Essential Linux Commands for File Compression and Extraction – tar, zstd, and unzip

Introduction

Linux offers powerful tools for file compression and extraction. Whether you're backing up data, transferring files, or organizing directories, mastering commands like tar, gzip, zstd, and unzip is essential. Below are practical examples and explanations for each.

1. Using tar

tar is a classic archiving tool in Linux. It bundles multiple files into a single archive and is often combined with compression tools like gzip or zstd.

Extracting a .tar.gz archive

tar -xvzf user.admin.dorgul.tar.gz

Explanation: Extracts the contents of a gzip-compressed tar archive.

• -x: Extract files


• -v: Verbose output


• -z: Use gzip


• -f: Specify archive file

Creating a .tar.gz archive

tar -cvzf ./tar.gz /document

Explanation: Compresses the /document directory into a gzip-compressed archive named tar.gz.

2. Using gzip

gzip is a fast and widely-used compression tool. It works well with tar and produces files with the .gz extension.

Compressing a file with gzip

gzip file.txt

Explanation: Compresses file.txt into file.txt.gz.

Decompressing a .gz file

gunzip file.txt.gz

Explanation: Restores the original file.txt from the compressed .gz file.

3. Using zstd

Zstandard (zstd) is a modern compression algorithm developed by Facebook. It offers high compression ratios and fast performance, producing files with the .zst extension.

Compressing a file with zstd

zstd file.txt

Explanation: Compresses file.txt into file.txt.zst.

Decompressing a .tar.zst file using zstd

zstd -d filename.tar.zst

Explanation: Decompresses a Zstandard-compressed tar file into its original .tar format.

Extracting a .tar.zst archive using tar and zstd

tar -I zstd -xvf archive.tar.zst

Explanation: Uses tar with Zstandard to extract the contents of archive.tar.zst.

4. Using unzip

unzip is a simple utility for extracting files from .zip archives. It's commonly used for downloaded packages and shared files.

Extracting a .zip archive to a specific folder

unzip file.zip -d destination_folder

Explanation: Extracts file.zip into the folder destination_folder.

Conclusion

Whether you're working with .tar.gz, .tar.zst, .gz, or .zip files, Linux provides efficient tools for compression and extraction. Understanding these commands helps streamline workflows, automate backups, and manage data with precision.