Unix command line zip directory

Since its development in , ZIP has become one of the preferred ways to compress data and reduce the file size. Using some native commands like zip , you too can zip a folder on Linux-based systems with ease.

Most of the time, you won't find the zip utility installed on your Linux system by default. To install zip, you can use your distribution's default package manager. As soon as the zip command is invoked, the utility starts scanning the files specified in the input. In case the scan takes more than five seconds, the zip command will display the message: Scanning files.

If the output displays progress dots at an interval of every two seconds, it means the files are being processed. If the time lapsed is more than two seconds, it means either the command is taking time to locate the files or the network connection is slow. In case zip is not able to locate a specific file, it will issue a warning, but still, continue to process your request.

Finally, in case some files are skipped during the process, the command will issue a warning at the end, telling you how many files it processed and how many it skipped. GZ Files. So you can exclude these files which are not needed using the -x option. Using the Verbose mode option we will print diagnostic version information.

This option will display the progress indicator during compression and request verbose information about the zip structure. Now we have understood the depression unzip and compression zip concept and we have seen how to manipulate compressed files using different options.

ZIP is a perfect technique when there is less bandwidth or internet speed and you want to transfer a bunch of files. Then now using this command you can zip and transfer the files in a very efficient manner.

This is a guide to Zip Command in Linux. Here we discuss the syntax to extract zip files along with the different commands of zip in Linux. You may also look at the following articles to learn more —. If you want to use the same compression algorithm with your tarballs, use the -J switch with tar :.

It even works as a filter. You'll need to make sure these commands are installed via your package manager. It's no harder than using anything else on the command line. It's certainly simpler than creating archives with tar. The most standard answer is pax , which is recommended over cpio and tar.

This behavior is different from zip , which compresses each file before putting it in the archive. For that, I've started to use dtrx. The whole point of it is to remove complexity. So you just pass in any archive to it and it figures out what needs to be done with it. Zip, tar, gz Use is always the same — dtrx archive. It asks a few questions and you're done.

I often find myself trying to zip the modified files in my work directory -- either to copy all the modified files to another sandbox work directory or to preserve them for a short while because I want to undo some of the changes. In that case, I copy the list of modified files to a temporary file and use zip with the option -. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.

Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Ask Question. Asked 10 years, 11 months ago. Active 1 year, 10 months ago. Viewed 2. How can I create and extract zip archives from the command line? Improve this question. Related Articles. Table of Contents. Improve Article. Save Article. Like Article. Last Updated : 19 Feb, Previous Gzip Command in Linux.

Next tar command in Linux with examples. Recommended Articles.