UNRAR(1)

💖 UNRAR — bestie edition 💖

okay so. you've got a .rar and you need what's inside it. this is the manual page for unrar, the RAR archiver's extractor, and I'm gonna walk you through it like we're texting at 2am. no gatekeeping, periodt. 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

unrar — extract files from rar archives. that's the whole job. she extracts. she's an icon. 👑

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

unrar command [-switch ...] archive [file ...] [@listfiles ...] [path
...] [path_to_extract/]

like… command first, then switches (with dashes, obviously), then the archive, then optionally which files, then optionally where it goes. the order is the vibe. 🦋

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💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

this manual page documents briefly the unrar command. (briefly! she said what she said.) it was written for the Debian GNU/Linux distribution because the original program does not have a manual page — so bestie, this is the hand-written lore. 📜

commands and options described here are as of unrar 7.11. if you're on something older, some of this might not match, ngl.

unrar is a program for extracting .rar archives. that's it. that's her whole personality and she ATE. 🔥

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🌈 USAGE 🌈

archive

Archive file name in RAR or other supported format. so like, the thing itself.

heads up: if the archive file uses the RAR multiple volume format, specify only the first volume file name as the archive file name. don't go listing all of them, it's giving overthinking. 😭

file ...

File path name to extract. and yes, you can specify more path names at one time — plural, queen. 🫶

@listfiles ...

if an argument starts with @, unrar uses listfile as a file path list file. this list file includes the file path list to extract from the archive file. you can use 2 or more list files at one time, no cap.

the file list uses one line for one file path. and blank lines are ignored. ✨

this file is used to extract many file path names in one time that your shell can't accept. so like, when your shell is being dramatic about argument length, this is the escape hatch. 🐚

path_to_extract

if the last argument is ended with /, unrar uses path_to_extract as the file extraction target path. so the trailing slash is the signal. don't forget it or she'll think you meant a file name. 🙈

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⭐ COMMANDS ⭐

after the program name comes a command and then optional switches with dashes before them. a summary of commands is included below. for a complete description, run unrar without options — she'll spill everything. 💜

• e — Extract files to current directory.
• l[t[a],b] — List archive content [technical[all], bare].
• p — Print file to stdout.
• t — Test archive files.
• v[t[a],b] — Verbosely list archive [technical[all], bare].
• x — Extract files with full path.

like, e vs x is the classic: e dumps everything flat in your cwd, x keeps the folder structure. choose wisely bestie. 💀

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👑 OPTIONS 👑

NOTE: Every switch must be separated by a whitespace. You cannot put them together. fr fr, no -xyz combos, she wants her space. 🚫

• -- — Stop switches scanning.
• -@[+] — Disable [enable] file lists.
• -ad[1,2] — Alternate destination path.
• -ag[format] — Generate archive name using the current date.
• -ai — Ignore file attributes.
• -ap<path> — Set path inside archive.
• -c- — Disable comments show.
• -cfg- — Disable read configuration.
• -cl — Convert names to lower case.
• -cu — Convert names to upper case.
• -dh — Open shared files.
• -ep — Exclude paths from names.
• -ep3 — Expand paths to full name.
• -ep4<path> — Exclude the path prefix from names.
• -f — Freshen files.
• -id[c,d,n,p,q] — Display or disable messages.
• -ierr — Send all messages to stderr.
• -inul — Disable all messages.
• -kb — Keep broken extracted files.
• -me[par] — Set encryption parameters.
• -n<file> — Additionally filter included files.
• -n@ — Read additional filter masks from stdin.
• -n@<list> — Read additional filter masks from list file.
• -o+ — Overwrite existing files.
• -o- — Do not overwrite existing files.
• -ol[a,-] — Process symbolic links as the link [absolute paths, skip].
• -om[-|1][=lst] — Propagate Mark of the Web.
• -op<path> — Set the output path for extracted files.
• -or — Rename files automatically.
• -ow — Save or restore file owner and group.
• -p[password] — Set password.
• -p- — Do not query password.
• -r — Recurse subdirectories.
• -sc<chr>[obj] — Specify the character set.
• -si[name] — Read data from standard input (stdin).
• -sl<size> — Process files with size less than specified.
• -sm<size> — Process files with size more than specified.
• -ta[mcao]<d> — Process files modified after <d> YYYYMMDDHHMMSS date.
• -tb[mcao]<d> — Process files modified before <d> YYYYMMDDHHMMSS date.
• -tn[mcao]<t> — Process files newer than <t> time.
• -to[mcao]<t> — Process files older than <t> time.
• -ts[m,c,a,p] — Save or restore time (modification, creation, access, preserve).
• -u — Update files.
• -v — List all volumes.
• -ver[n] — File version control.
• -vp — Pause before each volume.
• -x<file> — Exclude specified file.
• -x@<list> — Exclude files in specified list file.
• -x@ — Read file names to exclude from stdin.
• -y — Assume Yes on all queries.

that's all 50 of them, every single one, no skipping the "boring" ones because bestie nothing here is boring, it's all ✨lore✨.

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🎀 FILES 🎀

• $HOME/.rarrc
• /etc/.rarrc
• /etc/rar/.rarrc
• /usr/lib/.rarrc
• /usr/local/lib/.rarrc
• /usr/local/etc/.rarrc

all of these are the UnRAR (and RAR) configuration file. 💖

Syntax: (switches for all commands)

switches=<any RAR switches separated by spaces>

Syntax: (switches for specific command)

switches_<command>=<any RAR switches separated by spaces>

Example:

switches=-m5 -s
switches_a=-m5 -s
switches_x=-o+

like set it globally or set it per-command, your call, main character energy either way. 🌟

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• rar(1)

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🌸 AUTHORS 🌸

This manual page was written by Petr Cech <cech@debian.org> according to "unrar" for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others). thank you Petr, absolute legend, we stan. 🫶

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and that's the whole page bestie!! this was UNRAR(1), from the RAR archiver source, dated 2021-11-03 💖✨ go forth and extract, you've got this. 🦋💅🎀