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What is it

Ark is a graphical file compression/decompression utility with support for multiple formats. Ark can be used to browse, extract, create, and modify archives.

Supported read-write formats

Format	Supported Mimetype	Notes
7-Zip	application/x-7z-compressed
Zip	application/zip
JAR	application/x-java-archive
ARJ	application/x-arj, application/arj	requires the arj binary
RAR	application/vnd.rar	can only create RAR archives with the proprietary rar binary
TAR	application/x-tar
GZip-compressed TAR	application/x-compressed-tar
BZip2-compressed TAR	application/x-bzip2-compressed-tar	(application/x-bzip-compressed-tar with shared-mime-info < 2.3)
UNIX-compressed TAR	application/x-tarz
XZ-compressed TAR	application/x-xz-compressed-tar
LZMA-compressed TAR	application/x-lzma-compressed-tar
LZIP-compressed TAR	application/x-lzip-compressed-tar
LRZIP-compressed TAR	application/x-lrzip-compressed-tar	requires the lrzip binary
LZO-compressed TAR	application/x-tzo	requires the lzop binary if libarchive >= 3.3 has been compiled without liblzo2 support
LZ4-compressed TAR	application/x-lz4-compressed-tar
ZSTD-compressed TAR	application/x-zstd-compressed-tar	requires the zstd binary if libarchive >= 3.3 has been compiled without libzstd support

Supported read-only formats

Format	Supported Mimetype
RAR	application/vnd.rar
XAR	application/x-xar
LHA	application/x-lha
AppImage	application/x-iso9660-appimage
DEB package	application/vnd.debian.binary-package, application/x-deb
Raw CD image	application/vnd.efi.img, application/x-cd-image
CPIO variants	application/x-cpio, application/x-bcpio, application/x-cpio-compressed, application/x-sv4cpio, application/x-sv4crc
RPM (source) package	application/x-rpm, application/x-source-rpm
UNIX-compressed TAR	application/x-compress
GZip-compressed file	application/gzip
BZip2-compressed file	application/x-bzip2 (application/x-bzip with shared-mime-info < 2.3)
LZMA-compressed file	application/x-lzma
XZ-compressed file	application/x-xz
Zlib-compressed file	application/zlib
Zstd-compressed file	application/zstd
LZ4-compressed file	application/x-lz4
LZIP-compressed file	application/x-lzip
LRZIP-compressed file	application/x-lrzip
LZOP-compressed file	application/x-lzop
Windows theme pack	application/vnd.ms-cab-compressed
AR	application/x-archive
Stuffit	application/x-stuffit
Self-extracting EXE	application/x-msdownload

The notes about lrzip, lzop and zstd binaries apply also here.

Plugins

The support for all the above formats in Ark is implemented in a number of plugins that can be enabled/disabled by the user. More than one plugin can support the same format. An archive whose format is supported by more than one plugin, will be open using the enabled plugin with higher priority.

The plugins currently available in ark are the following:

• Libzip plugin: supports the Zip format by using the libzip library.
• 7-Zip plugin: supports the 7-Zip format by using the 7z binary.
  • Supports both the upstream 7-Zip binary and the binary from a p7zip fork shipped by Archlinux et al.
• Unarchiver plugin: supports the RAR, LHA and Stuffit formats in read-only mode. Requires the lsar and unar binaries from the unarchiver project.
• RAR plugin: supports the RAR format by using the unrar binary. Requires the proprietary rar binary to enable read-write mode support to create RAR archives.
• Info-zip plugin (legacy): supports the Zip format by using the zip binary.
• ARJ plugin: supports the ARJ format by using the arj binary.
• Libarchive plugin: supports everything else by using the libarchive library and optionally the lrzip, lzop and zstd binaries.
  • Supports also the 7-Zip format, but only without encryption.

Contributing to ARK

Please refer to the contributing document for everything you need to know to get started contributing to ARK.