RAR is the most popular tool for creating and extracting compressed archive (.rar) files, but unfortunately, the Rar tool doesn't pre-installed under Linux systems, we need to install it using third-party tools to open, extract, uncompress or unrar archive files.

Here at Ibmi Media, as part of our Server Management Services, we regularly help our Customers to perform related Linux system tools queries.

In this context, we shall look into how to install Rar/Unrar on CentOS 8. 

Steps to install Rar / Unrar on Centos 8

1. Perform System Update

First, let's start by ensuring your system is up-to-date:

$ sudo dnf install epel-release
$ sudo dnf update

2. Install Rar / Unrar on the system

Now we run the following command to install Rar/Unrar:

$ wget https://www.rarlab.com/rar/rarlinux-x64-6.0.2.tar.gz
$ tar -zxvf rarlinux-x64-6.0.b2.tar.gz
$ cd rar
$ sudo cp -v rar unrar /usr/local/bin/

There's no need to compile or anything. The binary on the tar file works out of the box. On the above example, we copy it  /usr/local/bin so it is found by default after login on our system.

How to Open RAR File / Extract RAR Files ?

Below are some useful and helpful Rar/Unrar archive commands:

• # unrar x (file_name).rar   - extract with full path
• # unrar e -kb (file_name).rar - (Keep broken)
• # unrar l (file_name).rar - list files inside
• # unrar e (file_name).rar  - dump files excluding folders
• # rar a (file_name).rar (file_name) - create a archive Rar file
• # rar r (file_name).rar  - recover or fix a archive file or files
• # rar a -p (file_name).rar - create a archive Rar file with password

[Need assistance in fixing Linux system issues ? We can help you. ]