What’s the correct way to unzip .gz file linux, especially for files that aren’t standard tarballs?

General Discussions
1

How do I unzip a .vw.gz file in Linux?I’m trying to extract a .vw.gz file on Linux, but using tar -xvf gives errors.

2

If it’s just a .gz compressed file (not a .tar.gz), gunzip is usually the way to go:

gunzip filename.vw.gz

That’ll decompress it and leave you with filename.vw. Just make sure you’re not using tar unless the file is actually a tarball.

3

I use gzip -d for this:

gzip -d filename.vw.gz

Same effect as gunzip, but gives me more options if I ever need them. Just don’t try tar -xvf on these, it assumes it’s a .tar.gz, which isn’t the case here, hence the errors.

4

Whenever I’m unsure what a compressed file is, I check it with:

file filename.vw.gz

If it says “gzip compressed data”, I know I can safely run:

gunzip filename.vw.gz

Helpful trick when dealing with various .gz files that aren’t bundled tarballs like .vw.gz.