RAR is a file format used for data compression and archiving. The RAR format supports data compression, error recovery and files archives. It also supports files larger than 4 gigabytes. RAR files can only be created through commercial software. You can extract rar file using free unRAR command line tool in Linux.
By default, unRAR is not being installed on Linux or UNIX distro. You need to install unRAR/rar tools with the help of below linux commands.
Install unrar/rar tool
If you are using Redhat Linux or Centos, then use yum command as follows to install unRAR command.
On Redhat/CentOS
sudo yum install unrar sudo yum install rar
On Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install unrar sudo apt-get install rar
On Fedora use dnf command
sudo dnf install unrar sudo dnf install rar
Listed below are some practical examples of RAR and unRAR command in linux to open,extract and compress files.
1. Extract (open) rar file
If you want to extract all files within the '.rar' file in the current directory run below command
# unrar e log.rar UNRAR 5.50 freeware Copyright (c) 1993-2017 Alexander Roshal Extracting from log.rar Extracting dpkg.log OK Extracting tallylog OK Extracting wtmp OK Extracting faillog OK Extracting btmp OK Extracting kern.log OK Extracting auth.log OK Extracting syslog OK Extracting alternatives.log OK Extracting lastlog OK Extracting bootstrap.log OK All OK
2. Extract files with full path
If you want to extract the files in full path. Run below command
# unrar x file1.rar
3. List content of a RAR file
To list files inside rar archive file without extracting. Then use 'l' option
# unrar l log.rar
UNRAR 5.50 freeware Copyright (c) 1993-2017 Alexander Roshal
Archive: log.rar
Details: RAR 5
Attributes Size Date Time Name
----------- --------- ---------- ----- ----
-rw-r--r-- 531699 2019-10-03 10:54 var/log/dpkg.log
-rw------- 64064 2019-06-04 15:11 var/log/tallylog
-rw-rw-r-- 2688 2019-10-03 10:50 var/log/wtmp
-rw-r--r-- 32032 2019-06-04 15:11 var/log/faillog
-rw-rw---- 0 2019-02-10 00:06 var/log/btmp
-rw-r----- 46365 2019-10-03 10:49 var/log/kern.log
-rw-r----- 1225 2019-10-03 10:55 var/log/auth.log
-rw-r----- 67588 2019-10-03 10:55 var/log/syslog
-rw-r--r-- 19397 2019-10-03 10:51 var/log/alternatives.log
-rw-rw-r-- 292292 2019-10-03 10:50 var/log/lastlog
-rw-r--r-- 56751 2019-02-10 00:07 var/log/bootstrap.log
----------- --------- ---------- ----- ----
1114101 11
4. Check archive integrity
To test the integrity of file archive use 't' option
unrar t log.rar UNRAR 5.50 freeware Copyright (c) 1993-2017 Alexander Roshal Testing archive log.rar Testing var/log/dpkg.log OK Testing var/log/tallylog OK Testing var/log/wtmp OK Testing var/log/faillog OK Testing var/log/btmp OK Testing var/log/kern.log OK Testing var/log/auth.log OK Testing var/log/syslog OK Testing var/log/alternatives.log OK Testing var/log/lastlog OK Testing var/log/bootstrap.log OK All OK
5. Create a rar single file
To create a .rar archive file use 'a' option.
# rar a log.rar /var/log/ RAR 5.50 Copyright (c) 1993-2017 Alexander Roshal 11 Aug 2017 Trial version Type 'rar -?' for help Evaluation copy. Please register. Creating archive log.rar Adding /var/log/dpkg.log OK Adding /var/log/tallylog OK Adding /var/log/wtmp OK Adding /var/log/faillog OK Adding /var/log/btmp OK Adding /var/log/kern.log OK Adding /var/log/auth.log OK Adding /var/log/syslog OK Adding /var/log/alternatives.log OK Adding /var/log/lastlog OK Adding /var/log/bootstrap.log OK Done
6. Create multiple rar files
To compress say ‘file1′, ‘file2′ and ‘file3′ simultaneously, use below command
# rar a file1.rar file1 file2 file3
You can also use the following method to RAR multiple files.
# rar a -r file1.rar file1 file2 file3
7. Set password for RAR file
While archiving, you can set a password (using -p option). If you omit the password on the command line, you will be prompted with a message “enter password” and the password is case sensitive.
# rar a -pQAZWSXEDC archive.rar /var/log/
or
# rar a -p archive.rar /var/log/ Enter password (will not be echoed):
Conclusion
In this tutorial we learned how to use rar/unrar command in linux to open,extract and create rar files. Hope you enjoyed reading this and please leave your comments below.
