patool

Extract an archive

$ patool extract [path/to/archive]

$ patool create [path/to/archive] [files...]

$ patool list [path/to/archive]

$ patool diff [archive1] [archive2]

$ patool search [pattern] [path/to/archive]

$ patool test [path/to/archive]

patool [extract|create|list|diff|search|test|repack] [options] archive [files...]

patool is a portable archive file manager that provides a unified interface for numerous archive formats. It automatically detects archive types and uses the appropriate backend tool for each format.
Supported formats include zip, tar, gzip, bzip2, xz, 7z, rar, lzma, and many others. The tool abstracts away format-specific commands, allowing consistent operations across all archive types.

-v, --verbose

Verbose output

Non-interactive mode

Extract to specified directory

extract

Extract files from archive

Create new archive from files

List archive contents

Compare contents of two archives

Search for pattern in archive contents

Test archive integrity

Convert archive to different format

Requires backend tools for each archive format (unzip, tar, 7z, etc.). Some formats have limited support depending on available tools. Creating certain formats may require specific utilities.

patool was created by Bastian Kleineidam to simplify archive handling. Written in Python, it serves as a wrapper around various archiving tools, providing a consistent interface regardless of the underlying format.

tar(1), unzip(1), 7z(1), unrar(1)