How to create a RAR archive in Linux

RAR archives are still common when a recipient asks for a .rar file or an existing handoff process expects that format. On Linux, the rar command can pack a directory tree into one compressed file without changing the source files.

The a action adds files or directories to the archive named immediately after it. Supplying a directory stores its contents recursively, and running the command from the parent directory keeps the archived path names predictable for later extraction.

Linux package and CPU-architecture support differs by distribution, so start after a working rar command is available from a distribution package or the RARLAB command-line build. Use rar l and rar t before sending the file; an archive that merely exists can still have missing paths or unreadable compressed data.

Steps to create a RAR archive in Linux:

Change to the parent directory that contains the files or folders to store.
```
$ cd /tmp/rar-demo
```
Paths passed after the archive name are stored relative to the current directory. Starting from the nearest useful parent keeps the archived path names predictable.

Create the archive by naming the new .rar file first, followed by the file or directory paths to add.

$ rar a demo.rar demo

RAR 7.22   Copyright (c) 1993-2026 Alexander Roshal   1 May 2026
Trial version             Type 'rar -?' for help

Evaluation copy. Please register.

Creating archive demo.rar

Adding    demo/subdir/file-03.txt                                         35%  OK
Adding    demo/file-02.txt                                                64%  OK
Adding    demo/file-01.txt                                               100%  OK
Adding    demo/subdir                                                      OK
Adding    demo                                                             OK
Done

The a action adds files recursively when a directory name is supplied, so demo stores both its files and the nested subdir content in one archive.

Confirm that the new file is a RAR archive before moving or uploading it.
```
$ file demo.rar
demo.rar: RAR archive data, v5
```
The file output checks the archive format before the archive is copied to another system or attached elsewhere.

List the archive contents without extracting anything.

$ rar l demo.rar

RAR 7.22   Copyright (c) 1993-2026 Alexander Roshal   1 May 2026
Trial version             Type 'rar -?' for help

Archive: demo.rar
Details: RAR 5

 Attributes       Size     Date    Time   Name
----------- ----------  ---------- -----  ----
 -rw-r--r--          6  2026-06-13 10:15  demo/subdir/file-03.txt
 -rw-r--r--          5  2026-06-13 10:15  demo/file-02.txt
 -rw-r--r--          6  2026-06-13 10:15  demo/file-01.txt
 drwxr-xr-x          0  2026-06-13 10:15  demo/subdir
 drwxr-xr-x          0  2026-06-13 10:15  demo
----------- ----------  ---------- -----  ----
                    17                    5

rar l shows the stored paths and sizes without writing files to disk, so the expected directory tree can be checked before extraction.

Test the finished archive to verify that all entries can be read successfully.

$ rar t demo.rar

RAR 7.22   Copyright (c) 1993-2026 Alexander Roshal   1 May 2026
Trial version             Type 'rar -?' for help

Testing archive demo.rar

Testing     demo/subdir/file-03.txt                                       36%  OK
Testing     demo/file-02.txt                                              58%  OK
Testing     demo/file-01.txt                                              80%  OK
Testing     demo/subdir                                               OK
Testing     demo                                                      OK
All OK

An All OK result means rar read the archive metadata and compressed file data without errors.