tar/gzip: Unexpected EOF in archive – unexpected end of file

What the message looks like

gzip: stdin: unexpected end of file
tar: Unexpected EOF in archive
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

Common causes

• A download or copy was interrupted and the file is shorter than announced.
• The disk filled up during creation or the process was killed.
• A transfer in ASCII mode changed bytes, for example over FTP.
• The archive was read while still being written, or sits on a filesystem with errors.
• The file was modified after creation, for example by an incomplete scp.

Check

1. Test the compression
   gzip -t backup.tar.gz; echo "exit=$?"Copy
2. Check the archive without extracting
   tar -tzf backup.tar.gz > /dev/null; echo "exit=$?"Copy
3. Size and checksum
   ls -l backup.tar.gz; sha256sum backup.tar.gzCopy
4. How far can it be read?
   tar -tzf backup.tar.gz 2>/dev/null | tail -n 5Copy

Fix

• Download or recreate it while the source still exists. That is the clean path.
• For a partial archive, salvage the readable parts: tar -xzf backup.tar.gz --ignore-zeros or gzip -dc backup.tar.gz | tar -x.
• Use gzip -dc | tar -tv to see how far the data is readable.
• Store a checksum after creating archives and compare it before restoring.
• Do not write backups to the same filesystem as the source, and check the exit code of the creation step.

FAQ

Can I repair a broken gz?

Not fully. Readable parts can be extracted, but the missing bytes are gone.

Why is the archive smaller than expected?

The write was interrupted: full disk, killed process or an aborted transfer.