gzip command compresses files. Each single file is compressed into a single file. The compressed file consists of a GNU zip header and deflated data.

What does the gzip do?

Gzip, the most popular compression method, is used by web servers and browsers to seamlessly compress and decompress content as it’s transmitted over the Internet. Used mostly on code and text files, gzip can reduce the size of JavaScript, CSS, and HTML files by up to 90%.

How do I use gzip?

The most basic way to use gzip to compress a file is to type:

1. % gzip filename. …
2. % gzip -d filename.gz or % gunzip filename.gz. …
3. % tar -cvf archive.tar foo bar dir/ …
4. % tar -xvf archive.tar. …
5. % tar -tvf archive.tar. …
6. % tar -czvf archive.tar.gz file1 file2 dir/ …
7. % tar -xzvf archive.tar.gz. …
8. % tar -tzvf archive.tar.gz.