SSH Tar GZip Zip Backup and Restore

SSH into server, then use this command to compress:

tar -zcvf folder_name.tar.gz folder_name/

To decompress into the current directory, use the following:

tar -vxzf folder_name.tar.gz

NOTE: If you get an error using the above, then try:

unzip folder_name.tar.gz

EDIT: When create a tar file on mac, it adds all the extended attribute files, that start with “._”…. These will show up on the webserver when you extract using the above command. If this annoys you as much as it does me, then do the following to remove them.

cd DIRECTORY_OF_WEBSITE
find -name "._*" -exec rm -rf {} \;

Want to know how to upload or download a zip file through ssh? use SCP:
/using-scp-to-upload-or-download-a-file-through-ssh/