Skip to main content

Archive

Creates an archive file (Zip, Tar, or TarGz) from one or more source files or directories.

Common Properties​

  • Name - The custom name of the node.
  • Color - The custom color of the node.
  • Delay Before (sec) - Waits in seconds before executing the node.
  • Delay After (sec) - Waits in seconds after executing node.
  • Continue On Error - Automation will continue regardless of any error. The default value is false.
info

If the ContinueOnError property is true, no error is caught when the project is executed, even if a Catch node is used.

Inputs​

  • Source Path - Path(s) to the source file(s) or directory(ies) to archive. Can be:

    • A single file path as a string (e.g., "/path/to/file.txt")
    • A single directory path as a string (e.g., "/path/to/folder")
    • An array of file and/or directory paths (e.g., ["/path/to/file1.txt", "/path/to/folder", "/path/to/file2.pdf"])

  • Target Path - Destination path for the archive file to be created. The file extension should match the archive type (e.g., "/path/to/archive.zip" for Zip type).

Options​

Archive Type​

  • Type - The archive format to create. Available options:
    • Zip - Universal archive format with good cross-platform compatibility
    • Tar - Unix standard archive format without compression
    • TarGz - Tar archive with Gzip compression

General Options​

  • Make Directory All - Creates parent directories if they do not exist. Useful when the target path includes directories that haven't been created yet.

  • Continue On Error - If enabled, the archiving process will continue even if some files fail to be added. Failed files will be skipped instead of stopping the entire operation.

  • Overwrite Existing - Overwrites the target archive file if it already exists at the specified path.

  • Implicit Top Level Folder - Adds an implicit top-level folder to the archive. When extracting, all files will be placed inside this folder instead of directly in the extraction directory.

Zip-Specific Options​

  • Zip Compression Method - Compression method for Zip archives:
    • Deflate (default) - Standard compression algorithm, provides good compression
    • Store - No compression, files are stored as-is (faster but larger file size)

TarGz-Specific Options​

  • Compression Level - Compression level for TarGz archives (1-9):

    • Default - Uses the default compression level (usually 6)
    • 1 - Fastest compression, larger file size
    • 9 - Best compression, slower processing
    • Levels 2-8 provide a balance between speed and compression ratio

  • Single Threaded - When enabled, uses single-threaded compression. By default, TarGz uses multi-threaded compression for better performance.

Examples​

Example 1: Archive a Single File​

Archive a single document file into a Zip archive:

// Set the source file path
msg.sourceFile = "/home/user/documents/report.pdf";
msg.archivePath = "/home/user/archives/report.zip";

Configure the Archive node:

  • Source Path: {{msg.sourceFile}}
  • Target Path: {{msg.archivePath}}
  • Type: Zip

Example 2: Archive Multiple Files​

Archive multiple files from different locations:

// Create an array of file paths to archive
msg.filesToArchive = [
    "/home/user/documents/report.pdf",
    "/home/user/data/sales.xlsx",
    "/home/user/images/chart.png"
];
msg.archivePath = "/home/user/backup/monthly-report.zip";

Configure the Archive node:

  • Source Path: {{msg.filesToArchive}}
  • Target Path: {{msg.archivePath}}
  • Type: Zip

Example 3: Archive a Directory with High Compression​

Archive an entire directory with maximum compression:

// Set the directory to archive
msg.sourceDir = "/home/user/project";
msg.archivePath = "/home/user/backups/project-backup.tar.gz";

Configure the Archive node:

  • Source Path: {{msg.sourceDir}}
  • Target Path: {{msg.archivePath}}
  • Type: TarGz
  • Compression Level: 9
  • Implicit Top Level Folder: Enabled

Example 4: Archive with Error Handling​

Archive a directory tree, continuing even if some files are inaccessible:

// Archive a large directory tree
msg.sourceDir = "/home/user/documents";
msg.archivePath = "/home/user/backups/docs-backup.zip";

Configure the Archive node:

  • Source Path: {{msg.sourceDir}}
  • Target Path: {{msg.archivePath}}
  • Type: Zip
  • Continue On Error: Enabled
  • Make Directory All: Enabled
  • Overwrite Existing: Enabled

Example 5: Create Uncompressed TAR Archive​

Create a TAR archive without compression (useful for subsequent processing):

// Create uncompressed tar for fast archiving
msg.sourcePaths = [
    "/home/user/logs/app.log",
    "/home/user/logs/error.log",
    "/home/user/logs/access.log"
];
msg.archivePath = "/home/user/archives/logs.tar";

Configure the Archive node:

  • Source Path: {{msg.sourcePaths}}
  • Target Path: {{msg.archivePath}}
  • Type: Tar

Usage Tips​

  1. Array vs Single Path: When archiving multiple files, pass an array of paths. For a single file or directory, you can use a string or a single-element array.

  2. Archive Format Selection:

    • Use Zip for maximum compatibility with Windows and other platforms
    • Use Tar for Unix/Linux environments when compression is not needed
    • Use TarGz when you need both archiving and compression

  3. Compression Level: Higher compression levels (7-9) significantly reduce file size but take longer to process. Use level 1-3 for faster archiving when file size is less critical.

  4. Top Level Folder: Enable "Implicit Top Level Folder" to avoid cluttering the extraction directory. This creates a single root folder containing all archived content.

  5. Directory Creation: Enable "Make Directory All" when the target path includes directories that may not exist yet.

  6. Performance Optimization:

    • For large archives, consider using multi-threaded compression (disable Single Threaded option)
    • Use Store method for Zip if files are already compressed (images, videos)

Common Errors and Solutions​

Error: "Source Path cannot be empty"​

Cause: The Source Path input is not provided or is empty.

Solution: Ensure you provide a valid file or directory path, or an array of paths.

Error: "Target Path cannot be empty"​

Cause: The Target Path input is not provided or is empty.

Solution: Provide a valid destination path for the archive file.

Error: "Archive Type should be selected"​

Cause: An invalid archive type was specified.

Solution: Ensure the Type option is set to one of: Zip, Tar, or TarGz.

Error: File or directory not found​

Cause: One or more source paths do not exist on the file system.

Solution:

  • Verify all source paths are correct and exist
  • Enable "Continue On Error" if some files might not exist and you want to archive the rest

Error: Permission denied​

Cause: Insufficient permissions to read source files or write to the target location.

Solution:

  • Ensure the automation has read permissions for all source files
  • Verify write permissions for the target directory
  • On Unix/Linux, check file ownership and permissions
  • Unarchive - Extract all files from an archive
  • Extract File - Extract a specific file from an archive
  • Inspect Archive File - List files in an archive without extracting
    • Compress a single file using various compression formats