7za

PROGRAM:

NAME

7za - A file archiver with highest compression ratio

SYNOPSIS

7za [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), 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.

7za is a stand-alone executable. 7za handles less archive formats than 7z.

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-
full/DOCS/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 | 7za 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

-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

7za 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

7za 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

7za 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)

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