How to Gzip Multiple Input Streams in Ubuntu Linux

This article explains how to generate a single gzip compressed file using multiple input sources on Ubuntu. Since the standard gzip command processes files individually, combining multiple streams requires specific utilities like tar or cat. You will learn the exact commands to merge and compress data efficiently without creating separate archives for each input.

The gzip command alone cannot merge multiple inputs into one file; it compresses each argument separately. To create a single compressed file from multiple sources, you should use the tar command with the -z flag or pipe concatenated streams into gzip.

Using Tar for Multiple Files

The most common method to archive and compress multiple files or streams into one gzip file is using tar. This creates a .tar.gz file.

tar -czf archive.tar.gz file1.txt file2.txt

• -c: Create a new archive.
• -z: Compress the archive using gzip.
• -f: Specify the filename of the archive.

Using Cat for Raw Input Streams

If you need to combine output from commands or raw streams into a single .gz file without the tar archive format, use cat to merge the streams and pipe the result to gzip.

cat stream1 stream2 | gzip > output.gz

You can also use process substitution to combine command outputs directly:

cat <(command1) <(command2) | gzip > output.gz

Verifying the Compressed File

After creating the file, verify its integrity using the -t flag with gzip or list the contents with tar.

gzip -t output.gz
tar -tzf archive.tar.gz

These methods ensure multiple data sources are consolidated into a single compressed file on your Ubuntu system.