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ZSTD(1) User Commands ZSTD(1)
NAME
zstd - zstd, zstdmt, unzstd, zstdcat - Compress or decompress .zst files
SYNOPSIS
zstd [OPTIONS] [-|INPUT-FILE] [-o OUTPUT-FILE]
zstdmt is equivalent to zstd -T0
unzstd is equivalent to zstd -d
zstdcat is equivalent to zstd -dcf
DESCRIPTION
zstd is a fast lossless compression algorithm and data compression tool, with command line
syntax similar to gzip (1) and xz (1). It is based on the LZ77 family, with further FSE &
huff0 entropy stages. zstd offers highly configurable compression speed, with fast modes
at > 200 MB/s per core, and strong modes nearing lzma compression ratios. It also features
a very fast decoder, with speeds > 500 MB/s per core.
zstd command line syntax is generally similar to gzip, but features the following differ-
ences :
o Source files are preserved by default. It's possible to remove them automatically by
using the --rm command.
o When compressing a single file, zstd displays progress notifications and result sum-
mary by default. Use -q to turn them off.
o zstd does not accept input from console, but it properly accepts stdin when it's not
the console.
o zstd displays a short help page when command line is an error. Use -q to turn it off.
zstd compresses or decompresses each file according to the selected operation mode. If no
files are given or file is -, zstd reads from standard input and writes the processed data
to standard output. zstd will refuse to write compressed data to standard output if it is
a terminal : it will display an error message and skip the file. Similarly, zstd will
refuse to read compressed data from standard input if it is a terminal.
Unless --stdout or -o is specified, files are written to a new file whose name is derived
from the source file name:
o When compressing, the suffix .zst is appended to the source filename to get the target
filename.
o When decompressing, the .zst suffix is removed from the source filename to get the
target filename
Concatenation with .zst files
It is possible to concatenate .zst files as is. zstd will decompress such files as if they
were a single .zst file.
OPTIONS
Integer suffixes and special values
In most places where an integer argument is expected, an optional suffix is supported to
easily indicate large integers. There must be no space between the integer and the suffix.
KiB Multiply the integer by 1,024 (2^10). Ki, K, and KB are accepted as synonyms for
KiB.
MiB Multiply the integer by 1,048,576 (2^20). Mi, M, and MB are accepted as synonyms
for MiB.
Operation mode
If multiple operation mode options are given, the last one takes effect.
-z, --compress
Compress. This is the default operation mode when no operation mode option is spec-
ified and no other operation mode is implied from the command name (for example,
unzstd implies --decompress).
-d, --decompress, --uncompress
Decompress.
-t, --test
Test the integrity of compressed files. This option is equivalent to --decompress
--stdout except that the decompressed data is discarded instead of being written to
standard output. No files are created or removed.
-b# Benchmark file(s) using compression level #
--train FILEs
Use FILEs as a training set to create a dictionary. The training set should contain
a lot of small files (> 100).
-l, --list
Display information related to a zstd compressed file, such as size, ratio, and
checksum. Some of these fields may not be available. This command can be augmented
with the -v modifier.
Operation modifiers
o -#: # compression level [1-19] (default: 3)
o --ultra: unlocks high compression levels 20+ (maximum 22), using a lot more memory.
Note that decompression will also require more memory when using these levels.
o --fast[=#]: switch to ultra-fast compression levels. If =# is not present, it defaults
to 1. The higher the value, the faster the compression speed, at the cost of some com-
pression ratio. This setting overwrites compression level if one was set previously.
Similarly, if a compression level is set after --fast, it overrides it.
o -T#, --threads=#: Compress using # working threads (default: 1). If # is 0, attempt to
detect and use the number of physical CPU cores. In all cases, the nb of threads is
capped to ZSTDMT_NBWORKERS_MAX==200. This modifier does nothing if zstd is compiled
without multithread support.
o --single-thread: Does not spawn a thread for compression, use a single thread for both
I/O and compression. In this mode, compression is serialized with I/O, which is
slightly slower. (This is different from -T1, which spawns 1 compression thread in
parallel of I/O). This mode is the only one available when multithread support is dis-
abled. Single-thread mode features lower memory usage. Final compressed result is
slightly different from -T1.
o --adapt[=min=#,max=#] : zstd will dynamically adapt compression level to perceived I/O
conditions. Compression level adaptation can be observed live by using command -v.
Adaptation can be constrained between supplied min and max levels. The feature works
when combined with multi-threading and --long mode. It does not work with --sin-
gle-thread. It sets window size to 8 MB by default (can be changed manually, see
wlog). Due to the chaotic nature of dynamic adaptation, compressed result is not re-
producible. note : at the time of this writing, --adapt can remain stuck at low speed
when combined with multiple worker threads (>=2).
o --long[=#]: enables long distance matching with # windowLog, if not # is not present
it defaults to 27. This increases the window size (windowLog) and memory usage for
both the compressor and decompressor. This setting is designed to improve the compres-
sion ratio for files with long matches at a large distance.
Note: If windowLog is set to larger than 27, --long=windowLog or --memory=windowSize
needs to be passed to the decompressor.
o -D DICT: use DICT as Dictionary to compress or decompress FILE(s)
o --patch-from FILE: Specify the file to be used as a reference point for zstd's diff
engine. This is effectively dictionary compression with some convenient parameter se-
lection, namely that windowSize > srcSize.
Note: cannot use both this and -D together Note: --long mode will be automatically ac-
tivated if chainLog < fileLog (fileLog being the windowLog required to cover the whole
file). You can also manually force it. Node: for all levels, you can use --patch-from
in --single-thread mode to improve compression ratio at the cost of speed Note: for
level 19, you can get increased compression ratio at the cost of speed by specifying
--zstd=targetLength= to be something large (i.e 4096), and by setting a large
--zstd=chainLog=
o --rsyncable : zstd will periodically synchronize the compression state to make the
compressed file more rsync-friendly. There is a negligible impact to compression ra-
tio, and the faster compression levels will see a small compression speed hit. This
feature does not work with --single-thread. You probably don't want to use it with
long range mode, since it will decrease the effectiveness of the synchronization
points, but your milage may vary.
o -C, --[no-]check: add integrity check computed from uncompressed data (default: en-
abled)
o --[no-]content-size: enable / disable whether or not the original size of the file is
placed in the header of the compressed file. The default option is --content-size
(meaning that the original size will be placed in the header).
o --no-dictID: do not store dictionary ID within frame header (dictionary compression).
The decoder will have to rely on implicit knowledge about which dictionary to use, it
won't be able to check if it's correct.
o -M#, --memory=#: Set a memory usage limit. By default, Zstandard uses 128 MB for de-
compression as the maximum amount of memory the decompressor is allowed to use, but
you can override this manually if need be in either direction (ie. you can increase or
decrease it).
This is also used during compression when using with --patch-from=. In this case, this
parameter overrides that maximum size allowed for a dictionary. (128 MB).
o --stream-size=# : Sets the pledged source size of input coming from a stream. This
value must be exact, as it will be included in the produced frame header. Incorrect
stream sizes will cause an error. This information will be used to better optimize
compression parameters, resulting in better and potentially faster compression, espe-
cially for smaller source sizes.
o --size-hint=#: When handling input from a stream, zstd must guess how large the source
size will be when optimizing compression parameters. If the stream size is relatively
small, this guess may be a poor one, resulting in a higher compression ratio than ex-
pected. This feature allows for controlling the guess when needed. Exact guesses re-
sult in better compression ratios. Overestimates result in slightly degraded compres-
sion ratios, while underestimates may result in significant degradation.
o -o FILE: save result into FILE
o -f, --force: overwrite output without prompting, and (de)compress symbolic links
o -c, --stdout: force write to standard output, even if it is the console
o --[no-]sparse: enable / disable sparse FS support, to make files with many zeroes
smaller on disk. Creating sparse files may save disk space and speed up decompression
by reducing the amount of disk I/O. default: enabled when output is into a file, and
disabled when output is stdout. This setting overrides default and can force sparse
mode over stdout.
o --rm: remove source file(s) after successful compression or decompression. If used in
combination with -o, will trigger a confirmation prompt (which can be silenced with
-f), as this is a destructive operation.
o -k, --keep: keep source file(s) after successful compression or decompression. This is
the default behavior.
o -r: operate recursively on directories
o --filelist FILE read a list of files to process as content from FILE. Format is com-
patible with ls output, with one file per line.
o --output-dir-flat DIR: resulting files are stored into target DIR directory, instead
of same directory as origin file. Be aware that this command can introduce name colli-
sion issues, if multiple files, from different directories, end up having the same
name. Collision resolution ensures first file with a given name will be present in
DIR, while in combination with -f, the last file will be present instead.
o --output-dir-mirror DIR: similar to --output-dir-flat, the output files are stored un-
derneath target DIR directory, but this option will replicate input directory hierar-
chy into output DIR.
If input directory contains "..", the files in this directory will be ignored. If in-
put directory is an absolute directory (i.e. "/var/tmp/abc"), it will be stored into
the "output-dir/var/tmp/abc". If there are multiple input files or directories, name
collision resolution will follow the same rules as --output-dir-flat.
o --format=FORMAT: compress and decompress in other formats. If compiled with support,
zstd can compress to or decompress from other compression algorithm formats. Possibly
available options are zstd, gzip, xz, lzma, and lz4. If no such format is provided,
zstd is the default.
o -h/-H, --help: display help/long help and exit
o -V, --version: display version number and exit. Advanced : -vV also displays supported
formats. -vvV also displays POSIX support. -q will only display the version number,
suitable for machine reading.
o -v, --verbose: verbose mode, display more information
o -q, --quiet: suppress warnings, interactivity, and notifications. specify twice to
suppress errors too.
o --no-progress: do not display the progress bar, but keep all other messages.
o --show-default-cparams: Shows the default compression parameters that will be used for
a particular src file. If the provided src file is not a regular file (eg. named
pipe), the cli will just output the default parameters. That is, the parameters that
are used when the src size is unknown.
o --: All arguments after -- are treated as files
Restricted usage of Environment Variables
Using environment variables to set parameters has security implications. Therefore, this
avenue is intentionally restricted. Only ZSTD_CLEVEL and ZSTD_NBTHREADS are currently sup-
ported. They set the compression level and number of threads to use during compression,
respectively.
ZSTD_CLEVEL can be used to set the level between 1 and 19 (the "normal" range). If the
value of ZSTD_CLEVEL is not a valid integer, it will be ignored with a warning message.
ZSTD_CLEVEL just replaces the default compression level (3).
ZSTD_NBTHREADS can be used to set the number of threads zstd will attempt to use during
compression. If the value of ZSTD_NBTHREADS is not a valid unsigned integer, it will be
ignored with a warning message. 'ZSTD_NBTHREADShas a default value of (1), and is capped
at ZSTDMT_NBWORKERS_MAX==200.zstd` must be compiled with multithread support for this to
have any effect.
They can both be overridden by corresponding command line arguments: -# for compression
level and -T# for number of compression threads.
DICTIONARY BUILDER
zstd offers dictionary compression, which greatly improves efficiency on small files and
messages. It's possible to train zstd with a set of samples, the result of which is saved
into a file called a dictionary. Then during compression and decompression, reference the
same dictionary, using command -D dictionaryFileName. Compression of small files similar
to the sample set will be greatly improved.
--train FILEs
Use FILEs as training set to create a dictionary. The training set should contain a
lot of small files (> 100), and weight typically 100x the target dictionary size
(for example, 10 MB for a 100 KB dictionary).
Supports multithreading if zstd is compiled with threading support. Additional pa-
rameters can be specified with --train-fastcover. The legacy dictionary builder can
be accessed with --train-legacy. The cover dictionary builder can be accessed with
--train-cover. Equivalent to --train-fastcover=d=8,steps=4.
-o file
Dictionary saved into file (default name: dictionary).
--maxdict=#
Limit dictionary to specified size (default: 112640).
-# Use # compression level during training (optional). Will generate statistics more
tuned for selected compression level, resulting in a small compression ratio im-
provement for this level.
-B# Split input files in blocks of size # (default: no split)
--dictID=#
A dictionary ID is a locally unique ID that a decoder can use to verify it is using
the right dictionary. By default, zstd will create a 4-bytes random number ID. It's
possible to give a precise number instead. Short numbers have an advantage : an ID
< 256 will only need 1 byte in the compressed frame header, and an ID < 65536 will
only need 2 bytes. This compares favorably to 4 bytes default. However, it's up to
the dictionary manager to not assign twice the same ID to 2 different dictionaries.
--train-cover[=k#,d=#,steps=#,split=#,shrink[=#]]
Select parameters for the default dictionary builder algorithm named cover. If d is
not specified, then it tries d = 6 and d = 8. If k is not specified, then it tries
steps values in the range [50, 2000]. If steps is not specified, then the default
value of 40 is used. If split is not specified or split <= 0, then the default
value of 100 is used. Requires that d <= k. If shrink flag is not used, then the
default value for shrinkDict of 0 is used. If shrink is not specified, then the de-
fault value for shrinkDictMaxRegression of 1 is used.
Selects segments of size k with highest score to put in the dictionary. The score
of a segment is computed by the sum of the frequencies of all the subsegments of
size d. Generally d should be in the range [6, 8], occasionally up to 16, but the
algorithm will run faster with d <= 8. Good values for k vary widely based on the
input data, but a safe range is [2 * d, 2000]. If split is 100, all input samples
are used for both training and testing to find optimal d and k to build dictionary.
Supports multithreading if zstd is compiled with threading support. Having shrink
enabled takes a truncated dictionary of minimum size and doubles in size until com-
pression ratio of the truncated dictionary is at most shrinkDictMaxRegression%
worse than the compression ratio of the largest dictionary.
Examples:
zstd --train-cover FILEs
zstd --train-cover=k=50,d=8 FILEs
zstd --train-cover=d=8,steps=500 FILEs
zstd --train-cover=k=50 FILEs
zstd --train-cover=k=50,split=60 FILEs
zstd --train-cover=shrink FILEs
zstd --train-cover=shrink=2 FILEs
--train-fastcover[=k#,d=#,f=#,steps=#,split=#,accel=#]
Same as cover but with extra parameters f and accel and different default value of
split If split is not specified, then it tries split = 75. If f is not specified,
then it tries f = 20. Requires that 0 < f < 32. If accel is not specified, then it
tries accel = 1. Requires that 0 < accel <= 10. Requires that d = 6 or d = 8.
f is log of size of array that keeps track of frequency of subsegments of size d.
The subsegment is hashed to an index in the range [0,2^f - 1]. It is possible that
2 different subsegments are hashed to the same index, and they are considered as
the same subsegment when computing frequency. Using a higher f reduces collision
but takes longer.
Examples:
zstd --train-fastcover FILEs
zstd --train-fastcover=d=8,f=15,accel=2 FILEs
--train-legacy[=selectivity=#]
Use legacy dictionary builder algorithm with the given dictionary selectivity (de-
fault: 9). The smaller the selectivity value, the denser the dictionary, improving
its efficiency but reducing its possible maximum size. --train-legacy=s=# is also
accepted.
Examples:
zstd --train-legacy FILEs
zstd --train-legacy=selectivity=8 FILEs
BENCHMARK
-b# benchmark file(s) using compression level #
-e# benchmark file(s) using multiple compression levels, from -b# to -e# (inclusive)
-i# minimum evaluation time, in seconds (default: 3s), benchmark mode only
-B#, --block-size=#
cut file(s) into independent blocks of size # (default: no block)
--priority=rt
set process priority to real-time
Output Format: CompressionLevel#Filename : IntputSize -> OutputSize (CompressionRatio),
CompressionSpeed, DecompressionSpeed
Methodology: For both compression and decompression speed, the entire input is com-
pressed/decompressed in-memory to measure speed. A run lasts at least 1 sec, so when files
are small, they are compressed/decompressed several times per run, in order to improve
measurement accuracy.
ADVANCED COMPRESSION OPTIONS
--zstd[=options]:
zstd provides 22 predefined compression levels. The selected or default predefined com-
pression level can be changed with advanced compression options. The options are provided
as a comma-separated list. You may specify only the options you want to change and the
rest will be taken from the selected or default compression level. The list of available
options:
strategy=strat, strat=strat
Specify a strategy used by a match finder.
There are 9 strategies numbered from 1 to 9, from faster to stronger: 1=ZSTD_fast,
2=ZSTD_dfast, 3=ZSTD_greedy, 4=ZSTD_lazy, 5=ZSTD_lazy2, 6=ZSTD_btlazy2,
7=ZSTD_btopt, 8=ZSTD_btultra, 9=ZSTD_btultra2.
windowLog=wlog, wlog=wlog
Specify the maximum number of bits for a match distance.
The higher number of increases the chance to find a match which usually improves
compression ratio. It also increases memory requirements for the compressor and de-
compressor. The minimum wlog is 10 (1 KiB) and the maximum is 30 (1 GiB) on 32-bit
platforms and 31 (2 GiB) on 64-bit platforms.
Note: If windowLog is set to larger than 27, --long=windowLog or --memory=window-
Size needs to be passed to the decompressor.
hashLog=hlog, hlog=hlog
Specify the maximum number of bits for a hash table.
Bigger hash tables cause less collisions which usually makes compression faster,
but requires more memory during compression.
The minimum hlog is 6 (64 B) and the maximum is 30 (1 GiB).
chainLog=clog, clog=clog
Specify the maximum number of bits for a hash chain or a binary tree.
Higher numbers of bits increases the chance to find a match which usually improves
compression ratio. It also slows down compression speed and increases memory re-
quirements for compression. This option is ignored for the ZSTD_fast strategy.
The minimum clog is 6 (64 B) and the maximum is 29 (524 Mib) on 32-bit platforms
and 30 (1 Gib) on 64-bit platforms.
searchLog=slog, slog=slog
Specify the maximum number of searches in a hash chain or a binary tree using loga-
rithmic scale.
More searches increases the chance to find a match which usually increases compres-
sion ratio but decreases compression speed.
The minimum slog is 1 and the maximum is 'windowLog' - 1.
minMatch=mml, mml=mml
Specify the minimum searched length of a match in a hash table.
Larger search lengths usually decrease compression ratio but improve decompression
speed.
The minimum mml is 3 and the maximum is 7.
targetLength=tlen, tlen=tlen
The impact of this field vary depending on selected strategy.
For ZSTD_btopt, ZSTD_btultra and ZSTD_btultra2, it specifies the minimum match
length that causes match finder to stop searching. A larger targetLength usually
improves compression ratio but decreases compression speed. t For ZSTD_fast, it
triggers ultra-fast mode when > 0. The value represents the amount of data skipped
between match sampling. Impact is reversed : a larger targetLength increases com-
pression speed but decreases compression ratio.
For all other strategies, this field has no impact.
The minimum tlen is 0 and the maximum is 128 Kib.
overlapLog=ovlog, ovlog=ovlog
Determine overlapSize, amount of data reloaded from previous job. This parameter is
only available when multithreading is enabled. Reloading more data improves com-
pression ratio, but decreases speed.
The minimum ovlog is 0, and the maximum is 9. 1 means "no overlap", hence com-
pletely independent jobs. 9 means "full overlap", meaning up to windowSize is
reloaded from previous job. Reducing ovlog by 1 reduces the reloaded amount by a
factor 2. For example, 8 means "windowSize/2", and 6 means "windowSize/8". Value 0
is special and means "default" : ovlog is automatically determined by zstd. In
which case, ovlog will range from 6 to 9, depending on selected strat.
ldmHashLog=lhlog, lhlog=lhlog
Specify the maximum size for a hash table used for long distance matching.
This option is ignored unless long distance matching is enabled.
Bigger hash tables usually improve compression ratio at the expense of more memory
during compression and a decrease in compression speed.
The minimum lhlog is 6 and the maximum is 30 (default: 20).
ldmMinMatch=lmml, lmml=lmml
Specify the minimum searched length of a match for long distance matching.
This option is ignored unless long distance matching is enabled.
Larger/very small values usually decrease compression ratio.
The minimum lmml is 4 and the maximum is 4096 (default: 64).
ldmBucketSizeLog=lblog, lblog=lblog
Specify the size of each bucket for the hash table used for long distance matching.
This option is ignored unless long distance matching is enabled.
Larger bucket sizes improve collision resolution but decrease compression speed.
The minimum lblog is 1 and the maximum is 8 (default: 3).
ldmHashRateLog=lhrlog, lhrlog=lhrlog
Specify the frequency of inserting entries into the long distance matching hash ta-
ble.
This option is ignored unless long distance matching is enabled.
Larger values will improve compression speed. Deviating far from the default value
will likely result in a decrease in compression ratio.
The default value is wlog - lhlog.
Example
The following parameters sets advanced compression options to something similar to prede-
fined level 19 for files bigger than 256 KB:
--zstd=wlog=23,clog=23,hlog=22,slog=6,mml=3,tlen=48,strat=6
-B#:
Select the size of each compression job. This parameter is available only when
multi-threading is enabled. Default value is 4 * windowSize, which means it varies depend-
ing on compression level. -B# makes it possible to select a custom value. Note that job
size must respect a minimum value which is enforced transparently. This minimum is either
1 MB, or overlapSize, whichever is largest.
BUGS
Report bugs at: https://github.com/facebook/zstd/issues
AUTHOR
Yann Collet
zstd 1.4.8 December 2020 ZSTD(1)
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On Apache
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