File Compression and Archiving with tar, gzip, and bzip2 in RHEL

Compressing and archiving files is one of the most common tasks you will perform as a Linux sysadmin — whether you are backing up configuration files, transferring large directories to remote systems, or preparing data for long-term storage. RHEL provides native tools to handle both tasks efficiently.

In this guide you will learn how to use gzip, bzip2, and tar with real lab examples from a RHEL system.

Why Compress and Archive?

Compressing one or more large files or an entire directory hierarchy lets you:

• Conserve disk space on the server
• Transfer files faster over the network
• Bundle hundreds of files into a single portable archive
• Preserve file attributes like permissions, ownership, and SELinux contexts

The typical workflow is to archive first with tar, then compress — or do both in a single command.

gzip and gunzip

The gzip/gunzip pair has been available in Linux for over two decades. It is the most widely used compression tool on RHEL systems.

How gzip works

• Compresses each specified file and adds the .gz extension
• The original file is replaced by the compressed version
• Use -r to compress an entire directory tree
• Use -l to display compression information about a gzipped file

Lab — Compressing a file with gzip

First, copy the /etc/fstab file to the root home directory and verify:

[root@rhel ~]# cp /etc/fstab /root/fstab
[root@rhel ~]# ls -lh /root/fstab
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 617 Mar 24 09:00 fstab

Now compress with gzip and confirm:

[root@rhel ~]# gzip fstab
[root@rhel ~]# ls -lh /root/fstab.gz
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 401 Mar 24 09:00 fstab.gz

The original file is gone and replaced by fstab.gz. View compression info:

[root@rhel ~]# gzip -l fstab.gz
         compressed        uncompressed  ratio uncompressed_name
                401                 617  35.0% fstab

Lab — Decompressing with gunzip

[root@rhel ~]# gunzip fstab.gz
[root@rhel ~]# ls -lh /root/fstab
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 617 Mar 24 09:00 fstab

The file is restored to its original size with the same timestamp and attributes.

bzip2 and bunzip2

The bzip2/bunzip2 pair works similarly to gzip but with a better compression ratio — it produces smaller files. The trade-off is that it is slower, especially on large files.

Lab — Compressing with bzip2

[root@rhel ~]# bzip2 fstab
[root@rhel ~]# ls -lh /root/fstab.bz2
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 385 Mar 24 09:00 fstab.bz2

Notice the .bz2 extension. The file is slightly smaller than the gzip version.

Lab — Decompressing with bunzip2

[root@rhel ~]# bunzip2 fstab.bz2
[root@rhel ~]# ls -lh /root/fstab
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 617 Mar 24 09:00 fstab

File is fully restored with original attributes intact.

gzip vs bzip2 — Which One to Use?

| Feature | gzip | bzip2 |

|---------|------|-------|

| Speed | Faster | Slower |

| Compression ratio | Good | Better (smaller files) |

| Extension | .gz | .bz2 |

| Best for | Quick compressions, small files | Large files, maximum compression |

| Decompress command | gunzip or gzip -d | bunzip2 or bzip2 -d |

For most daily tasks, gzip is the go-to choice. When file size matters more than speed — such as archiving logs for long-term storage — use bzip2.

tar — The Archive Command

The tar (tape archive) command is used to create, list, and extract archives — called tarballs or tarfiles. By itself, tar does not compress. But it can call gzip or bzip2 directly to produce a compressed archive in one step.

Key tar options

| Option | Description |

|--------|-------------|

| -c | Creates a tarball |

| -f | Specifies the tarball filename |

| -t | Lists contents of a tarball |

| -x | Extracts files from a tarball |

| -v | Verbose mode — shows files being processed |

| -p | Preserves file permissions |

| -r | Appends files to an existing uncompressed tarball |

| -u | Appends only if files are newer than existing archive |

| -z | Compresses with gzip |

| -j | Compresses with bzip2 |

> Note: The -r and -u options do not work on compressed tarballs.

Lab — Creating and Working with tar Archives

Create a tarball of the /home directory

[root@rhel ~]# tar -cvf /tmp/home.tar /home
tar: Removing leading '/' from member names
home/
home/abernal/
home/abernal/.bash_profile
home/abernal/.bashrc
home/abernal/.bash_logout

The first line — tar: Removing leading '/' from member names — is important. By default, tar strips the leading / from paths. This gives you the flexibility to restore files to any location without being forced to use the full original path.

List contents of a tarball

[root@rhel ~]# tar -tvf /tmp/home.tar
drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 2026-03-24 09:00 home/
drwx------ abernal/abernal   0 2026-03-24 09:00 home/abernal/
-rw-r--r-- abernal/abernal 141 2026-03-24 09:00 home/abernal/.bash_profile

Archive specific files

[root@rhel ~]# tar -cvf /tmp/files.tar /etc/fstab /etc/hosts
tar: Removing leading '/' from member names
etc/fstab
etc/hosts

Append files to an existing tarball

[root@rhel ~]# tar -rvf /tmp/files.tar /etc/yum.repos.d/
etc/yum.repos.d/
etc/yum.repos.d/redhat.repo

Extract a single file from a tarball

[root@rhel ~]# tar -xvf /tmp/files.tar etc/fstab
etc/fstab
 
[root@rhel ~]# ls -l etc/fstab
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 617 Mar 24 09:00 etc/fstab

Extract all files from a tarball

[root@rhel ~]# tar -xvf /tmp/files.tar
etc/fstab
etc/hosts
etc/yum.repos.d/
etc/yum.repos.d/redhat.repo

Lab — Creating Compressed Archives (tar + gzip/bzip2)

This is the most common real-world usage — archive and compress in a single command.

Create a gzip-compressed tarball

[root@rhel ~]# tar -czvf /tmp/home.tar.gz /home
tar: Removing leading '/' from member names
home/
home/abernal/
home/abernal/.bash_profile

Create a bzip2-compressed tarball

[root@rhel ~]# tar -cjvf /tmp/home.tar.bz2 /home
tar: Removing leading '/' from member names
home/
home/abernal/
home/abernal/.bash_profile

Compare file sizes

[root@rhel ~]# ls -lh /tmp/home.tar*
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 40K Mar 24 09:00 /tmp/home.tar
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 12K Mar 24 09:00 /tmp/home.tar.bz2
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 14K Mar 24 09:00 /tmp/home.tar.gz

The uncompressed .tar is 40K. The gzip version is 14K and the bzip2 version is 12K — smaller but takes longer to create.

List contents without extracting

[root@rhel ~]# tar -tzvf /tmp/home.tar.gz
drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 2026-03-24 home/
drwx------ abernal/abernal   0 2026-03-24 home/abernal/

Extract to a different directory

[root@rhel ~]# tar -xjvf /tmp/home.tar.bz2 -C /tmp
home/
home/abernal/
home/abernal/.bash_profile
 
[root@rhel ~]# ls /tmp/home/
abernal

Quick Reference — Common tar Commands

# Create gzip archive
tar -czvf archive.tar.gz /path/to/dir
 
# Create bzip2 archive
tar -cjvf archive.tar.bz2 /path/to/dir
 
# List contents (gzip)
tar -tzvf archive.tar.gz
 
# List contents (bzip2)
tar -tjvf archive.tar.bz2
 
# Extract gzip archive (current dir)
tar -xzvf archive.tar.gz
 
# Extract bzip2 archive (specific dir)
tar -xjvf archive.tar.bz2 -C /destination
 
# Extract single file
tar -xzvf archive.tar.gz path/to/file

RHCSA Exam Tips

> EXAM TIP: Archiving and compression are tasks usually done together to produce smaller archive files. You will likely see this on the RHCSA exam.

Key things to remember for the exam:

• tar -czvf → create + gzip compress
• tar -cjvf → create + bzip2 compress
• tar -xzvf → extract gzip archive
• tar -xjvf → extract bzip2 archive
• -C /path → extract to a specific directory
• tar strips the leading / by default — use -P to override
• The -r and -u options do not work on compressed archives

Summary

| Tool | Creates | Extracts | Extension |

|------|---------|----------|-----------|

| gzip | gzip file | gunzip file.gz | .gz |

| bzip2 | bzip2 file | bunzip2 file.bz2 | .bz2 |

| tar (plain) | tar -cvf | tar -xvf | .tar |

| tar + gzip | tar -czvf | tar -xzvf | .tar.gz |

| tar + bzip2 | tar -cjvf | tar -xjvf | .tar.bz2 |

In the next article we will cover the vim editor — the essential text editing tool for every Linux sysadmin.

*Questions? Find me on X as @stackdeploy