gzip is a command-line compression tool on Linux, which can compress files and store them as gzip format files. Using gzip command can greatly reduce the size of files, save disk space, and speed up file transfer.

$

file or directory

compress/decompress using ASCII code (-a)

write compressed data to standard output (-c)

decompress files (-d)

specify output file name (-f)

display help information (-h)

keep the original file (-k)

list the information of compressed files (-l)

specify the size of compressed data block (-n)

recursively compress files in directories (-r)

test the integrity of compressed files (-t)

display detailed information of compression and decompression (-v)

use the fastest compression speed and the lowest compression ratio (-1)

use the slowest compression speed and the highest compression ratio (-9)

use the fastest compression speed and the lowest compression ratio (--fast)

use the slowest compression speed and the highest compression ratio (--best)

Examples

Compress a file:

gzip <file>
Compress a directory and all its files:

gzip -r <dir>
Decompress a file:

gzip -d <file.gz>
Write compressed data to standard output:

gzip -c <file>
List the information of compressed files:

gzip -l <file.gz>