Zip an archive without including parent directory

command-line compression zip

128,854

Solution 1

So if I understand correctly, you are trying to archive the files & folders in a particular folder but without including the root folder.

Example:

/test/test.txt
/test/test2.txt

where test.txt and test2.txt would be stored in the zip, but not /test/

You could cd into the /test/ directory then run something like,

zip -r filename.zip ./*

Which would create an archive in the same folder named filename.zip. Or if running it from outside the folder you could run,

zip -r test.zip test/*

The /* is the part that includes only the contents of the folder, instead of the entire folder.

Edit: OP wanted multiple zips, solution ended up being a bit of a hack, I am curious as to whether there is a better way of doing this.

for d in */ ; do base=$(basename "$d") ; cd $base ; zip -r $base * ; mv "${base}.zip" .. ; cd .. ; done;

Solution 2

Use the -j or --junk-paths option in your zip command.

From the zip man page:

-j

--junk-paths

Store just the name of a saved file (junk the path), and do not store directory 
names. By default, zip will store the full path (relative to the current 
directory).

Solution 3

Hope this helps.

(cd directory && zip -r ../out.zip .)

It keeps the main shell in the same directory and only changing the directory of the sub-shell which dies after the command.

Solution 4

How about this command?

$ cd somedir ; zip -r ../zipped.zip . * ; cd ..

Solution 5

cd `dirname path/to/archive` && zip -rq $OLDPWD/arhive.zip . && cd -

This works not only with flatten tree (like -j) and you can specify any dir (not only children)

View more solutions

128,854

Author by

Dami

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Dami over 1 year
I want to zip many folders in a directory tree like so
```
V-
 something.txt
 folder
 folder
 g.jpg
 h.jar
```
When I try to zip it, it ends creating a zip archive with the v folder instead of the contents of it (the sub directories and files)

How can I avoid this?
Dami over 9 years

yes but i have a lot of file which i do the same thing on so it would tedious do it like that so is there like a bash script or something that would automate the same process on the directory that has all the folders
jspaetzel over 9 years

Oh, something like this then? (this would create archives of each folder within the current folder) for d in */ ; do base=$(basename "$d") ; zip -r "${base}.zip" "$d" ; done;
Dami over 9 years

Ok I ran the script and it created a the parent directory in the archive i want only the contents of the folder to be in the archive
jspaetzel over 9 years

my mistake, missed a bit of it. added a -j parameter which i just looked up, apparently skips the part you don't want. try this: for d in */ ; do base=$(basename "$d") ; zip -rj "${base}.zip" "$d" ; done;
Dami over 9 years

Ok so i think the -j deflates all the folders in the archive so i have subfolders in the folder i want to archive to it deflates them also an them put them in the root of the archive
jspaetzel over 9 years

This is a bit of a hack and i feel like there should be a better way to do it... but i think this might do the trick. for d in */ ; do base=$(basename "$d") ; cd $base ; zip -r $base * ; mv "${base}.zip" .. ; cd .. ; done;
Dami over 9 years

Thanks Dude The Hack Worked Now I can Continue With My Work
Nephente about 8 years

While this is a correct answer, the introduction doesn't sound like you're convinced yourself. It would also help to explain a little bit, what the command does.
nilskp over 7 years

This was my solution too, but I dislike it because it involves cd. Was hoping there was a way to specify the stored path more precisely.
smihael about 7 years

zip -r test.zip test/* from the outside adds test as directory into the zip file
andrhamm almost 7 years

as @smihael stated, zip -r test.zip test/* does not work. is there any correct way to achieve this from outside the directory?
Dr. Chocolate about 5 years

This appears to be the correct answer.
GuyPaddock about 5 years

What about nested paths/folders though?
Govind Rai about 5 years

This will omit all folders in the archive, and if you have duplicate file names in different folders, this will blow up. This has its place, but only if you don't care about folders and just want files. Not what the OP was asking for, but still good knowledge
Weihang Jian about 5 years

For those who want to also archive dot files, zip -r filename.zip ./* will not work, please use zip -r filename.zip . instead.
Kenneth almost 5 years

I wanted to add this as a comment to @Alfred UC's answer but I don't have enough reputation for that.
ThunderBird almost 5 years

If it actually solves the problem, then it may be a solution.
Arlen Beiler over 4 years

This is better as an answer. Does this work in both bash and sh?
Kenneth almost 4 years

@ArlenBeiler yes it does. You will need to make sure your installation has zip though.
Ilia Sidorenko about 3 years

This answer is wrong, unfortunately. Includes the parent directory, at least for Info-ZIP on mac os.
luke simmons almost 3 years

hands down the most elegant one.
progonkpa over 2 years

Doesn't work. @smihael pointed the issue out correctly.
progonkpa over 2 years

Only thing what worked for me,