7z

[a]dd a file or directory to a new or existing archive

$ 7z a [path/to/archive.7z] [path/to/file_or_directory]

$ 7z a [path/to/encrypted.7z] -p[password] -mhe=on [path/to/archive.7z]

$ 7z x [path/to/archive.7z]

$ 7z x [path/to/archive.7z] -o[path/to/output]

$ 7z x [path/to/archive.7z] -so

$ 7z a -t[7z|bzip2|gzip|lzip|tar|zip] [path/to/archive] [path/to/file_or_directory]

$ 7z l [path/to/archive.7z]

$ 7z a [path/to/archive.7z] -mx=[0|1|3|5|7|9] [path/to/file_or_directory]

7z [command] [switches...] [archive_name] [file_names]...

a
    Add files to archive

b
    Benchmark compression/decompression speeds

d
    Delete files from archive

e
    Extract files without paths (to current dir)

h
    Calculate hash sums (CRC32, CRC64, SHA1, SHA256, BLAKE2sp)

i
    Show list of supported formats

l
    List archive contents

rn
    Rename files in archive

r
    Repair damaged archive

t
    Test archive integrity

u
    Update existing archive

x
    eXtract files with full paths

y
    Assume Yes on all queries

-ad
    Disable progress/dot display (quiet mode)

-ao{a|e|s}
    Set output file overwrite mode: a=overwrite all, e=skip, s=system

-an
    Disable archive name field display

-ax{x|y}
    eXclude archive files by extension or attributes

-bb[0-3]
    Set output log level (0=disable, 3=high)

-bd
    Disable progress indicator

-bs{o|e|p}{0|1|2}
    Keep memory open for output/error/paging after operation

-bt
    Show execution time statistics

-i[{!}]list
    Include filenames matching wildcard list (! for exclude)

-m{Params}
    Set compression method (e.g., -mx=9 for max compression)

-o{Directory}
    Set output directory

-p{Password}
    Set password

-r[-|0]
    Recurse subdirectories (-r enable, -r- disable)

-sa{Method}
    Set archive name method

-scc{UTF-8|WIN|UTF-16LE}
    Set charset for console

-scrc[CRC32|CRC64|SHA1|SHA256|BLAKE2sp]
    Set hash function

-sdel
    Delete source files after adding

-sfx[{VolumeIndex}]{PathToSFXModule}
    Create SFX executable

-si{IconIndex}
    Set icon index for SFX

-slk
    Set large pages size

-slt
    Show technical mode in list files

-snh
    Store NTFS hard links as links

-snl[-]
    Store NTFS symbolic links as links

-sns[-]
    Store NTFS alternate streams

-so
    Read file names from stdin

-spf
    Use fully qualified paths for file names

-spf2
    Use absolute paths for file names

-spt-
    Exclude file creation timestamps

-ssc[-]
    Set sensitive case mode

-sse
    Stop switch parsing at file name

-ssl{Size}
    Set large page size

-sni
    Store NTFS hard links as separate files

-stl
    Set archive timestamp from latest file

-stm{Mode}
    Set method for multi-threaded open callbacks

-stx{Type}
    Exclude archive files by type

-t{Type}
    Set archive type (e.g., -t7z, -tzip)

-u[-][p#][q#][r#][x#][y#][z#][!]{CentralDir}
    Update options: p=percent newer, q=older, etc.

-v{VolumeSize}[b|k|m|g]
    Create multi-volume archive (e.g., -v100m)

-w[{path}]
    Assign work directory

-x[{@|!}list][!]
    Exclude filenames matching list (@file with list)

-y
    Assume Yes on all queries

-z{file}
    Read switch params from file

The 7z command is the Linux front-end for 7-Zip, a powerful open-source file archiver renowned for its superior compression ratios. Developed by Igor Pavlov, it supports formats like 7z (LZMA/LZMA2), ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, XZ, TAR, and more. Key capabilities include creating and extracting archives, strong AES-256 encryption, solid compression for better ratios, multi-threading for speed, and handling files larger than 4GB.

Common operations: add files (a), extract (x or e), list contents (l), test integrity (t), update (u), delete (d). Switches control behavior, such as recursion (-r), password protection (-p), output directory (-o), and compression methods (-m). On Linux, install via p7zip-full or p7zip-rar packages. It's ideal for backups, distribution, and data reduction, outperforming tools like gzip in ratios but sometimes slower.

Requires p7zip-full package on Debian/Ubuntu; RAR support needs p7zip-rar. High compression (-mx=9) is CPU-intensive and slow. Passwords are visible in process lists unless careful. Large archives may hit memory limits. Not installed by default on most distros.

7z a archive.7z file.txt - create archive
7z x archive.7z - extract with paths
7z x archive.7z -psecret - extract with password
7z a -tzip -mx=9 backup.zip dir/ - ZIP with max compression

7z, XZ, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, WIM, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DEB, DMG, FAT, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, PPMd, RAR (read-only without extra pkg), RPM, SquashFS, UDF, UEFI, VHD, VMDK, WIM, XAR, Z

7-Zip originated in 1999 by Igor Pavlov for Windows. Linux port (p7zip) started 2004 via community efforts. p7zip project maintained until 2016; now official 7-Zip includes Unix builds from v16.00 (2016). Widely used for its LZMA efficiency, surpassing PKZIP.

tar(1), unzip(1), zip(1), gzip(1), xz(1), bzip2(1), unar(1)