LZIPRECOVER(1)

📦
version 1.26 · 4 versions
, in fedora 43, fedora 44, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 lziprecover — the manual, but make it cute 💖

okay bestie, welcome to lziprecover(1), a User Commands moment, and honestly? she's giving lifesaver. no cap. 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

lziprecover — recovers data from damaged files 🩹💾

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

lziprecover [options] [files]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

So. Lziprecover is a data recovery tool and a decompressor for files in the lzip compressed data format (.lz). Two jobs, both iconic. 💅

She also provides Forward Error Correction files (.fec) that can be used to repair any kind of file, not only lzip files. A fec file can be used as a recovery record for a tar.lz archive. yes queen, insurance policy energy. 🛡️✨

Lziprecover can remove the damaged members from multimember files — for example multimember tar.lz archives. bye damaged bits, you will not be missed. 💀

And she provides random access to the data in multimember files; she only decompresses the members containing the desired data. efficient. main character. not doing extra work for nobody. 👑

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -h, --help — display this help and exit. the "bestie explain" button 🥺
  • -V, --version — output version information and exit. she'll tell you who she is 💁‍♀️
  • -a, --trailing-error — exit with error status if trailing data. no loose ends tolerated 🚫
  • -A, --alone-to-lz — convert lzma-alone files to lzip format. glow-up conversion ✨
  • -b, --block-size=<bytes> — make FEC block size a multiple of <bytes>. math but make it tidy 📐
  • -B, --byte-repair — try to repair a corrupt byte in file. one little byte, one big rescue 🩹
  • -c, --stdout — write to standard output, keep input files. show me everything, keep the originals 💖
  • -d, --decompress — decompress, test compressed file integrity. the classic 🎀
  • -D, --range-decompress=<n-m> — decompress a range of bytes to stdout. just the slice you asked for 🍰
  • -e, --reproduce — try to reproduce a zeroed sector in file. forensic girly 🔍
  • --lzip-level=N|a|m[N] — reproduce one level, all, or match length
  • --lzip-name=<name> — name of lzip executable for --reproduce
  • --reference-file=<file> — reference file for --reproduce
  • -f, --force — overwrite existing output files. she's not asking permission 😤
  • -F, --fec=c[N]|r|t|l — create, repair, test, list (using) fec file
  • -0 .. -9 — set FEC fragmentation level [default 9]
  • --fec-file=<file>[/] — read fec file from <file> or directory
  • -i, --ignore-errors — ignore non-fatal errors. not today, drama 🙈
  • -k, --keep — keep (don't delete) input files. she's a keeper fr fr 💜
  • -l, --list — print (un)compressed file sizes. receipts, basically 🧾
  • -m, --merge — repair errors in file using several copies. teamwork makes the dream work 🤝
  • -n, --threads=<n> — set number of threads for fec create [2]. more threads, more slay 🧵
  • -o, --output=<file>[/] — place the output into <file> or directory
  • -q, --quiet — suppress all messages. shhh, she's working 🤫
  • -r, --recursive — (fec) operate recursively on directories. down the rabbit hole 🐇
  • -R, --dereference-recursive — (fec) recursively follow symbolic links. following the vibes wherever they go 🔗
  • -s, --split — split multimember file in single-member files. divide and conquer ✂️
  • -t, --test — test compressed file integrity. vibe check, but for files ✅
  • -v, --verbose — be verbose (a 2nd -v gives more). she will tell you everything 🗣️
  • --append=<file> — append <file> as trailing data
  • --dump=<list>:d:e:t — dump members, damaged, empty, tdata to stdout
  • --remove=<list>:d:e:t — remove members, tdata from files in place
  • --strip=<list>:d:e:t — copy files to stdout stripping members given
  • --loose-trailing — allow trailing data seeming corrupt header
  • --nonzero-repair — repair in place a nonzero first LZMA byte

If no file names are given, or if a file is '-', lziprecover decompresses from standard input to standard output. 🫶

Numbers may contain underscore separators between groups of digits and may be followed by a SI or binary multiplier: 1_234_567kB, 4KiB. cute and legible, we love that for us.

The argument to --fec=create may be a number of blocks (-Fc20), a percentage (-Fc5%), or a size in bytes (-Fc10KiB). pick your fighter 🥊

To extract all the files from archive foo.tar.lz, use the commands:

tar -xf foo.tar.lz

or

lziprecover -cd foo.tar.lz | tar -xf -

(pipe queen behavior honestly 🫶✨)

💀 EXIT STATUS 💀

  • 0 — for a normal exit. we ate and left no crumbs 😌
  • 1 — for environmental problems (file not found, invalid command-line options, I/O errors, etc). it's not her, it's the environment 😭
  • 2 — to indicate a corrupt or invalid input file. that file is not okay 💅
  • 3 — for an internal consistency error (e.g., bug) which caused lziprecover to panic. she's screaming, and validly so 🚨

🐛 REPORTING BUGS 🐛

Found a bug? tell the devs, bestie, they wanna know:

Report bugs to lzip-bug@nongnu.org

Lziprecover home page: http://www.nongnu.org/lzip/lziprecover.html

Copyright © 2026 Antonio Diaz Diaz. License GPLv2+: GNU GPL version 2 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>

This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. (yes the all-caps is theirs, it's giving legal drama 📢)

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

The full documentation for lziprecover is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and lziprecover programs are properly installed at your site, the command

info lziprecover

should give you access to the complete manual. iykyk 📖✨

and that's the whole page, bestie!! this is lziprecover 1.26, born February 2026, and she's still serving User Commands realness. mwah. 💋🎀🦋

📦 where this page comes from