unrar

0.4 verified Fri May 01 auth: no python maintenance

Python bindings for the UnRAR library using ctypes. Provides read-only access to RAR archives with extraction and listing capabilities. Current version 0.4 (stalled). Released on PyPI but no active development. The package wraps the UnRAR DLL/shared library from RARLab.

pip install unrar

Common errors

error ImportError: No module named unrar ↓

cause The package unrar is not installed.

fix

Run: pip install unrar

error unrar.rarfile.RarCannotExec: Cannot find unrar library ↓

cause UnRAR shared library not found in system PATH or LD_LIBRARY_PATH.

fix

Install unrar: apt-get install unrar (Linux), brew install unrar (macOS). For Windows, ensure unrar.dll is in PATH.

error OSError: [WinError 193] %1 is not a valid Win32 application ↓

cause Trying to use 64-bit Python with 32-bit unrar.dll (or vice versa).

fix

Ensure the architecture of unrar.dll matches your Python interpreter.

error unrar.rarfile.RarFileError: RAR archive is corrupt ↓

cause The RAR file is damaged or not a valid archive.

fix

Verify the archive using external tools (unrar t file.rar).

Warnings

gotcha UnRAR shared library must be installed separately. The Python package does not include the native library. ↓

fix Install unrar-free (Linux: apt-get install unrar, macOS: brew install unrar). On Windows, place unrar.dll in PATH.

gotcha The package is unmaintained (last release 2013). May have compatibility issues with newer Python versions or platforms. ↓

fix Consider alternatives like patool or rarfile (pure Python).

gotcha RarFile does not support writing. It is read-only. ↓

fix Use a different library for creating RAR archives (e.g., patool with external unrar).

gotcha The unrar module must be importable; sometimes missing because of PYTHONPATH or install issues. ↓

fix Ensure pip install unrar succeeded and the package is in sys.path.

Imports

RarFile
wrong
```
from unrar import RarFile
```
correct
```
from unrar import rarfile
```
RarFile is inside the rarfile submodule.
RarInfo
```
from unrar.rarfile import RarInfo
```
Commonly used from the rarfile submodule.

Quickstart

List contents of a RAR file using RarFile as a context manager.

import os
from unrar import rarfile
rar_path = 'example.rar'
if not os.path.exists(rar_path):
    print('Place a RAR file named example.rar in the current directory.')
else:
    with rarfile.RarFile(rar_path) as rf:
        for info in rf.infolist():
            print(info.filename)