gzip a directory into a file

tcma · 10-06-2004, 10:55 PM

How to gzip a directory into a file? I get a directory error when gzip found that the directory is a directory, not a file.

I googled for an hour but still don't get the answer.

BrianW · 10-06-2004, 11:04 PM

I always use tar and then gzip it.

tar -cf filename.tar <files to compress here>

can haver several dirs and single files.

95se · 10-06-2004, 11:08 PM

easy, use tar (the "z" option passes it through gzip):

tar czvf tarfilename.tar.gz /directory/to/compress

then to untar/uncompress just do a :

tar zxvf tarfilename.tar.gz

tar itself won't "compress" it, just puts all the files/directories into one big file. Then you got to pass it through gzip manually or use the "z" option. You can also use "j" insead of "z" for bzip2

tomByrer · 10-07-2004, 02:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 95se Then you got to pass it through gzip manually or use the "z" option. You can also use "j" insead of "z" for bzip2 [/B]

I think bzip2 is considered better (smaller) compression, so I'd say use that.

IBall · 10-07-2004, 02:51 AM

Except bzip2 is significantly slower than gzip.

bzip2 gives smaller files, but gzip is faster, so I would try both and see which one suits you the best.

--Ian