bunzip2

Additional Notes

bunzip2 decompresses files compressed with bzip2, usually ending in .bz2. It is equivalent to bzip2 -d.

By default, it replaces the compressed file with the decompressed output.

Syntax

bunzip2 [options] file.bz2...

Parameters

• file.bz2: Compressed file to decompress.
• options: Keep, force, test, and output controls.

Common Options

• -k: Keep the original compressed file.
• -f: Force overwrite when needed.
• -c: Write decompressed data to standard output.
• -t: Test compressed file integrity.
• -v: Verbose output.

Examples

bunzip2 logs.txt.bz2

Decompress and remove the .bz2 file.

bunzip2 -k logs.txt.bz2

Decompress while keeping the original compressed file.

bunzip2 -c logs.txt.bz2 | less

View decompressed content without writing a file.

bunzip2 -t archive.bz2

Test integrity.

Practical Notes

• Use tar -xjf archive.tar.bz2 for tar archives compressed with bzip2.
• Default behavior removes the compressed input after successful decompression.
• For faster compression/decompression on multi-core systems, pbzip2 may be useful when available.