atool is a command-line utility for managing file archives in Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. It is a wrapper around a number of other archiving tools, such as tar, gzip, bzip2, and 7zip, and provides a consistent interface for working with a variety of archive formats.
With atool, you can create, extract, and list the contents of archive files using a single command. For example, to create a tar archive of a directory, you can use the following command:
# atool -a my_archive.tar directory_to_archive
To extract the contents of an archive file, you can use the following command:
# atool -x my_archive.tar
To list the contents of an archive file, you can use the following command:
# atool -l my_archive.tar
atool is a useful tool for managing file archives because it simplifies the process of working with multiple archive formats. Instead of having to remember the specific options and syntax for each archiving tool, you can use a single, consistent interface for all of your archiving needs.
To learn more about atool and its available options, you can consult the atool documentation or use the man atool command to view the manual page.
If you encounter the below error while running the atool command:
atool: command not found
you may try installing the below package as per your choice of distribution:
| OS Distribution | Command |
|---|---|
| Debian | apt-get install atool |
| Ubuntu | apt-get install atool |
| Alpine | apk add atool |
| Kali Linux | apt-get install atool |
| Fedora | dnf install atool |
| Raspbian | apt-get install atool |
atool Command Examples
1. List files in a zip archive:
# atool --list path/to/archive.zip
2. Unpack a tar.gz archive into a new subdirectory (or current directory if it contains only one file):
# atool --extract path/to/archive.tar.gz
3. Create a new 7zip archive with two files:
# atool --add path/to/archive.7z path/to/file1 path/to/file2 ...
4. Extract all zip and rar archives in the current directory:
# atool --each --extract *.zip *.rar