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LaTerral Williams
LaTerral Williams

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📃 Mission: Compression in Linux - Inspired by Extraction

Welcome to the world of Linux file compression... where space is tight, operations are swift, and every byte counts.

Inspired by the tactical grit of the Extraction movies, this guide helps you compress and extract files in a high-stakes (and disk-space-saving) way. Whether you're stashing away mission files or prepping a system for transfer, these commands will have your back.

🎯 Target Audience: Linux beginners

🎥 Inspired by: Extraction & Extraction 2

🛠️ Tools: tar, gzip, bzip2, xz

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✨ Table of Contents

🛠️ Setting Up Your Local Linux Mission Base

For this guide, we assume you're using RHEL 9 or a similar distribution (CentOS Stream, Fedora, Rocky, etc.).

📦 Install Compression Tools 

sudo dnf install tar gzip bzip2 xz -y
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📎 Basic Mission Files Setup

Create a mission folder with intel to practice on:

mkdir mission_folder
cd mission_folder
echo "Tyler Rake mission report" > report1.txt
echo "Saju operations intel" > intel2.txt
echo "Nik extraction plan" > plan3.txt
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You’ll use this folder to simulate real compression and extraction ops.

🔧 Want Larger Files? Simulate Data Bloat 

fallocate -l 5M largefile1.txt
dd if=/dev/urandom of=largefile2.txt bs=1M count=10
yes "extraction" | head -c 2M > largefile3.txt
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🔍 Check File Size with du -sh 

du -sh largefile1.txt
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🔥 Operation TAR: Archive Like a Pro

What is tar?

tar bundles multiple files into one archive. It does not compress by default.

✅ Create Archive: 

sudo tar -cvf mission.tar mission_folder/
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🔍 View Contents: 

tar -tvf mission.tar
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🎯 Extract Archive: 

tar -xvf mission.tar
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🎯 Extract to Specific Location: 

mkdir extracted_files
tar -xvf mission.tar -C extracted_files/
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💨 Operation GZIP: Quick Compression

✅ Compress: 

gzip report1.txt
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🔍 View Without Decompressing: 

zcat report1.txt.gz
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🎯 Decompress: 

gunzip report1.txt.gz
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🐢 Operation BZIP2: Smaller, Slower Compression

✅ Compress: 

bzip2 intel2.txt
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🎯 Decompress: 

bunzip2 intel2.txt.bz2
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🧘 Operation XZ: Maximum Compression

✅ Compress: 

xz plan3.txt
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🔍 View Compression Stats: 

xz -l plan3.txt.xz
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🎯 Decompress: 

unxz plan3.txt.xz
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💣 Combine tar with Compression: One Command to Rule the Archive

So far, you've seen how tar bundles files, and how gzip, bzip2, and xz compress single files. But when you're dealing with folders or multiple files, it's time to bring the heavy artillery.

Imagine Tyler Rake extracting a whole ops base via a chopper, but it needs to be fast, efficient, and all at once. That’s why we need to combine tar + compression.

🔧 General Syntax 

tar -[c][compression flag][v][f] archive_name.tar.[ext] folder_or_files
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Option Meaning
-c Create a new archive
-v Verbose (list files)
-f File name of archive
Compression Flags:
-z Use gzip
-j Use bzip2
-J Use xz

🔮 Examples (With Scenarios)

1. Compress Mission Folder with gzip 

tar -czvf mission.tar.gz mission_folder/
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Extract: 

tar -xzvf mission.tar.gz
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2. Compress with bzip2 

tar -cjvf mission.tar.bz2 mission_folder/
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Extract: 

tar -xjvf mission.tar.bz2
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3. Compress with xz 

tar -cJvf mission.tar.xz mission_folder/
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Extract: 

tar -xJvf mission.tar.xz
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4. Extract to Specific Location (-C) 

mkdir /tmp/extracted_mission
tar -xvzf mission.tar.gz -C /tmp/extracted_mission/
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5. Combine and Compress Select Files 

tar -czvf selected.tar.gz report1.txt intel2.txt
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Or:

tar -czvf logs_archive.tar.gz /var/log/messages /var/log/secure
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🧪 Compare Compression: Test It Yourself 

cp largefile1.txt copy1.txt
gzip copy1.txt

cp largefile1.txt copy2.txt
bzip2 copy2.txt

cp largefile1.txt copy3.txt
xz copy3.txt

du -sh largefile1.txt copy1.txt.gz copy2.txt.bz2 copy3.txt.xz
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📊 Compression Tool Comparison

Tool Compression Speed Ratio Extension Multi-File Best For
tar No Fast N/A .tar ✅ Yes Archiving folders
gzip Yes Fast Moderate .gz ❌ No Fast transfers
bzip2 Yes Moderate Better .bz2 ❌ No Balanced compression
xz Yes Slow Best .xz ❌ No Long-term storage

🧠 Wrap-Up Compression Tips

If speed matters → use gzip

If you want smaller files but don’t mind waiting → go with xz

If you want the middle ground → bzip2 offers decent size and speed

For folders or multiple files → wrap them in a tar archive first

🎮 Debrief

You’ve just completed your first compression mission:

  • Set up a RHEL-based environment
  • Created test data and learned file size inspection
  • Used tar, gzip, bzip2, and xz individually and in combination
  • Compared performance through practical examples

Ready for the next mission? Share this article or drop your compression tips in the comments. Until next time, compress confidently and extract cleanly. 🗂️🕵️

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