Linux Shell Scripting Cookbook - Third Edition

Using lzma

The lzma compression delivers better compression ratios than gzip and bzip2.

To compress a file using lzma use the command as follows:

    $ lzma filename

To extract a lzma file, use the following command:

    $ unlzma filename.lzma

A tarball can be compressed with the -lzma option:

    $ tar -cvvf --lzma archive.tar.lzma [FILES]

Alternatively, this can be used:

    $ tar -cavvf archive.tar.lzma [FILES]

To extract a tarball created with lzma compression to a specified directory, use this command:

    $ tar -xvvf --lzma archive.tar.lzma -C extract_directory

In the preceding command, -x is used for extraction. --lzma specifies the use of lzma to decompress the resulting file.

Alternatively, use this:

    $ tar -xavvf archive.tar.lzma -C extract_directory ...