{"id":139,"date":"2026-10-12T12:21:36","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T12:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scmgalaxy.com\/tutorials\/2009\/06\/20\/winzip-command-line\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T12:21:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T12:21:36","slug":"winzip-command-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/winzip-command-line\/","title":{"rendered":"zip CLI Cheatsheet for DevOps (Clarifying the Classic \u201cWinZip Commands\u201d Post)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally published on 2009-06-20; fully revised and updated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This guide is for engineers who use command-line archiving in build scripts, release packaging, and backup workflows. You will learn the core zip<\/code> options from the original post, how similar flags differ, and safe patterns for CI\/CD usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"zip<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What this cheatsheet actually covers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The original article title references WinZip, but the option set shown is the classic zip<\/code> command syntax (for example -u<\/code>, -f<\/code>, -r<\/code>, -T<\/code>). This rewrite keeps that option set and organizes it for practical use. Source post: WinZip commands Web References & Cheatsheet<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Command format and default behavior<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Per the original post, the default action is to add or replace entries in a zip file from the provided file list. The list may include the special name -<\/code> to read from standard input. If both zipfile and list are omitted, input is read from stdin and written to stdout.<\/p>\n\n\n

zip<\/span> [options]<\/span> zipfile<\/span> [list...]<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> CSS<\/span> (<\/span>css<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Core flags by job<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Flag<\/th>Best used for<\/th>What it does<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
-u<\/td>Incremental updates<\/td>Adds new files and updates changed files.<\/td><\/tr>
-f<\/td>Freshening existing archives<\/td>Updates only files already present in the archive.<\/td><\/tr>
-d<\/td>Cleanup<\/td>Deletes matching entries from the archive.<\/td><\/tr>
-m<\/td>Move-then-clean workflows<\/td>Moves files into archive and deletes originals.<\/td><\/tr>
-r<\/td>Directory trees<\/td>Recurses into subdirectories.<\/td><\/tr>
-j<\/td>Flat archive layout<\/td>Stores files without directory paths.<\/td><\/tr>
-i \/ -x<\/td>Inclusion\/exclusion control<\/td>Include only matching names or exclude matching names.<\/td><\/tr>
-0 \/ -1 \/ -9<\/td>Compression tuning<\/td>Store only, faster compression, or better compression.<\/td><\/tr>
-q \/ -v<\/td>Output verbosity<\/td>Quiet mode for scripts or verbose mode for diagnostics.<\/td><\/tr>
-T<\/td>Validation<\/td>Tests archive integrity.<\/td><\/tr>
-F \/ -FF<\/td>Recovery attempts<\/td>Attempts to fix damaged archives (-FF<\/code> is more aggressive).<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Flags that are easy to confuse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Similar flags<\/th>Key difference<\/th>Typical choice<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
-u vs -f<\/td>-u<\/code> adds new files and updates changed files; -f<\/code> updates only existing archive entries.<\/td>Use -u<\/code> for incremental build artifacts; use -f<\/code> for strict refresh.<\/td><\/tr>
-r vs -j<\/td>-r<\/code> walks directories; -j<\/code> strips stored directory names.<\/td>Use -r<\/code> for reproducible folder structure; use -j<\/code> only when flattening is required.<\/td><\/tr>
-i vs -x<\/td>-i<\/code> is allow-list behavior; -x<\/code> is block-list behavior.<\/td>Prefer -i<\/code> for tighter artifact control in CI.<\/td><\/tr>
-0 vs -9<\/td>-0<\/code> stores without compression; -9<\/code> maximizes compression effort.<\/td>Use -0<\/code> for already-compressed binaries; -9<\/code> for text-heavy artifacts.<\/td><\/tr>
-q vs -v<\/td>-q<\/code> reduces log noise; -v<\/code> increases diagnostics.<\/td>Use -q<\/code> in stable pipelines and -v<\/code> when debugging.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Archive workflow for CI\/CD<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nflowchart TD\n    A[Select files] --> B[Apply include exclude rules]\n    B --> C{Archive exists}\n    C -- no --> D[Create archive]\n    C -- yes --> E[Update or freshen]\n    D --> F[Test integrity]\n    E --> F\n    F --> G{Integrity ok}\n    G -- yes --> H[Publish artifact]\n    G -- no --> I[Repair or rebuild]\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Practical command examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Create a recursive release archive with higher compression<\/h3>\n\n\n
zip -r -9 release.zip dist\/<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
Update an existing archive with only new or changed files<\/h3>\n\n\n
zip -u release.zip dist\/<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
Freshen only files that already exist in the archive<\/h3>\n\n\n
zip -f release.zip dist\/<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
Package selected logs while excluding unwanted files<\/h3>\n\n\n
zip -r logs.zip \/var<\/span>\/log -i \"*.log\"<\/span> -x \"*.gz\"<\/span> \"*.old\"<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> JavaScript<\/span> (<\/span>javascript<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Read file names from stdin<\/h3>\n\n\n
find dist -type f | zip artifacts.zip -@<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
Test archive integrity before publishing artifacts<\/h3>\n\n\n
zip<\/span> -T<\/span> artifacts<\/span>.zip<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> CSS<\/span> (<\/span>css<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Best practices and common pitfalls<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
  • Confirm your actual binary and supported flags with zip -h<\/code> on the target host.<\/li>
  • Quote wildcard patterns (\"*.log\"<\/code>) so your shell does not expand them unexpectedly.<\/li>
  • Run -T<\/code> integrity checks in CI after archive creation.<\/li>
  • Use -m<\/code> carefully because it deletes source files after archiving.<\/li>
  • Avoid -j<\/code> unless you explicitly want to drop directory paths (name collisions can occur).<\/li>
  • Use -q<\/code> for stable pipelines and switch to -v<\/code> when debugging failures.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    This revised cheatsheet turns the original option dump into a practical guide for day-to-day DevOps use. It explains the most important zip flags, when to use them in automation, and where teams commonly make mistakes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[333,824,3145,3152,3143,3144,3151,3148,3147,3150,3149,3146],"class_list":["post-139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-command","tag-command-line","tag-list-of-winzip-command","tag-quick-guide","tag-winzip","tag-winzip-command-line","tag-winzip-command-line-cheatsheet","tag-winzip-command-line-guide","tag-winzip-command-line-reference","tag-winzip-command-line-resource","tag-winzip-command-line-tutorial","tag-winzip-command-list"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78988,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions\/78988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}