bzip2

Additional Notes

bzip2 compresses individual files using the bzip2 format. It usually gives better compression than gzip, but can be slower.

Like gzip, it compresses files rather than creating a multi-file archive by itself. Use tar -cjf when you need a compressed archive containing many files.

Syntax

bzip2 [options] file...
bzip2 -d [options] file.bz2...

Parameters

• file: File to compress.
• file.bz2: File to decompress.
• options: Compression level, keep, force, test, and output controls.

Common Options

• -d: Decompress.
• -k: Keep the original file.
• -f: Force overwrite.
• -c: Write output to standard output.
• -t: Test compressed file integrity.
• -1: Fastest compression.
• -9: Best compression.
• -v: Verbose output.

Examples

bzip2 report.txt

Compress report.txt into report.txt.bz2.

bzip2 -k report.txt

Compress while keeping the original file.

bzip2 -d report.txt.bz2

Decompress a bzip2 file.

bzip2 -t archive.bz2

Test integrity.

Practical Notes

• Default compression removes the original file after success; use -k to keep it.
• Use tar -cjf archive.tar.bz2 directory/ for directories.
• Use bzcat, bzgrep, and bzless to read compressed text directly.