7z is a compressed archive format which has a modular structure so the user can select the compression method, encryption method, block compression, unicode file names and support for very large files. 7z has been gaining popularity, and it offers great amount of compression of files so it's suited for many purposes, so here today we'll look at installing and using 7z on Linux. Installing 7z If you are on CentOS, Fedora etc. use the following command to install 7zip: Code: $ yum install 7zip On ArchLinux: Code: $ pacman -S p7zip On Ubuntu & other Debian derivatives: Code: $ sudo apt-get install p7zip-full You'll get 3 binaries after install, namely 7z, 7za, & 7zr, the difference between each is as follows: 7z needs plugins to handle all archives. 7za is a standalone executable binary. 7za handles fewer archive formats than 7z, but is independent. 7zr is a "light-version" of 7za & standalone executable binary. 7zr handles fewer archive formats than 7z, but is independent. Creating Archives The command to create an archive is something like the following: Code: 7z a <archive_name> <files/directories> Here's an example: Code: [pradeep@home-desktop pradeep]# ls -lR .: total 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 pradeep pradeep 4096 Feb 20 03:12 Anjali ./Anjali: total 24 -rw-r--r-- 1 pradeep pradeep 1024 Feb 20 03:10 alphabets.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 pradeep pradeep 2323 Feb 20 03:12 friends.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 pradeep pradeep 4532 Feb 20 03:11 mom-n-dad.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 pradeep pradeep 5432 Feb 20 03:11 numbers.txt [pradeep@home-desktop pradeep]# 7z a Anjali.7z Anjali 7-Zip 9.20 Copyright (c) 1999-2010 Igor Pavlov 2010-11-18 p7zip Version 9.20 (locale=C,Utf16=off,HugeFiles=on,2 CPUs) Scanning Creating archive Anjali.7z Compressing Anjali/alphabets.txt Compressing Anjali/friends.txt Compressing Anjali/mom-n-dad.txt Compressing Anjali/numbers.txt Everything is Ok Inflating Archives You can extract files from archives by using the e argument with 7z command. Here's an example: Code: [pradeep@home-desktop Asha]# 7z e Anjali.7z 7-Zip 9.20 Copyright (c) 1999-2010 Igor Pavlov 2010-11-18 p7zip Version 9.20 (locale=C,Utf16=off,HugeFiles=on,2 CPUs) Processing archive: Anjali.7z Extracting Anjali/alphabets.txt Extracting Anjali/friends.txt Extracting Anjali/mom-n-dad.txt Extracting Anjali/numbers.txt Extracting Anjali Everything is Ok Folders: 1 Files: 4 Size: 13311 Compressed: 13733 [pradeep@home-desktop Asha]# ls -lR .: total 44 drwxr-xr-x 2 pradeep pradeep 4096 Feb 20 03:12 Anjali -rw-r--r-- 1 pradeep pradeep 13733 Feb 20 03:13 Anjali.7z -rw-r--r-- 1 pradeep pradeep 1024 Feb 20 03:10 alphabets.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 pradeep pradeep 2323 Feb 20 03:12 friends.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 pradeep pradeep 4532 Feb 20 03:11 mom-n-dad.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 pradeep pradeep 5432 Feb 20 03:11 numbers.txt ./Anjali: total 0 If you have noticed we see that all files have been extracted into the same folder, which is not friendly at all times, this can be fixed by using the x argument instead of e. See the example below: Code: [pradeep@home-desktop Asha]# 7z x Anjali.7z 7-Zip 9.20 Copyright (c) 1999-2010 Igor Pavlov 2010-11-18 p7zip Version 9.20 (locale=C,Utf16=off,HugeFiles=on,2 CPUs) Processing archive: Anjali.7z Extracting Anjali/alphabets.txt Extracting Anjali/friends.txt Extracting Anjali/mom-n-dad.txt Extracting Anjali/numbers.txt Extracting Anjali Everything is Ok Folders: 1 Files: 4 Size: 13311 Compressed: 13733 [pradeep@home-desktop Asha]# ls -lR .: total 20 drwxr-xr-x 2 pradeep pradeep 4096 Feb 20 03:12 Anjali -rw-r--r-- 1 pradeep pradeep 13733 Feb 20 03:20 Anjali.7z ./Anjali: total 24 -rw-r--r-- 1 pradeep pradeep 1024 Feb 20 03:10 alphabets.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 pradeep pradeep 2323 Feb 20 03:12 friends.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 pradeep pradeep 4532 Feb 20 03:11 mom-n-dad.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 pradeep pradeep 5432 Feb 20 03:11 numbers.txt Listing Files in a Archive You can list the files in an archive using the argument l, see example below: Code: [pradeep@home-desktop Asha]# 7z l Anjali.7z 7-Zip 9.20 Copyright (c) 1999-2010 Igor Pavlov 2010-11-18 p7zip Version 9.20 (locale=C,Utf16=off,HugeFiles=on,2 CPUs) Listing archive: Anjali.7z -- Path = Anjali.7z Type = 7z Method = LZMA Solid = + Blocks = 1 Physical Size = 13733 Headers Size = 252 Date Time Attr Size Compressed Name ------------------- ----- ------------ ------------ ------------------------ 2013-02-20 03:10:36 ....A 1024 13481 Anjali/alphabets.txt 2013-02-20 03:12:18 ....A 2323 Anjali/friends.txt 2013-02-20 03:11:29 ....A 4532 Anjali/mom-n-dad.txt 2013-02-20 03:11:08 ....A 5432 Anjali/numbers.txt 2013-02-20 03:12:18 D.... 0 0 Anjali ------------------- ----- ------------ ------------ ------------------------ 13311 13481 4 files, 1 folders Enjoy compressing
