7z(1)
NAME
7z - A file archiver with high compression ratio format
SYNOPSIS
7z <command> [<switches>... ] <archive_name> [<file_names>... ]
[<@listfiles>... ]
DESCRIPTION
7-Zip is a file archiver supporting 7z (that implements LZMA
compression algorithm featuring very high compression ratio), LZMA2,
XZ, ZIP, Zip64, CAB, RAR (if the non-free p7zip-rar package is
installed), ARJ, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, CPIO, RPM, ISO, most filesystem
images and DEB formats. Compression ratio in the new 7z format is
30-50% better than ratio in ZIP format.
7z uses plugins to handle archives, so it might be slightly slower than
7za(1) but can handle more archive formats.
COMMANDS
a Add files to archive
b Benchmark
d Delete files from archive
e Extract files from archive (without using directory names)
h Calculate hash values for files
i Show information about supported formats
l List contents of archive
rn Rename files in archive
t Test integrity of archive
u Update files to archive
x eXtract files with full paths
SWITCHES
-- Stop switches parsing
-ai[r[-|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard}
Include archives
-ax[r[-|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard}
Exclude archives
-ao{a|s|t|u}
Set Overwrite mode
-an Disable archive_name field
-bb[0-3]
Set output log level
-bd Disable progress indicator
-bs{o|e|p}{0|1|2}
Set output stream for output/error/progress line
-bt Show execution time statistics
-i[r[-|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard}
Include filenames
-m{Parameters}
Set Compression Method (see
/usr/share/doc/p7zip/DOC/MANUAL/cmdline/switches/method.htm from
the p7zip-full package for a list of methods)
-o{Directory}
Set Output directory
-p{Password}
Set Password (NOTE: this flag does not work with 7z,
-r[-|0]
Recurse subdirectories (CAUTION: this flag does not do what you
think, avoid using it)
-sa{a|e|s}
Set archive name mode
-scc{UTF-8|WIN|DOS}
Set charset for for console input/output
-scs{UTF-8|UTF-16LE|UTF-16BE|WIN|DOS|{id}}
Set charset for list files
-scrc[CRC32|CRC64|SHA1|SHA256|*]
Set hash function for x, e, h commands
-sdel Delete files after compression
-seml[.]
Send archive by email
-sfx[{name}]
Create SFX archive
-si[{name}]
Read data from stdin (e.g. tar cf - directory | 7z a -si
directory.tar.7z)
-slp Set Large Pages mode
-slt Show technical information for l (List) command
-snh Store hard links as links
-snl Store symbolic links as links
-sni Store NT security information
-sns[-]
Store NTFS alternate streams
-sfx[{name}]
Create SFX archive
-so Write data to stdout (e.g. 7z x -so directory.tar.7z | tar xf -)
-spd Disable wildcard matching for file names
-spe Eliminate duplication of root folder for extract command
-spf Use fully qualified file paths
-ssc[-]
Set sensitive case mode
-ssw Compress shared files
-stl Set archive timestamp from the most recently modified file
-stm{HexMask}
Set CPU thread affinity mask (hexadecimal number)
-stx{Type}
Exclude archive type
-t{Type}
Set type of archive
-u[-][p#][q#][r#][x#][y#][z#][!newArchiveName]
Update options
-v{Size}[b|k|m|g]
Create volumes
-w[path]
Set working directory. Empty path means a temporary directory
-x[r[-|0]]]{@listfile|!wildcard}
Exclude filenames
-y Assume Yes on all queries
DIAGNOSTICS
7-Zip returns the following exit codes:
0 Normal (no errors or warnings detected)
1 Warning (Non fatal error(s)). For example, some files
cannot be read during compressing, so they were not
compressed
2 Fatal error
7 Bad command line parameters
8 Not enough memory for operation
255 User stopped the process with control-C (or similar)
Backup and limitations
DO NOT USE the 7-zip format for backup purpose on Linux/Unix because :
- 7-zip does not store the owner/group of the file.
On Linux/Unix, in order to backup directories you must use tar :
- to backup a directory : tar cf - directory | 7z a -si
directory.tar.7z
- to restore your backup : 7z x -so directory.tar.7z | tar xf -
If you want to send files and directories (not the owner of file) to
others Unix/MacOS/Windows users, you can use the 7-zip format.
example : 7z a directory.7z directory
Do not use "-r" because this flag does not do what you think.
Do not use directory/* because of ".*" files (example : "directory/*"
does not match "directory/.profile")
EXAMPLE 1
7z a -t7z -m0=lzma -mx=9 -mfb=64 -md=32m -ms=on archive.7z dir1
adds all files from directory "dir1" to archive archive.7z using
"ultra settings"
-t7z 7z archive
-m0=lzma
lzma method
-mx=9 level of compression = 9 (Ultra)
-mfb=64
number of fast bytes for LZMA = 64
-md=32m
dictionary size = 32 megabytes
-ms=on solid archive = on
EXAMPLE 2
7z a -sfx archive.exe dir1
add all files from directory "dir1" to SFX archive archive.exe
(Remark : SFX archive MUST end with ".exe")
EXAMPLE 3
7z a -mhe=on -pmy_password archive.7z a_directory
add all files from directory "a_directory" to the archive
"archive.7z" (with data and header archive encryption on)
SEE ALSO
7zr(1), 7za(1), p7zip(1), bzip2(1), gzip(1), zip(1),
HTML Documentation
/usr/share/doc/p7zip-full/DOC/MANUAL/start.htm
AUTHOR
Written for Debian by Mohammed Adnene Trojette. Updated by Robert
Luberda.
Free and Open Source Software