How to compress and uncompress files and folders in OSX 10.9 Mavericks using Terminal
ZIP – Cross Platform
First up is ZIP one of the most commonly used compression techniques used across all platforms
To compress
zip -r archive_name.zip folder_to_compress
To extract
unzip archive_name.zip
If you want to make a zip without those invisible Mac resource files such as “_MACOSX” or “._Filename” and .ds store files, use the “-X” option in the command so:
zip -r -X archive_name.zip folder_to_compress
TAR.GZ – Cross Platform
Second up is TAR, an old favourite on Unix/Linux – you add the GZ for the compression – compresses tighter than zip
To compress
tar -zcvf archive_name.tar.gz folder_to_compress
To extract
tar -zxvf archive_name.tar.gz
TAR.BZ2 – Cross Platform
A variation on TAR GZ but with better compression than both tar.gz and zip.
To compress
tar -jcvf archive_name.tar.bz2 folder_to_compress
To extract
tar -jxvf archive_name.tar.bz2
DMG – OSX Only
This one is Mac OSX native only – for a GUI interface use /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility – for command line use:
To create
hdiutil create -format UDZO -srcfolder folder_to_compress archive_name.dmg
To mount
hdiutil attach archive_name.dmg
To view
ls -lah /Volumes/archive_name/
To Eject
hdiutil eject /Volumes/archive_name/
You can also use a number of different formats for creating a .dmg