Q. How do I open rar archive files under Linux / UNIX operating systems?
A. RAR files are in
compressed archive format, if you have downloaded rar files from the
Internet, you need to unpack or unrar them (extract rar files).
RAR is a proprietary file format for data compression and archiving, developed by Eugene Roshal.
Under Linux and UNIX, use command called unrar. By default unrar is
not being installed on Linux, FreeBSD or UNIX oses. You can install
unrar command with the help of apt-get or yum command.
(See below for Windows XP info)
Install unrar command
Under Debian Linux, you need to type apt-get as follows to install unrar program:# apt-get install unrar
If you are using Fedora core Linux then use yum command as follows (see discussion below):# yum install unrar
If you are using FreeBSD, use:# pkg_add -v -r unrar
If any of above, methods is not working for you, download binary package from official rarlab site:$ cd /tmp
$ wget http://www.rarlab.com/rar/rarlinux-3.6.0.tar.gz
Untar file$ tar -zxvf rarlinux-3.6.0.tar.gz
Both unrar and rar commands are located in rar sub-directory. Just go to rar directory:$ cd rar
$ ./unrar
Now copy rar and unrar to /bin directory:# cp rar unrar /bin
How to use unrar
unrar command supports various options below are common options that you need to use everyday.
Task: To open rar (unpack) file in current directory type command:
$ unrar e file.rar
Please note that replace file.rar filename with your actual filename.
Task: List (l) file inside rar archive:
$ unrar l file.rar
Task: To extract (x) files with full path type command:
$ unrar x file.rar
(D) To test (t) integrity of archive, file type command:$ unrar t file.rar
How do I open rar file under Windows XP/NT/2000?
Windows XP or NT/2000 user
- If you are using Windows XP then I recommend to download Winrar. It is free download ( Free to try License) software.