Now that we know what gz files are, let’s look into ways of unzipping or opening them. Since after all, it’s only after decompression that the files are of any use or not. Also since we are looking at gz files which are under the GNU umbrella, opening these files on Linux is really easy to do and with a lot of options to choose from. That said, even if you are on another system, you will still be able to open these files, just the methods will be different. The name of the gz file you want to extract should be replaced by the name of filename.
You can use the zcat command in Linux to view the contents of a compressed file without unzipping it. This time, we can see that gzip has deleted the archive file after extracting the original file. To retain the archive file, we need to use the -k (keep) option again, as well as the -d (decompress) option.
Using Linux
That way we get a compressed archive file and a multi-file or multi-directory archive. A GZ file is an archive file compressed by the standard GNU zip (gzip) compression algorithm. It typically contains a single compressed file but may also store multiple compressed files.
.GZ File Extension
Although a TAR.GZ file is a TAR archive compressed by Gzip, only the Tar command will allow you to uncompress and extract files from it. Tarballs were originally used to create backups and move them to local tape drives as tape archives, so that is where the term Tar (short for tape archive) got its name from originally. Unfortunately, Tar itself does not compress files, so the size of a Tar archive equals the amount of disk space the files it contains occupy.
Gzip is primarily used on Unix operating systems for file compression. On the other hand, Zip compresses each file before adding them to an archive, which results in a bigger archive file size. However, having an archive compressed makes it more difficult to extract individual files without uncompressing the whole tarball first. Gzip is the most popular file compression utility for Linux systems which can be used alone to compress individual files.
- To ensure that you extract the correct file, it’s crucial to keep in mind to navigate to the appropriate directory before running any of these commands.
- In this article, we will learn what Gzip and Tar utilities are and how to create and unzip GZ and TGZ/TAR.GZ files in Linux.
- That way we get a compressed archive file and a multi-file or multi-directory archive.
- GZ files are a kind of archive formats that were compressed with the standard GNU zip (gzip) compression algorithm.
You can choose to unzip the whole archive or extract only the selected files or directories. Below we will learn how to unzip TAR.GZ files from the command line using different flags. Gzip and Gunzip commands can be used to unzip GZ files in Linux, except for compressed Tar archives.
However, gzip does have one drawback it can’t really compress multiple files at once, so we need to use gzip along with tar if we want to compress multiple files. A thorough manual for using the gzip tool is available in the GNU Gzip Manual. It is a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to learn more about gzip compression because it covers everything from fundamental usage to sophisticated features. One is there will be many repeated, identical sequences of bytes throughout a large file. The second reason is the list of strings and tokens needs to be stored in the compressed file so that decompression can take place. With a very small file that overhead can wipe out the benefits of the compression.
Gzip is an implementation of the DEFLATE algorithm which was invented—and patented—by Phil Katz of PKZIP fame. The DEFLATE algorithm improved on earlier compression algorithms which all operated on variations of a theme. The data to be compressed is scanned, and unique strings are identified and added to a binary tree. Archives are compressed files that allow you to store other types of files into smaller containers.
We can use the -c flag to make the Gzip command usage more flexible. For example, we can use it to change the directory the new compressed file will be saved to and to change its name. If you’re coming across one for the first time, use one of the methods above to extract the contents from your GZ archive. The above methods work on all the popular platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. Like ZIP, you can simply double-click on your GZ archive, and it should start extracting its content. You can do this from any Finder window on your Mac, and your extracted files will be available in a new folder in the same directory as the original GZ archive.
Three new GZ files will be created in the directory due to the command above. The -k flag might be unavailable in some cases, so we will need to use the -c option to keep the original file. The Linux man pages are a collection of documentation pages that describe the various commands and utilities that are offered on Linux systems. Each page offers thorough details about a specific command or utility, such as its syntax, options, and usage examples. You can transfer data total revenue in economics: definition and formula more effectively and save disk space by utilizing these compression techniques. Based on the type of data you want to compress and your particular use case, it’s crucial to select the best compression technique.
Use the bzip2 utility to create and extract BZIP2 files in Linux. The bzip2 utility offers a high compression ratio and is particularly powerful on text files. Large files or archives frequently need to be compressed using XZ files.
Without the.gz extension, the gunzip command will extract the gz file’s contents and create a new file with the same name as the Gz file without them. To decompress (or unzip) a GZ archive file, use the -d (decompress) option. This will extract the compressed file from the archive and decompress it so that it is indistinguishable from the original file. You can open GZ files with the GNU zip (gzip) compression utility.
How to Extract Gz File in Linux with GUI Tools
You do this by providing a number as an option, from -1 through top -9. The -1 option gives the fastest speed at the sacrifice of compression and -9 gives the highest compression at the sacrifice of speed. The DEFLATE algorithm added the twist that the most frequently encountered strings were allocated the smallest tokens and the least frequently encountered strings were allocated larger ones. The DEFLATE algorithm also incorporated ideas from two earlier compression methods, Huffman coding and LZ77 compression. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. And, if you’re running macOS, you can download Keka and use it to open GZ files.
The Tar File Archiving Utility
During their tenure, they have worked with various Linux distributions and have extracted gz files using both command line and GUI tools. In addition, the author has also worked with other compression methods such as ZIP, TAR, XZ, and BZIP2 files. Their experience has been gained through hands-on practice, as well as through extensive research on the topic. If you have been on Linux for sometime you might have come across another file extension .tar.gz. This overcomes the big limitation of standard gz, and allows for compression of entire folders.
Moreover, you can improve your overall Linux skills and become more efficient in your work. Don’t hesitate to practice these techniques and explore other Linux commands to enhance your knowledge further. The result is gzip has created an archive file for each text file in the directory structure. The tar command is used to create and unzip the TGZ files on a Linux system.