7z(1) General Commands Manual 7z(1)

NAME
7z − A file archiver with highest compression ratio
SYNOPSIS
7z [adeltux] [−] [SWITCH] <ARCHIVE_NAME> <ARGUMENTS>...
DESCRIPTION
7-Zip is a file archiver with the highest compression ratio. The program supports 7z (that implements
LZMA compression algorithm), ZIP, CAB, ARJ, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, CPIO, RPM and DEB formats. Com-
pression ratio in the new 7z format is 30-50% better than ratio in ZIP format.
7z uses plugins to handle archives.
FUNCTION LETTERS
a Add
d Delete
e Extract
l List
t Test
u Update
x eXtract with full paths
SWITCHES
−ai[r[−|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard}
Include archives
−ax[r[−|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard}
eXclude archives
−bd Disable percentage indicator
−i[r[−|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard}
Include filenames
−l don’t store symlinks; store the files/directories they point to (CAUTION : the scanning stage can
never end because of recursive symlinks like ’ln −s .. ldir’)
−m{Parameters}
Set Compression Method (see /usr/share/doc/p7zip/DOC/MANUAL/switches/method.htm for a
list of methods)
−mhe=on|off
7z format only : enables or disables archive header encryption (Default : off)
−o{Directory}
Set Output directory
−p{Password}
Set Password
−r[−|0] Recurse subdirectories (CAUTION: this flag does not do what you think, avoid using it)
−sfx[{name}]
Create SFX archive
−si Read data from StdIn (eg: tar cf − directory | 7z a −si directory.tar.7z)
−so Write data to StdOut (eg: % echo foo | 7z a dummy −tgzip −si −so > /dev/null)
−slt Sets technical mode for l (list) command

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−t{Type}
Type of archive (7z, zip, gzip, bzip2 or tar. 7z format is default)
−v{Size}[b|k|m|g]
Create volumes
−u[−][p#][q#][r#][x#][y#][z#][!newArchiveName]
Update options
−w[path]
Set Working 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 | 7za a −si directory.tar.7z
− to restore your backup : 7za 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 : 7za 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

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−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
7za(1), 7zr(1), bzip2(1), gzip(1), zip(1)
HTML Documentation
/usr/share/doc/p7zip/DOC/MANUAL/index.htm
AUTHOR
Written for Debian by Mohammed Adnene Trojette.

Mohammed Adnene Trojette September 1 2006 3