how do i unzip a file on the server?

[mmmwowmmm]

I am using smart ftp to upload files to the server, which is hosted at godaddy.

I can upload a single 50 MB file in a few minutes, but 50 1MB files takes much longer, because the ftp "pauses" between each file upload.

I've noticed references to unpacking files on the server by using a "shell command"...

Can anyone tell me how to do this? I would be very grateful - I'm uploading thousands of image files now, and it takes forever.

The server has PHP installed, if that helps.

[coopster]

Unix has an unzip utility. Type "man unzip" at the command line to see the switches and how to use the utility.

[mmmwowmmm]

I typed "man unzip" (with and without quotes) into the command bar on my ftp program, and nothing happened.

Is there some other way to run a command besides the ftp program?

[encyclo]

Is there some other way to run a command besides the ftp program?

SSH is the best way: ask your host if they support SSH, and download a copy of Putty to make the SSH connection:

[chiark.greenend.org.uk...]

Once you connect, you get a full command-line environment - you will need to know some basic Unix commands to get around, but it's easy to learn. :)

[mmmwowmmm]

Excellent, thanks. This is some stuff I've been wondering about for a while, it'll be good to finally figure it out.

[mmmwowmmm]

Actually, this isn't working for me. Literally - the Putty program will not seem to run properly on my computer. I'm interested in it, and I'll tinker with it some more later, but for now I need to upload these 5,000 gif files.

Does anyone know how I might do this, unzip a file on the server? The "man unzip" thing did not work, and I'm really having trouble finding step-by-step instructions on the web. I've googled it, yahood it, I even asked Jeeves, and he didn't know either. I let my ftp program run over night, but it disconnected at some point, and I still have thousands of files to upload. I could do this in about 30 minutes if I knew how to unzip files on the server.

Thanks

[coopster]

In order to unzip the files on the server you are going to need to use the command line. Unless you want to try and script (code) an unzipping process.