip -9 tarfile.tar

where:

tarfile.tar  is the name of the tar file that will be created
file(s)  is the list of filenames and/or directories that will be archived

This will create a file called tarfile.tar.gz -- a tarball.

On some systems, you can use a pipe to create the tarball using one command line:

tar cf - file(s) |  gzip -9 -c > tarfile.tar.gz

The  -  tells tar to write its output to the pipe, instead of to a tar file.  The  -c  tells gzip to write its output to the terminal (window), and the > captures this output and redirects it to the tarball file.

On some systems, GNU tar will be aware of Gzip, so that you can create a tarball using a single command.  Gzip will use its default compression level.

tar zcf tarfile.tar.gz file(s)

To extract a tarball:

The gzip and tar commands are basically reversed:

gzip -d tarfile.tar.gz
tar xf tarfile.tar

On some systems, you can use a pipe to extract a tarball using one command line:

gzip -d -c tarfile.tar.gz | tar xf -

The  -  tells tar to read its output from the pipe, instead of from a tar file.  The  -c  tells gzip to write its uncompressed output to the pipe.

On some systems, GNU tar will be aware of Gzip, so that you can extract a tarball using a single command:

tar zxf tarfile.tar.gz

This way, and the pipe way, the tarball remains compressed.

To list the contents of a tarball:

Unfortunately, if your tar command is not aware of gzip or does not work with pipes, you have to uncompress the tarball first:

gzip -d tarfile.tar.gz
tar tf tarfile.tar
On some systems, you can use a pipe to list the tarball using one command line:

gzip -d -c tarfile.tar.gz | tar tf -

On some systems, GNU tar will be aware of Gzip, so that you can list a tarball using a single command:

tar ztf tarfile.tar.gz

Using this way, and the pipe way, the tarball remains compressed.

Using bzip2 instead of gzip:

On some systems, GNU bzip2 will be installed.  It typically has higher compression ratios than Gzip, but (as a result) generally takes longer to compress.  Tarballs compressed with bzip2 have a .bz2 extension.  Similar commands are used to handle Bzip2 tarballs:

tar cf - file(s) |  bzip2 -9 > tarfile.tar.bz2
bzip2 -d -c tarfile.tar.bz2 | tar xf -
bzip2 -d -c tarfile.tar.bz2 | tar tf -

Newer versions of GNU tar are also aware of Bzip2, using the j option:

tar jcf tarfile.tar.bz2 file(s)
tar jxf tarfile.tar.bz2
tar jtf tarfile.tar.bz2

Back to the CTEC1430 page | Info-ZIP | GNU tar | Gzip