linux extract rar files

Extract rar-archives

If you need to extract rar files in Linux, you have to download and install unrar from rarlabs.com. You can accomplish that by making use of the following methods:

Method 1: Automated Installation

$ apt-get install unrar

Method 2: Manual Installation

$ cd /tmp
$ wget http://www.rarlab.com/rar/rarlinux-3.9.3.tar.gz
$ tar -zxvf rarlinux-3.9.3.tar.gz
$ cd rar
$ ./unrar
$ cp rar unrar /bin

After you installed it, you can use it like that:
Extract archive:

$ unrar e The.Wind.That.Shakes.the.Barley.part1.rar

Extract archive with full directory paths:

$ unrar x file.rar

List archive:

$ unrar l file.rar

Test archive:

$ unrar t file.rar

Create rar-archives

In order to create a rar-archive and specify which files should be included, use the following command line (archive-name will be test.rar):

rar a test.rar thisismyfile.txt

You might want to append the best compression (m1=no compression ; m5=best compression):

rar a test.rar -m5 thisismyfile.txt

If you also would like to password protect your files + filenames, use the following line (The password of the file will be: [password] ):

rar a -m5 -hp[password] test.rar thisismyfile.txt

If you’d also like to split your archive at a specified filesize, use the following line (which splits the archive as soon it reaches a size of 2000 MegaBytes):

rar a -m5 -hp[password] -v2000M test.rar thisismyfile.txt