How to Output Unrar Extracted Data to Stderr

By default, the unrar utility does not contain a standalone flag to route extracted file data directly to standard error (stderr). Instead, unrar provides the p command to print archive contents to standard output (stdout), which can then be redirected to standard error using standard shell stream redirection. This guide covers the exact command syntax required to route extracted data to stderr while suppressing standard informational banners.

The Command

To extract the contents of an archive directly to standard error, run the following command:

unrar p -inul archive.rar 1>&2

If you only want to extract a specific file from within the archive to standard error, specify the filename at the end:

unrar p -inul archive.rar file.txt 1>&2

How the Command Works

• p: Instructs unrar to print the extracted file data to standard output (stdout) instead of writing it to disk.
• -inul: Disables all informational messages, headers, and copyright notices. Without this switch, standard status text would mix into the extracted data stream.
• 1>&2: Redirects file descriptor 1 (stdout) to file descriptor 2 (stderr) at the shell level. In modern shells like Bash and Zsh, >&2 can also be used as shorthand.

Alternative: Suppressing Messages via -idq

If -inul is not supported by your specific build of unrar, you can use the -idq flag instead to enforce quiet mode:

unrar p -idq archive.rar 1>&2

This ensures that only the binary or text content of the archived files is routed into the standard error stream.