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I have many gz downloaded from the internet, and I would like to make sure they are not corrupted.

Does the fact that I can open the archive with winzip on windows proves that everything is fine?

I must find a way to check their integrity without unzipping them, as they are way too big. Using Python can be an option.

Thanks!

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  • 2
    To know if opening verifies the checksum, we'd need to know what tool you're opening with.
    – Michael Kohne
    Apr 22, 2016 at 12:56
  • winzip on windows
    – ℕʘʘḆḽḘ
    Apr 22, 2016 at 13:20
  • also good ansver for similar question unix.stackexchange.com/a/359306/18674
    – Mikhail Moskalev
    Jan 8, 2021 at 23:48
  • Why is size a problem? Does it take too long? Take too much diskspace? Just too many files to do them all by hand?
    – Ben Aveling
    Dec 24, 2021 at 6:58

4 Answers 4

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Using the gunzip test option

gzip -t file.tar.gz

See How to check if a Unix .tar.gz file is a valid file without uncompressing

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  • thanks! is it possible to do that in python with the gzip module?
    – ℕʘʘḆḽḘ
    Apr 22, 2016 at 13:16
  • 1
    You can use os.system("command") or subprocess.call("command")
    – shsh
    Apr 22, 2016 at 13:28
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Most sites will give you a check sum of some kind to check the file is good. Most of the time it is a md5sum but there are a few out there. If you can open it that is a good sign but it doesn't always mean it is good.

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  • Calculate the md5 hash of the file using md5sum filename

  • Compare the 2 provided hashes (the one you generated and the one that is provided by the website as @Mat000111 said. if they are different, then the file has been modified or it is corrupted

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2

The gzip utility has a '-t' option which tests file integrity without bothering to unpack the file. That'll tell you if gzip thinks the file is OK.

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2
  • great idea. how would I do that in the command line? sorry I am not very familiar with linux
    – ℕʘʘḆḽḘ
    Apr 22, 2016 at 12:57
  • or could I do that in python?
    – ℕʘʘḆḽḘ
    Apr 22, 2016 at 13:13

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