unzip on Linux is a top search when someone uploads a .zip from Windows and the server only has tar habits. Install the unzip package once, then extract to a chosen directory — never blindly into /.
Broader archives: tar & gzip guide,
find files,
permissions after extract.
Install unzip and zip
On minimal images the command may be missing.
bashDebian/Ubuntu
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y unzip zip
List and extract
List without extracting; use -d for destination directory.
bashsafe extract
unzip -l archive.zip
mkdir -p ~/unpack && unzip archive.zip -d ~/unpackCreate a zip archive
Recursive zip is handy before downloading a folder from a server.
bashcreate
zip -r site-backup.zip /var/www/mysite -x '*/cache/*'Prefer tar for Linux backups
tar.gz preserves permissions and is the usual choice for server backups; zip wins for Windows interchange.
TipFor huge trees,
tar -czf often beats zip on speed and size.Quick Reference
- Extract:
unzip file.zip -d ./out - List:
unzip -l file.zip - Create:
zip -r out.zip directory/
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