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PIGZ(1) General Commands Manual PIGZ(1)
NAME
pigz, unpigz - compress or expand files
SYNOPSIS
pigz [-0..9cdFfhiKkLlNnqORrTtz] [-11] [-b blocksize] [-I iterations]
[-M maxsplits] [-p threads] [-S suffix] [file ...]
unpigz [-cfhiKkLlNnqRrTtz] [-b blocksize] [-p threads] [-S suffix]
[file ...]
DESCRIPTION
pigz compresses using threads to make use of multiple processors and
cores. The input is broken up into 128 KB chunks with each compressed in
parallel. The individual check value for each chunk is also calculated
in parallel. The compressed data is written in order to the output, and
a combined check value is calculated from the individual check values.
The compressed data format generated is in the gzip, zlib, or single-
entry zip format using the deflate compression method. The compression
produces partial raw deflate streams which are concatenated by a single
write thread and wrapped with the appropriate header and trailer, where
the trailer contains the combined check value.
Each partial raw deflate stream is terminated by an empty stored block
(using the Z_SYNC_FLUSH option of zlib(3)), in order to end that partial
bit stream at a byte boundary. That allows the partial streams to be
concatenated simply as sequences of bytes. This adds a very small four
to five byte overhead to the output for each input chunk.
The default input block size is 128K, but can be changed with the -b
option. The number of compress threads is set by default to the number
of online processors, which can be changed using the -p option.
Specifying -p 1 avoids the use of threads entirely.
The input blocks, while compressed independently, have the last 32K of
the previous block loaded as a preset dictionary to preserve the
compression effectiveness of deflating in a single thread. This can be
turned off using the -i or --independent option, so that the blocks can
be decompressed independently for partial error recovery or for random
access.
Decompression can't be parallelized, at least not without specially
prepared deflate streams for that purpose. As a result, pigz uses a
single thread (the main thread) for decompression, but will create three
other threads for reading, writing, and check calculation, which can
speed up decompression under some circumstances. Parallel decompression
can be turned off by specifying one process (-dp 1 or -tp 1).
Compressed files can be restored to their original form using pigz -d or
unpigz.
OPTIONS
-#, --fast, --best Regulate the speed of compression using the
specified digit #, where -1 or --fast indicates the
fastest compression method (less compression) and -9
or --best indicates the slowest compression method
(best compression). -0 is no compression. -11
gives a few percent better compression at a severe
cost in execution time. The default is -6.
-b, --blocksize mmm Set compression block size to mmm K (default
128KiB).
-c, --stdout, --to-stdout
Write all processed output to stdout (won't delete).
-d, --decompress, --uncompress
Decompress the compressed input.
-F, --first If compressing at level 11, do iterations first,
before block split (default is last).
-f, --force Force overwrite, compress .gz, links, and to
terminal.
-h, --help Display a help screen and quit.
-I, --iterations n If compressing at level 11, number of iterations for
optimization (default 15).
-i, --independent Compress blocks independently for damage recovery.
-K, --zip Compress to PKWare zip (.zip) single entry format.
-k, --keep Do not delete original file after processing.
-L, --license Display the pigz license and quit.
-l, --list List the contents of the compressed input.
-M, --maxsplits n If compressing at level 11, maximum number of split
blocks (default 15).
-N, --name Store/restore file name and mod time in/from header.
-n, --no-name Do not store or restore file name in/from header.
-O, --oneblock If compressing at level 11, do not split into
smaller blocks (default is block splitting).
-p, --processes n Allow up to n processes (default is the number of
online processors)
-q, --quiet, --silent
Print no messages, even on error.
-R, --rsyncable Input-determined block locations for rsync.
-r, --recursive Process the contents of all subdirectories.
-S, --suffix .sss Use suffix .sss instead of .gz (for compression).
-T, --no-time Do not store or restore mod time in/from header.
-t, --test Test the integrity of the compressed input.
-V, --version Show the version of pigz.
-v, --verbose Provide more verbose output.
-z, --zlib Compress to zlib (.zz) instead of gzip format.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied
warranty. In no event will the author be held liable for any damages
arising from the use of this software.
Copyright (C) 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Mark Adler
<madler@alumni.caltech.edu>
NetBSD 10.99 June 15, 2014 NetBSD 10.99