How to Zip Linux Files

Zip is a compression and archive utility that's available for most operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Files created with the zip utility on a Linux computer can be extracted, or unzipped, on a Windows or Mac OSX computer. In the Linux operating system, you can compress and archive individual files or entire directories.

Instructions

1. Click on the main "Applications" or "Programs" menu for your Linux distribution.

2. Highlight the "Accessories," "Utilities" or "Xterm" category.

3. Click on the "Terminal" or "Konsole" option to open a terminal window and access a command prompt.

4. Type the command "zip archive_name file1 file2 file3" and press the "Enter" key to archive the files. Replace "archive_name" with the name you want to give the zip file. Replace "file1," "file2" and "file3" with the files that you want to add to the zip file. You can add as many files as you want to the zip file -- just continue listing them directly after the name of the archive.

   To zip an entire directory, type the command "zip -r archive_name directory_name" and press the "Enter" key. Replace "directory_name" with the name of the directory you want to add.

5. Type the command "ls -l archive_name.zip" and press the "Enter" key to ensure that the file has been created. Replace "archive_name" with the name you gave to the zip file.

References

• Die.net: Zip(1)- Linux Man Page