.TH 7z 1 "September 1 2006" "Mohammed Adnene Trojette"
.SH NAME
7z \- A file archiver with highest compression ratio
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B 7z
.BR [adeltux]
.BR [\-]
.BR [SWITCH]
.BR <ARCHIVE_NAME>
.BR <ARGUMENTS>...
.PP
.SH 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.
.TP
7z uses plugins to handle archives.
.PP
.SH FUNCTION LETTERS
.TP
.B a
Add
.TP
.B d
Delete
.TP
.B e
Extract
.TP
.B l
List
.TP
.B t
Test
.TP
.B u
Update
.TP
.B x
eXtract with full paths
.PP
.SH SWITCHES
.TP
.B \-ai[r[\-|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard}
Include archives
.TP
.B \-ax[r[\-|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard}
eXclude archives
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.B \-bd
Disable percentage indicator
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.B \-i[r[\-|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard}
Include filenames
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.B \-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')
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.B \-m{Parameters}
Set Compression Method (see /usr/share/doc/p7zip-full/DOCS/MANUAL/switches/method.htm for a list of methods)
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.B \-mhe=on|off
7z format only : enables or disables archive header encryption (Default : off)
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.B \-o{Directory}
Set Output directory
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.B \-p{Password}
Set Password
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.B \-r[\-|0]
Recurse subdirectories (CAUTION: this flag does not do what you think, avoid using it)
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.B \-sfx[{name}]
Create SFX archive
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.B \-si
Read data from StdIn (eg: tar cf \- directory | 7z a \-si directory.tar.7z)
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.B \-so
Write data to StdOut (eg: % echo foo | 7z a dummy \-tgzip \-si \-so > /dev/null)
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.B \-slt
Sets technical mode for l (list) command
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.B \-t{Type}
Type of archive (7z, zip, gzip, bzip2 or tar. 7z format is default)
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.B \-v{Size}[b|k|m|g]
Create volumes
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.B \-u[\-][p#][q#][r#][x#][y#][z#][!newArchiveName]
Update options
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.B \-w[path]
Set Working directory
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.B \-x[r[\-|0]]]{@listfile|!wildcard}
Exclude filenames
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.B \-y
Assume Yes on all queries
.PP
.SH DIAGNOSTICS
7-Zip returns the following exit codes:
.RS
.IP 0
Normal (no errors or warnings detected)
.IP 1
Warning (Non fatal error(s)). For example, some files cannot be read during compressing. So they were not compressed
.IP 2
Fatal error
.IP 7
Bad command line parameters
.IP 8
Not enough memory for operation
.IP 255
User stopped the process with control-C (or similar)
.SH 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.

.LP
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

.LP
Do not use "\-r" because this flag does not do what you think.
.LP
Do not use directory/* because of ".*" files (example : "directory/*" does not match "directory/.profile")
.SH EXAMPLE 1
.TP
.B 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"
.TP
.B \-t7z
7z archive
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.B \-m0=lzma
lzma method
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.B \-mx=9
level of compression = 9 (Ultra)
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.B \-mfb=64
number of fast bytes for LZMA = 64
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.B \-md=32m
dictionary size = 32 megabytes
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.B \-ms=on
solid archive = on
.SH EXAMPLE 2
.TP
.B
7z a \-sfx archive.exe dir1
add all files from directory "dir1" to SFX archive archive.exe (Remark : SFX archive MUST end with ".exe")
.SH EXAMPLE 3
.TP
.B
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)
.SH "SEE ALSO"
7za(1), 7zr(1), bzip2(1), gzip(1), zip(1)
.PP
.SH "HTML Documentation"
/usr/share/doc/p7zip-full/DOCS/MANUAL/index.htm
.SH AUTHOR
.TP
Written for Debian by Mohammed Adnene Trojette.