Cheatsheet & Examples: gzip

I need a cheatsheet for the gzip command.

Compress a file

Example Usage: gzip file.txt

What it does: Compresses the specified file using the gzip algorithm, replacing the original file with a compressed version. The compressed file will have the .gz extension.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• file.txt: The path to the file to be compressed.

Compress multiple files

Example Usage: gzip file1.txt file2.txt

What it does: Compresses multiple files in one command, creating .gz versions of each.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• file1.txt: The first file to be compressed.
• file2.txt: The second file to be compressed.

Compress and keep the original file

Example Usage: gzip -k file.txt

What it does: Compresses the file while retaining the original (uncompressed) version. The compressed file will have the .gz extension.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -k: Keeps the original file after compression. Without this option, the original is deleted.

Compress with a specific compression level

Example Usage: gzip -9 file.txt

What it does: Compresses the file using the maximum compression level (9), which may take longer but produce smaller files.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -9: Sets the compression level to 9 (the highest, with 1 being the fastest and 9 the most compressed). Available levels: 1-9.

Decompress a file

Example Usage: gzip -d file.gz

What it does: Decompresses the specified .gz file, restoring the original content. The compressed file is replaced with the decompressed version.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -d: Decompresses the file. This is equivalent to using gunzip but is a valid option for gzip.

Force compression (override existing files)

Example Usage: gzip -f file.txt

What it does: Forces compression of the file, overwriting any existing .gz file with the same name if it exists.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -f: Forces compression, even if the output file already exists. Useful to avoid prompts for confirmation.

Compress to standard output

Example Usage: gzip -c file.txt > file.gz

What it does: Compresses the file and writes the output to standard output, which can be redirected to a file or another program.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -c: Outputs the compressed data to standard output instead of modifying the input file. Requires redirection to save the result.

List information about compressed files

Example Usage: gzip -l file.gz

What it does: Displays details about the compressed file, such as original size, compressed size, and compression ratio.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -l: Lists information about the compressed file. If no file is specified, it lists all .gz files in the current directory.

Recursively compress files in a directory

Example Usage: gzip -r /path/to/dir

What it does: Recursively compresses all files in the specified directory and its subdirectories.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -r: Recursively processes files in the directory. This is useful for batch compression of directories.

Compress without saving the filename

Example Usage: gzip -n file.txt

What it does: Compresses the file and omits saving the original filename in the compressed data, which can help in reducing file size slightly.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -n: Omits the original filename from the compressed file. This is often used with .gz files where the filename is not needed.