How to send a compressed archive that contains executables so that Google's attachment filter won't reject it

Question

I have a directory that I want to compress to send it by e-mail, I've tried this:

tar -cvf filename.tar.gz directory_to_compress/

But when I try to send it by e-mail, Google says:

filename.tar.gz contains an executable file. For security reasons, Gmail does not allow you to send this type of file.

How to compress a directory into a tar.gz file from command line?

Isn't the question about bypassing Google's protection ? – Denys Séguret May 25 '12 at 15:53 — Denys Séguret, May 25 '12 at 15:53

Levon · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-25T15:59:16.670

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tar -cvzf filename.tar.gz directory_to_compress/

Most tar commands have a z option to create a gziped version.

Though seems to me the question is how to circumvent Google. I'm not sure if renaming your output file would fool Google, but you could try. I.e.,

tar -cvzf filename.bla directory_to_compress/

and then send the filename.bla - contents will would be a zipped tar, so at the other end it could be retrieved as usual.

edited May 25 '12 at 15:59

answered May 25 '12 at 15:52

Levon

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This no longer works – irritable_phd_syndrome Sep 25 '20 at 02:12

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 03 '13 at 14:58

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To bypass google's check, which is what you really want, simply remove the extensions from the file when you send it, and add them back after you download it. For example:

tar czvf file.tar.gz directory
mv file.tar.gz filetargz
[send filetargz via gmail]
[download filetargz]
[rename filetargz to file.tar.gz and open]

answered Jul 03 '13 at 14:58

Adriano Varoli Piazza

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Thanks you, the @Levon answer works, but it's great know about another solutions – slackmart Jul 04 '13 at 21:05
This worked. Thank you. – huseyin tugrul buyukisik Jul 09 '17 at 16:10

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 03 '13 at 13:20

3

Another easy way to circumvent google's check is to use another compression algorithm with tar, like bz2:

tar -cvjf my.tar.bz2 dir/

Note that 'j' (for bz2 compression) is used above instead of 'z' (gzip compression).

answered Dec 03 '13 at 13:20

kirx

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Doesn't work any more – ilya1725 Jul 31 '18 at 17:26

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered May 25 '12 at 15:54

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Try this:

tar -czf my.tar.gz dir/

But are you sure you are not compressing some .exe file or something? Maybe the problem is not with te compression, but with the files you are compressing?

answered May 25 '12 at 15:54

divaka

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How to send a compressed archive that contains executables so that Google's attachment filter won't reject it

4 Answers4