Decompress

A smart, safe decompression tool that handles any compressed file without the hassle!

Hmm... Was it tar -xzf for tar files? Or is that for .gzip? Am I doing this right for this .zip file? What about .xz files? And wait, is this actually a real archive or just a text file someone renamed?

Who cares! Just run decompress filename.whatever and your file will be safely extracted with intelligent defaults and security checks. No more memorizing arcane command-line switches!

Features

Smart Extraction

• Auto-detection: Supports 12+ archive formats with automatic tool detection
• File verification: Uses the file command to verify archives are actually what they claim to be
• Dependency checking: Automatically checks if required tools are installed before attempting extraction

###️ Safety First

• Security scanning: Detects potentially malicious archives with path traversal attacks (../../../etc/passwd)
• Content preview: Shows what will be extracted before doing it
• Clutter prevention: Warns when multiple items would be created in current directory
• Interactive choices: Lets you decide how to handle potentially messy extractions

User-Friendly

• Destination control: Extract to any directory with decompress archive.tar.gz ./target_folder
• Auto-creation: Creates destination directories if they don't exist
• Smart cleanup: Optional removal of source files after successful extraction
• Clear feedback: Detailed progress and error messages

Supported Formats

Format	Extensions	Tool Required
Tar	.tar	tar
Gzip Tar	.tar.gz, .tgz	tar
Bzip2 Tar	.tar.bz2, .tbz2	tar
XZ Tar	.tar.xz	tar
Gzip	.gz	gunzip
Bzip2	.bz2	bunzip2
XZ	.xz	xz
Zip	.zip	unzip
RAR	.rar	unrar or rar
7-Zip	.7z	7z
Compress	.Z	uncompress

Usage

Basic Usage

# Extract to current directory
decompress archive.tar.gz

# Extract to specific directory
decompress archive.zip ./extracted_files

# Extract to new directory (will be created)
decompress data.7z /tmp/my_data

Examples

Simple extraction:

$ decompress photos.zip
File type verified: Zip archive data, at least v2.0 to extract
Previewing archive contents...
Archive contains 1 top-level items:
photos/
Extracting 'photos.zip'...
Extraction completed successfully
Do you want to remove the original file (photos.zip) [Y/n]? y
Original file 'photos.zip' removed

Multi-item archive with safety prompt:

$ decompress messy-archive.tar.gz
File type verified: gzip compressed data, tar archive
Previewing archive contents...
Archive contains 8 top-level items:
README.md
src/
docs/
config.ini
...

This will create multiple items in the current directory.
Options:
1) Continue extraction to current directory
2) Extract to a new subdirectory
3) Cancel extraction
Choose [1/2/3]: 2
Enter subdirectory name (will be created): my_project
Created directory 'my_project'
Extracting 'messy-archive.tar.gz'...
Extraction completed successfully
Contents extracted to: my_project

Security warning example:

$ decompress suspicious.tar
File type verified: tar archive
Previewing archive contents...
WARNING: Archive contains paths with '..' which could extract outside the target directory
Suspicious paths found:
../../../etc/passwd
../../config/secrets
Do you want to continue anyway? [y/N]: n
Extraction aborted

Installation

Quick Install

# Make executable and install system-wide
chmod +x decompress
sudo cp decompress /usr/local/bin/

# Now you can run it from anywhere!
decompress ~/Downloads/archive.tar.gz

Dependencies

The script will automatically check for required tools. Install missing ones:

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install tar gzip bzip2 xz-utils unzip unrar p7zip-full

CentOS/RHEL/Fedora:

sudo dnf install tar gzip bzip2 xz unzip unrar p7zip

macOS (with Homebrew):

brew install gnu-tar gzip bzip2 xz unzip unrar p7zip

Advanced Features

File Type Verification

The script uses the file command to verify that archives match their extensions:

• Prevents extraction of files with misleading extensions
• Catches corrupted or incomplete downloads
• Adds security against disguised malicious files

Intelligent Destination Handling

• Auto-creation: Destination directories are created if they don't exist
• Validation: Ensures destination is writable and not a file
• Path safety: Validates destination paths for security

Interactive Safety Checks

• Path traversal detection: Warns about ../ paths that could extract outside target
• Multi-item prevention: Prevents accidentally cluttering current directory
• User choice: Always gives you control over potentially risky operations

Troubleshooting

"Command not found" errors:

ERROR: 'unrar' is not installed or not in PATH
Please install 'unrar' to use this script

Install the missing tool using your package manager.

"File type mismatch" errors:

ERROR: File type mismatch for 'fake.tar.gz'
Expected: gzip compressed.*tar archive
Detected: ASCII text

The file extension doesn't match the actual file type. Check if the file was corrupted during download or incorrectly named.

Permission errors:

ERROR: Destination directory './restricted' is not writable

Ensure you have write permissions to the destination directory.

License

This script is provided as-is for educational and practical use. Feel free to modify and distribute!

Contributing

Found a bug or want to add support for another archive format? Pull requests welcome!