How to Check RAR Host OS with Unrar

To determine the exact operating system a RAR archive was created on, you must use the unrar command-line utility with technical listing flags. This guide explains the exact command required to inspect archive metadata and locate the host operating system information directly from your terminal.

The Command

The command to display the exact OS an archive was created on is:

unrar lt archive.rar

Alternatively, you can use the verbose technical listing command:

unrar vt archive.rar

How It Works

  • l: Tells unrar to list the contents of the archive.
  • t: Instructs unrar to display detailed technical information for each item and the archive itself.
  • v: Requests verbose output, which provides identical technical metadata when paired with t.

Locating the OS Information in the Output

When you execute unrar lt filename.rar, the command outputs metadata blocks for each file contained within the archive. Look for the Host OS field in the output:

Attributes: ..A....
Host OS: Windows
Compression: RAR 5.0(v50) -m3 -md=32M

If the archive was created on a Linux or macOS machine, the field will report Host OS: Unix. If it was created on Windows, it will specify Host OS: Windows.