[Quick Tips] : How to zip directory in linux explained with examples

How to zip directory in linux explained with examples

Zip is command in linux is used for compressing files and directory.In this post we will learn how to zip the directory or folder in linux.

To compress directory use the below given format

1	zip -r give-file-name.zip Directory-name

example:

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root@tuxworld:/opt# ls -ld teamviewer8/ drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4096 Oct  2 08:43 teamviewer8/ root@tuxworld:/opt# zip -r teamviewer8.zip teamviewer8

To compress better and faster

To compress directory faster and better we can use the option -9 for better compress and -1 for faster.

example:

1	root@tuxworld:/opt# zip -1 -9 -r teamviewer8.zip teamviewer8

To zip multiple directory

You can also zip the directory by given below format

1	zip -r Give-filename.zip dir1 dir2 dir3 dirN

example:
In given below example,here I gave file name as twodir.zip and I am compressing two different directory called
testdir and teamviewer8

1	zip -r twodir.zip testdir teamviewer8

How to unzip

To decompress or unzip the .zip format file,you have to use simple command called unzip
Format:

1	unzip filename.zip

example:

1	unzip twodir.zip

How to list items inside zipped file

This command is useful when you want to only see the listed items inside zipped file without decompressing it.

Format:

1	unzip -l filename.zip

example:

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root@tuxworld:/tmp# unzip -l mydir.zip Archive:  mydir.zip   Length      Date    Time    Name ---------  ---------- -----   ----         0  2013-10-18 20:19   test/        14  2013-10-18 20:19   test/file3        14  2013-10-18 20:19   test/file2         0  2013-10-18 20:19   test/file4        14  2013-10-18 20:19   test/file1         0  2013-07-31 02:00   testdir/         0  2013-07-31 02:00   testdir/testfile         0  2013-07-31 01:12   testdir/hgjh ---------                     -------        42                     8 files root@tuxworld:/tmp#

how to test zipped file

It is good to test the file before unzip, doing test give you two advantages first you got a health check of zipped file and second you also got to know the list of directory and file inside zipped file without extracting.

To test the zip file use the option -t in given below format

format:

1	unzip -t filename.zip

Example:

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root@tuxworld:/opt# ls -ld test testdir/ drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 18 20:19 test drwxrwx--- 2 joe  hr   4096 Jul 31 02:00 testdir/ root@tuxworld:/opt# zip -r mydir.zip test testdir/   adding: test/ (stored 0%)   adding: test/file3 (stored 0%)   adding: test/file2 (stored 0%)   adding: test/file4 (stored 0%)   adding: test/file1 (stored 0%)   adding: testdir/ (stored 0%)   adding: testdir/testfile (stored 0%)   adding: testdir/hgjh (stored 0%) root@tuxworld:/opt# root@tuxworld:/opt# ls -l mydir.zip -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1250 Oct 18 20:20 mydir.zip root@tuxworld:/opt# root@tuxworld:/opt# unzip -t mydir.zip Archive:  mydir.zip     testing: test/                    OK     testing: test/file3               OK     testing: test/file2               OK     testing: test/file4               OK     testing: test/file1               OK     testing: testdir/                 OK     testing: testdir/testfile         OK     testing: testdir/hgjh             OK No errors detected in compressed data of mydir.zip. root@tuxworld:/opt#