How to reconstitute a file that was split into multiple RAR files

Got a file in multiple parts, encoded with RAR? Need to recombine it?

Get these packages (I run Kubuntu, so these are the Debian package names):

unrar-free (or unrar-nonfree)
chksvf (optional)

OPTIONAL: If the download has a *.sfv file, run:

chksvf -f filename.svf

and chksvf will verify the integrity of all the files.

To combine the files, in the directory containing the RAR files run:

unrar e -o- -u filename.rar

Wait a moment (or more, depending on the size of the file and your machine's speed), and you will have a new file: filename.ext (the original filename & extension).

NOTE: the dashes, or lack thereof, are meaningful, as is the parameter order.

  • e: the command to extract the files
  • -o-: do not overwrite the existing files (otherwise, the 2nd rar would overwrite the 1st rar's extracted section, 3rd would overwrite 2nd, and so on)
  • -u filename.rar: update files (in other words, don't overwrite the file, since all the rar files are really just a single file split up)

Many thanks to the gurus at LinuxQuestions.org for providing the crucial parameter sequence.


Written by Andrew Ittner in misc on Sat 29 October 2005. Tags: open source