zip and unzip in Linux CLI - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

What is the output of listing files after zipping?

You have a directory with files: file1.txt, file2.txt, and file3.txt. You run the command zip archive.zip file1.txt file2.txt. Then you run ls archive.zip. What is the output?

Linux CLI

zip archive.zip file1.txt file2.txt
ls archive.zip

A No such file or directory

B file1.txt file2.txt

C archive.zip file1.txt file2.txt

D archive.zip

💡 Hint

The ls command lists files and directories by name.

The zip command creates a compressed file named archive.zip. The ls archive.zip command lists that file by its name only.

💻 Command Output

intermediate

What happens when you unzip a file into a directory?

You have a zip file named docs.zip containing files readme.md and guide.pdf. You run unzip docs.zip -d extracted_docs. What will be the result?

Linux CLI

unzip docs.zip -d extracted_docs
ls extracted_docs

A docs.zip

B readme.md guide.pdf

C extracted_docs

D No such file or directory

💡 Hint

The -d option specifies the directory to extract files into.

The unzip command extracts the contents of docs.zip into the directory extracted_docs. Listing that directory shows the extracted files.

📝 Syntax

advanced

Which command correctly creates a zip archive including all files in a directory?

You want to create a zip file named backup.zip that contains all files inside the directory project. Which command is correct?

A zip -r backup.zip project

B zip backup.zip project/*

C zip backup.zip -r project

D zip backup.zip project

💡 Hint

The -r option means recursive, to include directories and their contents.

Option A uses -r correctly to include the entire project directory recursively. Option A only includes files in project root, not subdirectories. Option A has wrong option order. Option A includes only the directory entry, not contents.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this unzip command fail with 'cannot find or open' error?

You run the command unzip myfiles.zip -d /home/user/docs but get the error: cannot find or open myfiles.zip, myfiles.zip.zip or myfiles.zip.ZIP. What is the likely cause?

Linux CLI

unzip myfiles.zip -d /home/user/docs

A The file myfiles.zip does not exist in the current directory

B The destination directory /home/user/docs does not exist

C The unzip command requires sudo privileges

D The -d option is used incorrectly

💡 Hint

Check if the zip file is in the current folder where you run the command.

The error means unzip cannot find the zip file to open. This usually happens if the file is missing or the path is wrong. The -d option and permissions are not the cause here.

🚀 Application

expert

How to create a zip archive excluding certain file types?

You want to zip all files in the current directory but exclude all .log files. Which command achieves this?

A zip -r archive.zip . --ignore='*.log'

B zip archive.zip * --exclude='*.log'

C zip -r archive.zip . -x '*.log'

D zip archive.zip . -exclude '*.log'

💡 Hint

The -x option excludes files matching a pattern.

Option C correctly uses -r for recursion and -x '*.log' to exclude .log files. Other options use invalid or unsupported flags.