How to specify level of compression when using tar -zcvf?
I gzip directories very often at work. What I normally do is
tar -zcvf file.tar.gz /path/to/directory
Is there a way to specify the compression level here? I want to use the best compression possible even if it takes more time to compress.
linux compression tar gzip
asked Jul 1 '11 at 18:00
LazerLazer
6,4113695130
add a comment |
I gzip directories very often at work. What I normally do is
tar -zcvf file.tar.gz /path/to/directory
Is there a way to specify the compression level here? I want to use the best compression possible even if it takes more time to compress.
linux compression tar gzip
asked Jul 1 '11 at 18:00
LazerLazer
6,4113695130
add a comment |
I gzip directories very often at work. What I normally do is
tar -zcvf file.tar.gz /path/to/directory
Is there a way to specify the compression level here? I want to use the best compression possible even if it takes more time to compress.
linux compression tar gzip
asked Jul 1 '11 at 18:00
LazerLazer
6,4113695130
I gzip directories very often at work. What I normally do is
tar -zcvf file.tar.gz /path/to/directory
Is there a way to specify the compression level here? I want to use the best compression possible even if it takes more time to compress.
linux compression tar gzip
linux compression tar gzip
asked Jul 1 '11 at 18:00
LazerLazer
6,4113695130
asked Jul 1 '11 at 18:00
LazerLazer
6,4113695130
asked Jul 1 '11 at 18:00
LazerLazer
6,4113695130
asked Jul 1 '11 at 18:00
LazerLazer
6,4113695130
asked Jul 1 '11 at 18:00
LazerLazer
6,4113695130
6,4113695130
add a comment |
add a comment |
6 Answers
6
active
oldest
votes
GZIP=-9 tar cvzf file.tar.gz /path/to/directory
assuming you're using bash. Generally, set GZIP environment variable to "-9", and run tar normally.
Also - if you really want best compression, don't use gzip. Use lzma or 7z.
And when using gzip (which is good idea for various of reasons anyway) consider using pigz program and not the gzip.
13
pigz is "parallel gzip" which uses all your cores for gzip compression. You can watchtopand see it using anywhere between 200%-400$ CPU.
– Felipe Alvarez
Dec 9 '13 at 2:01
1
FYI, for .bz2 format, use: BZIP2=-9 tar cvjf file.tar.bz2 /path/to/directory
– Tomofumi
Mar 2 '17 at 2:59
3
The environment variable seems to now beGZIP_OPT, the usage should be the same.
– Seer
Dec 5 '17 at 11:59
2
From the man page on Ubuntu 16.04 for gzip: "On Vax/VMS, the name of the environment variable is GZIP_OPT, to avoid a conflict with the symbol set for invocation of the program." For sh, csh, and MSDOS it should still just be GZIP
– Ponyboy47
Jun 2 '18 at 16:13
add a comment |
Instead of using the gzip flag for tar, gzip the files manually after the tar process, then you can specify the compression level for the gzip program:
tar -cvf files.tar /path/to/file0 /path/to/file1 ; gzip -9 files.tar
Or you could use:
tar cvf - /path/to/file0 /path/to/file1 | gzip -9 - > files.tar.gz
The -9 in the gzip command line tells gzip to use the maximum possible compression level (default is -6).
Edit: Fixed pipe command line based on @depesz comment.
edited May 6 '13 at 21:27
dfarrell07
1053
answered Jul 1 '11 at 18:25
Matrix MoleMatrix Mole
3,1851614
4
Using pipes should be done with:tar cvf - /path/to/directory | gzip -9 - > file.tar.gz
– user7385
Jul 1 '11 at 18:40
1
1st example should end withfile.tar, sincegzipadds the ".gz" extension.
– bonsaiviking
Feb 4 '13 at 18:20
4
why don't you skipf -? if there is no file, then it is stdin/out
– akostadinov
Sep 19 '13 at 18:52
addition to the previos comment. From "man tar" section Environtment: TAPE Device or file to use for the archive if --file is not specified. If this environment variable is unset, use stdin or stdout instead.
– Mikl
Sep 24 '13 at 17:08
2
and we can reduce "gzip -9 -" -> "gzip -9". From "man gzip" section Description: If no files are specified, or if a file name is "-", the standard input is compressed to the standard output.
– Mikl
Sep 24 '13 at 17:18
add a comment |
Modern versions of tar support the xz archive format (GNU tar, since 1.22 in 2009, Busybox since 1.17.0 in 2010).
It's based on lzma2, kind of like a 7-Zip version of gz. This gives better compression if you are ok with the requirement of needing xz support.
tar -Jcvf file.tar.xz /path/to/directory
I just found out here (basically a dupe of this question, but in the Unix stackexchange) that there is also a XZ_OPT=-9 environment variable to control the XZ compression level similar to the GZIP one in the other post.
XZ_OPT=-9 tar -Jcvf file.tar.xz /path/to/directory
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:37
Community♦
1
answered Dec 19 '12 at 3:03
David C. BishopDavid C. Bishop
1,07499
1
+1 xz is far better than both bzip2 and gzip. Here's a comparison: tukaani.org/lzma/benchmarks.html
– User1
Dec 25 '12 at 15:44
3
The trade-off is speed. XZ is significantly slower.
– Bell
Apr 6 '17 at 23:02
add a comment |
tar cv /path/to/directory | gzip --best > file.tar.gz
This is Matrix Mole's second solution, but slightly shortened:
When calling tar, option f states that the output is a file. Setting it to - (stdout) makes tar write its output to stdout which is the default behavior without both f and -.
And as stated by the gzip man page, if no files are specified gzip will compress from standard input. There is no need for - in the gzip call.
Option --best (equivalent to -9) sets the highest compression level.
answered Feb 4 '13 at 18:17
carlitocarlito
47167
1
This works beautifully. Also if you run as root, permissions & owners are preserved too. Otherwise you must specify. Also if it wasn't obvious "-9" is best compression and "-1" is fastest compression. "-1" still takes a looong time if you have lots of files ;-)
– PJ Brunet
Dec 12 '13 at 4:04
This works withxzandpixztoo. It is a great way to control the number of threads used for parallel compressing without having to create an intermediate .tar file. Like sotar -cv /path/to/dir | pixz -p4 > output.tpxz
– joelostblom
Feb 12 '15 at 21:52
add a comment |
There is also the option to specify the compression program using -I. This can include the compression level option.
tar -I 'gzip -9' -cvf file.tar.gz /path/to/directory
answered Jun 21 '16 at 4:21
Chris GibsonChris Gibson
10112
2
Older versions of tar such as that provided in CentOS 6 & 7 do not support providing arguments in the-Iarg, they will try to treat the whole thing as a program name to exec, and thus fail. At least as of tar 1.29 in Debian Stretch, this does work.
– Cheetah
Dec 7 '17 at 0:30
add a comment |
And of course macOS bsd-derived tar has to be different:
tar -czf file.tar.gz --options gzip:compression-level=9 /path/to/directory
answered Jan 19 at 16:26
rfayrfay
1011
add a comment |
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6 Answers
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active
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6 Answers
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GZIP=-9 tar cvzf file.tar.gz /path/to/directory
assuming you're using bash. Generally, set GZIP environment variable to "-9", and run tar normally.
Also - if you really want best compression, don't use gzip. Use lzma or 7z.
And when using gzip (which is good idea for various of reasons anyway) consider using pigz program and not the gzip.
13
pigz is "parallel gzip" which uses all your cores for gzip compression. You can watchtopand see it using anywhere between 200%-400$ CPU.
– Felipe Alvarez
Dec 9 '13 at 2:01
1
FYI, for .bz2 format, use: BZIP2=-9 tar cvjf file.tar.bz2 /path/to/directory
– Tomofumi
Mar 2 '17 at 2:59
3
The environment variable seems to now beGZIP_OPT, the usage should be the same.
– Seer
Dec 5 '17 at 11:59
2
From the man page on Ubuntu 16.04 for gzip: "On Vax/VMS, the name of the environment variable is GZIP_OPT, to avoid a conflict with the symbol set for invocation of the program." For sh, csh, and MSDOS it should still just be GZIP
– Ponyboy47
Jun 2 '18 at 16:13
add a comment |
GZIP=-9 tar cvzf file.tar.gz /path/to/directory
assuming you're using bash. Generally, set GZIP environment variable to "-9", and run tar normally.
Also - if you really want best compression, don't use gzip. Use lzma or 7z.
And when using gzip (which is good idea for various of reasons anyway) consider using pigz program and not the gzip.
13
pigz is "parallel gzip" which uses all your cores for gzip compression. You can watchtopand see it using anywhere between 200%-400$ CPU.
– Felipe Alvarez
Dec 9 '13 at 2:01
1
FYI, for .bz2 format, use: BZIP2=-9 tar cvjf file.tar.bz2 /path/to/directory
– Tomofumi
Mar 2 '17 at 2:59
3
The environment variable seems to now beGZIP_OPT, the usage should be the same.
– Seer
Dec 5 '17 at 11:59
2
From the man page on Ubuntu 16.04 for gzip: "On Vax/VMS, the name of the environment variable is GZIP_OPT, to avoid a conflict with the symbol set for invocation of the program." For sh, csh, and MSDOS it should still just be GZIP
– Ponyboy47
Jun 2 '18 at 16:13
add a comment |
GZIP=-9 tar cvzf file.tar.gz /path/to/directory
assuming you're using bash. Generally, set GZIP environment variable to "-9", and run tar normally.
Also - if you really want best compression, don't use gzip. Use lzma or 7z.
And when using gzip (which is good idea for various of reasons anyway) consider using pigz program and not the gzip.
GZIP=-9 tar cvzf file.tar.gz /path/to/directory
assuming you're using bash. Generally, set GZIP environment variable to "-9", and run tar normally.
Also - if you really want best compression, don't use gzip. Use lzma or 7z.
And when using gzip (which is good idea for various of reasons anyway) consider using pigz program and not the gzip.
answered Jul 1 '11 at 18:38
user7385
13
pigz is "parallel gzip" which uses all your cores for gzip compression. You can watchtopand see it using anywhere between 200%-400$ CPU.
– Felipe Alvarez
Dec 9 '13 at 2:01
1
FYI, for .bz2 format, use: BZIP2=-9 tar cvjf file.tar.bz2 /path/to/directory
– Tomofumi
Mar 2 '17 at 2:59
3
The environment variable seems to now beGZIP_OPT, the usage should be the same.
– Seer
Dec 5 '17 at 11:59
2
From the man page on Ubuntu 16.04 for gzip: "On Vax/VMS, the name of the environment variable is GZIP_OPT, to avoid a conflict with the symbol set for invocation of the program." For sh, csh, and MSDOS it should still just be GZIP
– Ponyboy47
Jun 2 '18 at 16:13
add a comment |
13
pigz is "parallel gzip" which uses all your cores for gzip compression. You can watchtopand see it using anywhere between 200%-400$ CPU.
– Felipe Alvarez
Dec 9 '13 at 2:01
1
FYI, for .bz2 format, use: BZIP2=-9 tar cvjf file.tar.bz2 /path/to/directory
– Tomofumi
Mar 2 '17 at 2:59
3
The environment variable seems to now beGZIP_OPT, the usage should be the same.
– Seer
Dec 5 '17 at 11:59
2
From the man page on Ubuntu 16.04 for gzip: "On Vax/VMS, the name of the environment variable is GZIP_OPT, to avoid a conflict with the symbol set for invocation of the program." For sh, csh, and MSDOS it should still just be GZIP
– Ponyboy47
Jun 2 '18 at 16:13
13
13
pigz is "parallel gzip" which uses all your cores for gzip compression. You can watch
top and see it using anywhere between 200%-400$ CPU.– Felipe Alvarez
Dec 9 '13 at 2:01
pigz is "parallel gzip" which uses all your cores for gzip compression. You can watch
top and see it using anywhere between 200%-400$ CPU.– Felipe Alvarez
Dec 9 '13 at 2:01
1
1
FYI, for .bz2 format, use: BZIP2=-9 tar cvjf file.tar.bz2 /path/to/directory
– Tomofumi
Mar 2 '17 at 2:59
FYI, for .bz2 format, use: BZIP2=-9 tar cvjf file.tar.bz2 /path/to/directory
– Tomofumi
Mar 2 '17 at 2:59
3
3
The environment variable seems to now be
GZIP_OPT, the usage should be the same.– Seer
Dec 5 '17 at 11:59
The environment variable seems to now be
GZIP_OPT, the usage should be the same.– Seer
Dec 5 '17 at 11:59
2
2
From the man page on Ubuntu 16.04 for gzip: "On Vax/VMS, the name of the environment variable is GZIP_OPT, to avoid a conflict with the symbol set for invocation of the program." For sh, csh, and MSDOS it should still just be GZIP
– Ponyboy47
Jun 2 '18 at 16:13
From the man page on Ubuntu 16.04 for gzip: "On Vax/VMS, the name of the environment variable is GZIP_OPT, to avoid a conflict with the symbol set for invocation of the program." For sh, csh, and MSDOS it should still just be GZIP
– Ponyboy47
Jun 2 '18 at 16:13
add a comment |
Instead of using the gzip flag for tar, gzip the files manually after the tar process, then you can specify the compression level for the gzip program:
tar -cvf files.tar /path/to/file0 /path/to/file1 ; gzip -9 files.tar
Or you could use:
tar cvf - /path/to/file0 /path/to/file1 | gzip -9 - > files.tar.gz
The -9 in the gzip command line tells gzip to use the maximum possible compression level (default is -6).
Edit: Fixed pipe command line based on @depesz comment.
edited May 6 '13 at 21:27
dfarrell07
1053
answered Jul 1 '11 at 18:25
Matrix MoleMatrix Mole
3,1851614
4
Using pipes should be done with:tar cvf - /path/to/directory | gzip -9 - > file.tar.gz
– user7385
Jul 1 '11 at 18:40
1
1st example should end withfile.tar, sincegzipadds the ".gz" extension.
– bonsaiviking
Feb 4 '13 at 18:20
4
why don't you skipf -? if there is no file, then it is stdin/out
– akostadinov
Sep 19 '13 at 18:52
addition to the previos comment. From "man tar" section Environtment: TAPE Device or file to use for the archive if --file is not specified. If this environment variable is unset, use stdin or stdout instead.
– Mikl
Sep 24 '13 at 17:08
2
and we can reduce "gzip -9 -" -> "gzip -9". From "man gzip" section Description: If no files are specified, or if a file name is "-", the standard input is compressed to the standard output.
– Mikl
Sep 24 '13 at 17:18
add a comment |
Instead of using the gzip flag for tar, gzip the files manually after the tar process, then you can specify the compression level for the gzip program:
tar -cvf files.tar /path/to/file0 /path/to/file1 ; gzip -9 files.tar
Or you could use:
tar cvf - /path/to/file0 /path/to/file1 | gzip -9 - > files.tar.gz
The -9 in the gzip command line tells gzip to use the maximum possible compression level (default is -6).
Edit: Fixed pipe command line based on @depesz comment.
edited May 6 '13 at 21:27
dfarrell07
1053
answered Jul 1 '11 at 18:25
Matrix MoleMatrix Mole
3,1851614
4
Using pipes should be done with:tar cvf - /path/to/directory | gzip -9 - > file.tar.gz
– user7385
Jul 1 '11 at 18:40
1
1st example should end withfile.tar, sincegzipadds the ".gz" extension.
– bonsaiviking
Feb 4 '13 at 18:20
4
why don't you skipf -? if there is no file, then it is stdin/out
– akostadinov
Sep 19 '13 at 18:52
addition to the previos comment. From "man tar" section Environtment: TAPE Device or file to use for the archive if --file is not specified. If this environment variable is unset, use stdin or stdout instead.
– Mikl
Sep 24 '13 at 17:08
2
and we can reduce "gzip -9 -" -> "gzip -9". From "man gzip" section Description: If no files are specified, or if a file name is "-", the standard input is compressed to the standard output.
– Mikl
Sep 24 '13 at 17:18
add a comment |
Instead of using the gzip flag for tar, gzip the files manually after the tar process, then you can specify the compression level for the gzip program:
tar -cvf files.tar /path/to/file0 /path/to/file1 ; gzip -9 files.tar
Or you could use:
tar cvf - /path/to/file0 /path/to/file1 | gzip -9 - > files.tar.gz
The -9 in the gzip command line tells gzip to use the maximum possible compression level (default is -6).
Edit: Fixed pipe command line based on @depesz comment.
edited May 6 '13 at 21:27
dfarrell07
1053
answered Jul 1 '11 at 18:25
Matrix MoleMatrix Mole
3,1851614
Instead of using the gzip flag for tar, gzip the files manually after the tar process, then you can specify the compression level for the gzip program:
tar -cvf files.tar /path/to/file0 /path/to/file1 ; gzip -9 files.tar
Or you could use:
tar cvf - /path/to/file0 /path/to/file1 | gzip -9 - > files.tar.gz
The -9 in the gzip command line tells gzip to use the maximum possible compression level (default is -6).
Edit: Fixed pipe command line based on @depesz comment.
edited May 6 '13 at 21:27
dfarrell07
1053
answered Jul 1 '11 at 18:25
Matrix MoleMatrix Mole
3,1851614
edited May 6 '13 at 21:27
dfarrell07
1053
edited May 6 '13 at 21:27
dfarrell07
1053
edited May 6 '13 at 21:27
dfarrell07
1053
1053
answered Jul 1 '11 at 18:25
Matrix MoleMatrix Mole
3,1851614
answered Jul 1 '11 at 18:25
Matrix MoleMatrix Mole
3,1851614
answered Jul 1 '11 at 18:25
Matrix MoleMatrix Mole
3,1851614
3,1851614
4
Using pipes should be done with:tar cvf - /path/to/directory | gzip -9 - > file.tar.gz
– user7385
Jul 1 '11 at 18:40
1
1st example should end withfile.tar, sincegzipadds the ".gz" extension.
– bonsaiviking
Feb 4 '13 at 18:20
4
why don't you skipf -? if there is no file, then it is stdin/out
– akostadinov
Sep 19 '13 at 18:52
addition to the previos comment. From "man tar" section Environtment: TAPE Device or file to use for the archive if --file is not specified. If this environment variable is unset, use stdin or stdout instead.
– Mikl
Sep 24 '13 at 17:08
2
and we can reduce "gzip -9 -" -> "gzip -9". From "man gzip" section Description: If no files are specified, or if a file name is "-", the standard input is compressed to the standard output.
– Mikl
Sep 24 '13 at 17:18
add a comment |
4
Using pipes should be done with:tar cvf - /path/to/directory | gzip -9 - > file.tar.gz
– user7385
Jul 1 '11 at 18:40
1
1st example should end withfile.tar, sincegzipadds the ".gz" extension.
– bonsaiviking
Feb 4 '13 at 18:20
4
why don't you skipf -? if there is no file, then it is stdin/out
– akostadinov
Sep 19 '13 at 18:52
addition to the previos comment. From "man tar" section Environtment: TAPE Device or file to use for the archive if --file is not specified. If this environment variable is unset, use stdin or stdout instead.
– Mikl
Sep 24 '13 at 17:08
2
and we can reduce "gzip -9 -" -> "gzip -9". From "man gzip" section Description: If no files are specified, or if a file name is "-", the standard input is compressed to the standard output.
– Mikl
Sep 24 '13 at 17:18
4
4
Using pipes should be done with:
tar cvf - /path/to/directory | gzip -9 - > file.tar.gz– user7385
Jul 1 '11 at 18:40
Using pipes should be done with:
tar cvf - /path/to/directory | gzip -9 - > file.tar.gz– user7385
Jul 1 '11 at 18:40
1
1
1st example should end with
file.tar, since gzip adds the ".gz" extension.– bonsaiviking
Feb 4 '13 at 18:20
1st example should end with
file.tar, since gzip adds the ".gz" extension.– bonsaiviking
Feb 4 '13 at 18:20
4
4
why don't you skip
f -? if there is no file, then it is stdin/out– akostadinov
Sep 19 '13 at 18:52
why don't you skip
f -? if there is no file, then it is stdin/out– akostadinov
Sep 19 '13 at 18:52
addition to the previos comment. From "man tar" section Environtment: TAPE Device or file to use for the archive if --file is not specified. If this environment variable is unset, use stdin or stdout instead.
– Mikl
Sep 24 '13 at 17:08
addition to the previos comment. From "man tar" section Environtment: TAPE Device or file to use for the archive if --file is not specified. If this environment variable is unset, use stdin or stdout instead.
– Mikl
Sep 24 '13 at 17:08
2
2
and we can reduce "gzip -9 -" -> "gzip -9". From "man gzip" section Description: If no files are specified, or if a file name is "-", the standard input is compressed to the standard output.
– Mikl
Sep 24 '13 at 17:18
and we can reduce "gzip -9 -" -> "gzip -9". From "man gzip" section Description: If no files are specified, or if a file name is "-", the standard input is compressed to the standard output.
– Mikl
Sep 24 '13 at 17:18
add a comment |
Modern versions of tar support the xz archive format (GNU tar, since 1.22 in 2009, Busybox since 1.17.0 in 2010).
It's based on lzma2, kind of like a 7-Zip version of gz. This gives better compression if you are ok with the requirement of needing xz support.
tar -Jcvf file.tar.xz /path/to/directory
I just found out here (basically a dupe of this question, but in the Unix stackexchange) that there is also a XZ_OPT=-9 environment variable to control the XZ compression level similar to the GZIP one in the other post.
XZ_OPT=-9 tar -Jcvf file.tar.xz /path/to/directory
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:37
Community♦
1
answered Dec 19 '12 at 3:03
David C. BishopDavid C. Bishop
1,07499
1
+1 xz is far better than both bzip2 and gzip. Here's a comparison: tukaani.org/lzma/benchmarks.html
– User1
Dec 25 '12 at 15:44
3
The trade-off is speed. XZ is significantly slower.
– Bell
Apr 6 '17 at 23:02
add a comment |
Modern versions of tar support the xz archive format (GNU tar, since 1.22 in 2009, Busybox since 1.17.0 in 2010).
It's based on lzma2, kind of like a 7-Zip version of gz. This gives better compression if you are ok with the requirement of needing xz support.
tar -Jcvf file.tar.xz /path/to/directory
I just found out here (basically a dupe of this question, but in the Unix stackexchange) that there is also a XZ_OPT=-9 environment variable to control the XZ compression level similar to the GZIP one in the other post.
XZ_OPT=-9 tar -Jcvf file.tar.xz /path/to/directory
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:37
Community♦
1
answered Dec 19 '12 at 3:03
David C. BishopDavid C. Bishop
1,07499
1
+1 xz is far better than both bzip2 and gzip. Here's a comparison: tukaani.org/lzma/benchmarks.html
– User1
Dec 25 '12 at 15:44
3
The trade-off is speed. XZ is significantly slower.
– Bell
Apr 6 '17 at 23:02
add a comment |
Modern versions of tar support the xz archive format (GNU tar, since 1.22 in 2009, Busybox since 1.17.0 in 2010).
It's based on lzma2, kind of like a 7-Zip version of gz. This gives better compression if you are ok with the requirement of needing xz support.
tar -Jcvf file.tar.xz /path/to/directory
I just found out here (basically a dupe of this question, but in the Unix stackexchange) that there is also a XZ_OPT=-9 environment variable to control the XZ compression level similar to the GZIP one in the other post.
XZ_OPT=-9 tar -Jcvf file.tar.xz /path/to/directory
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:37
Community♦
1
answered Dec 19 '12 at 3:03
David C. BishopDavid C. Bishop
1,07499
Modern versions of tar support the xz archive format (GNU tar, since 1.22 in 2009, Busybox since 1.17.0 in 2010).
It's based on lzma2, kind of like a 7-Zip version of gz. This gives better compression if you are ok with the requirement of needing xz support.
tar -Jcvf file.tar.xz /path/to/directory
I just found out here (basically a dupe of this question, but in the Unix stackexchange) that there is also a XZ_OPT=-9 environment variable to control the XZ compression level similar to the GZIP one in the other post.
XZ_OPT=-9 tar -Jcvf file.tar.xz /path/to/directory
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:37
Community♦
1
answered Dec 19 '12 at 3:03
David C. BishopDavid C. Bishop
1,07499
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:37
Community♦
1
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:37
Community♦
1
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:37
Community♦
1
1
answered Dec 19 '12 at 3:03
David C. BishopDavid C. Bishop
1,07499
answered Dec 19 '12 at 3:03
David C. BishopDavid C. Bishop
1,07499
answered Dec 19 '12 at 3:03
David C. BishopDavid C. Bishop
1,07499
1,07499
1
+1 xz is far better than both bzip2 and gzip. Here's a comparison: tukaani.org/lzma/benchmarks.html
– User1
Dec 25 '12 at 15:44
3
The trade-off is speed. XZ is significantly slower.
– Bell
Apr 6 '17 at 23:02
add a comment |
1
+1 xz is far better than both bzip2 and gzip. Here's a comparison: tukaani.org/lzma/benchmarks.html
– User1
Dec 25 '12 at 15:44
3
The trade-off is speed. XZ is significantly slower.
– Bell
Apr 6 '17 at 23:02
1
1
+1 xz is far better than both bzip2 and gzip. Here's a comparison: tukaani.org/lzma/benchmarks.html
– User1
Dec 25 '12 at 15:44
+1 xz is far better than both bzip2 and gzip. Here's a comparison: tukaani.org/lzma/benchmarks.html
– User1
Dec 25 '12 at 15:44
3
3
The trade-off is speed. XZ is significantly slower.
– Bell
Apr 6 '17 at 23:02
The trade-off is speed. XZ is significantly slower.
– Bell
Apr 6 '17 at 23:02
add a comment |
tar cv /path/to/directory | gzip --best > file.tar.gz
This is Matrix Mole's second solution, but slightly shortened:
When calling tar, option f states that the output is a file. Setting it to - (stdout) makes tar write its output to stdout which is the default behavior without both f and -.
And as stated by the gzip man page, if no files are specified gzip will compress from standard input. There is no need for - in the gzip call.
Option --best (equivalent to -9) sets the highest compression level.
answered Feb 4 '13 at 18:17
carlitocarlito
47167
1
This works beautifully. Also if you run as root, permissions & owners are preserved too. Otherwise you must specify. Also if it wasn't obvious "-9" is best compression and "-1" is fastest compression. "-1" still takes a looong time if you have lots of files ;-)
– PJ Brunet
Dec 12 '13 at 4:04
This works withxzandpixztoo. It is a great way to control the number of threads used for parallel compressing without having to create an intermediate .tar file. Like sotar -cv /path/to/dir | pixz -p4 > output.tpxz
– joelostblom
Feb 12 '15 at 21:52
add a comment |
tar cv /path/to/directory | gzip --best > file.tar.gz
This is Matrix Mole's second solution, but slightly shortened:
When calling tar, option f states that the output is a file. Setting it to - (stdout) makes tar write its output to stdout which is the default behavior without both f and -.
And as stated by the gzip man page, if no files are specified gzip will compress from standard input. There is no need for - in the gzip call.
Option --best (equivalent to -9) sets the highest compression level.
answered Feb 4 '13 at 18:17
carlitocarlito
47167
1
This works beautifully. Also if you run as root, permissions & owners are preserved too. Otherwise you must specify. Also if it wasn't obvious "-9" is best compression and "-1" is fastest compression. "-1" still takes a looong time if you have lots of files ;-)
– PJ Brunet
Dec 12 '13 at 4:04
This works withxzandpixztoo. It is a great way to control the number of threads used for parallel compressing without having to create an intermediate .tar file. Like sotar -cv /path/to/dir | pixz -p4 > output.tpxz
– joelostblom
Feb 12 '15 at 21:52
add a comment |
tar cv /path/to/directory | gzip --best > file.tar.gz
This is Matrix Mole's second solution, but slightly shortened:
When calling tar, option f states that the output is a file. Setting it to - (stdout) makes tar write its output to stdout which is the default behavior without both f and -.
And as stated by the gzip man page, if no files are specified gzip will compress from standard input. There is no need for - in the gzip call.
Option --best (equivalent to -9) sets the highest compression level.
answered Feb 4 '13 at 18:17
carlitocarlito
47167
tar cv /path/to/directory | gzip --best > file.tar.gz
This is Matrix Mole's second solution, but slightly shortened:
When calling tar, option f states that the output is a file. Setting it to - (stdout) makes tar write its output to stdout which is the default behavior without both f and -.
And as stated by the gzip man page, if no files are specified gzip will compress from standard input. There is no need for - in the gzip call.
Option --best (equivalent to -9) sets the highest compression level.
answered Feb 4 '13 at 18:17
carlitocarlito
47167
edited Oct 28 '16 at 11:05
answered Feb 4 '13 at 18:17
carlitocarlito
47167
answered Feb 4 '13 at 18:17
carlitocarlito
47167
answered Feb 4 '13 at 18:17
carlitocarlito
47167
47167
1
This works beautifully. Also if you run as root, permissions & owners are preserved too. Otherwise you must specify. Also if it wasn't obvious "-9" is best compression and "-1" is fastest compression. "-1" still takes a looong time if you have lots of files ;-)
– PJ Brunet
Dec 12 '13 at 4:04
This works withxzandpixztoo. It is a great way to control the number of threads used for parallel compressing without having to create an intermediate .tar file. Like sotar -cv /path/to/dir | pixz -p4 > output.tpxz
– joelostblom
Feb 12 '15 at 21:52
add a comment |
1
This works beautifully. Also if you run as root, permissions & owners are preserved too. Otherwise you must specify. Also if it wasn't obvious "-9" is best compression and "-1" is fastest compression. "-1" still takes a looong time if you have lots of files ;-)
– PJ Brunet
Dec 12 '13 at 4:04
This works withxzandpixztoo. It is a great way to control the number of threads used for parallel compressing without having to create an intermediate .tar file. Like sotar -cv /path/to/dir | pixz -p4 > output.tpxz
– joelostblom
Feb 12 '15 at 21:52
1
1
This works beautifully. Also if you run as root, permissions & owners are preserved too. Otherwise you must specify. Also if it wasn't obvious "-9" is best compression and "-1" is fastest compression. "-1" still takes a looong time if you have lots of files ;-)
– PJ Brunet
Dec 12 '13 at 4:04
This works beautifully. Also if you run as root, permissions & owners are preserved too. Otherwise you must specify. Also if it wasn't obvious "-9" is best compression and "-1" is fastest compression. "-1" still takes a looong time if you have lots of files ;-)
– PJ Brunet
Dec 12 '13 at 4:04
This works with
xz and pixz too. It is a great way to control the number of threads used for parallel compressing without having to create an intermediate .tar file. Like so tar -cv /path/to/dir | pixz -p4 > output.tpxz– joelostblom
Feb 12 '15 at 21:52
This works with
xz and pixz too. It is a great way to control the number of threads used for parallel compressing without having to create an intermediate .tar file. Like so tar -cv /path/to/dir | pixz -p4 > output.tpxz– joelostblom
Feb 12 '15 at 21:52
add a comment |
There is also the option to specify the compression program using -I. This can include the compression level option.
tar -I 'gzip -9' -cvf file.tar.gz /path/to/directory
answered Jun 21 '16 at 4:21
Chris GibsonChris Gibson
10112
2
Older versions of tar such as that provided in CentOS 6 & 7 do not support providing arguments in the-Iarg, they will try to treat the whole thing as a program name to exec, and thus fail. At least as of tar 1.29 in Debian Stretch, this does work.
– Cheetah
Dec 7 '17 at 0:30
add a comment |
There is also the option to specify the compression program using -I. This can include the compression level option.
tar -I 'gzip -9' -cvf file.tar.gz /path/to/directory
answered Jun 21 '16 at 4:21
Chris GibsonChris Gibson
10112
2
Older versions of tar such as that provided in CentOS 6 & 7 do not support providing arguments in the-Iarg, they will try to treat the whole thing as a program name to exec, and thus fail. At least as of tar 1.29 in Debian Stretch, this does work.
– Cheetah
Dec 7 '17 at 0:30
add a comment |
There is also the option to specify the compression program using -I. This can include the compression level option.
tar -I 'gzip -9' -cvf file.tar.gz /path/to/directory
answered Jun 21 '16 at 4:21
Chris GibsonChris Gibson
10112
There is also the option to specify the compression program using -I. This can include the compression level option.
tar -I 'gzip -9' -cvf file.tar.gz /path/to/directory
answered Jun 21 '16 at 4:21
Chris GibsonChris Gibson
10112
answered Jun 21 '16 at 4:21
Chris GibsonChris Gibson
10112
answered Jun 21 '16 at 4:21
Chris GibsonChris Gibson
10112
answered Jun 21 '16 at 4:21
Chris GibsonChris Gibson
10112
10112
2
Older versions of tar such as that provided in CentOS 6 & 7 do not support providing arguments in the-Iarg, they will try to treat the whole thing as a program name to exec, and thus fail. At least as of tar 1.29 in Debian Stretch, this does work.
– Cheetah
Dec 7 '17 at 0:30
add a comment |
2
Older versions of tar such as that provided in CentOS 6 & 7 do not support providing arguments in the-Iarg, they will try to treat the whole thing as a program name to exec, and thus fail. At least as of tar 1.29 in Debian Stretch, this does work.
– Cheetah
Dec 7 '17 at 0:30
2
2
Older versions of tar such as that provided in CentOS 6 & 7 do not support providing arguments in the
-I arg, they will try to treat the whole thing as a program name to exec, and thus fail. At least as of tar 1.29 in Debian Stretch, this does work.– Cheetah
Dec 7 '17 at 0:30
Older versions of tar such as that provided in CentOS 6 & 7 do not support providing arguments in the
-I arg, they will try to treat the whole thing as a program name to exec, and thus fail. At least as of tar 1.29 in Debian Stretch, this does work.– Cheetah
Dec 7 '17 at 0:30
add a comment |
And of course macOS bsd-derived tar has to be different:
tar -czf file.tar.gz --options gzip:compression-level=9 /path/to/directory
answered Jan 19 at 16:26
rfayrfay
1011
add a comment |
And of course macOS bsd-derived tar has to be different:
tar -czf file.tar.gz --options gzip:compression-level=9 /path/to/directory
answered Jan 19 at 16:26
rfayrfay
1011
add a comment |
And of course macOS bsd-derived tar has to be different:
tar -czf file.tar.gz --options gzip:compression-level=9 /path/to/directory
answered Jan 19 at 16:26
rfayrfay
1011
And of course macOS bsd-derived tar has to be different:
tar -czf file.tar.gz --options gzip:compression-level=9 /path/to/directory
answered Jan 19 at 16:26
rfayrfay
1011
answered Jan 19 at 16:26
rfayrfay
1011
answered Jan 19 at 16:26
rfayrfay
1011
answered Jan 19 at 16:26
rfayrfay
1011
1011
add a comment |
add a comment |
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