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.
Download the binary package from official rarlab site
$ cd /tmp
$ wget http://www.rarlab.com/rar/rarlinux-3.6.0.tar.gz
untar the 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