# Install atool with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper, winget Archival front-end. Version 0.39.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:atool ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install atool ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install atool ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: archivers/atool/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add atool ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: atool from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install atool ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: atool from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install atool ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: atool from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#atool ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/at/atool/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S atool ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: atool from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install atool ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: atool from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ### Windows - winget (92%): ```sh winget install --id Intel.ACAT -e ``` Evidence: Windows Package Manager source index: Intel.ACAT from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:atool - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.39.0 - **Source summary:** Archival front-end - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-2.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00 ## Executables - acat (cli) - adiff (cli) - als (cli) - apack (cli) - arepack (cli) - atool (cli) - aunpack (cli) - acat (alias) - adiff (alias) - als (alias) - apack (alias) - arepack (alias) - atool (alias) - aunpack (alias) ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on all ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 0.39.0 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/atool/ - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage atool is a Perl command-line front end for archive management. Its command family wraps external archivers behind consistent verbs for extracting, packing, listing, concatenating, diffing, and repacking archives. ### Project history The official Savannah project page describes atool as a script for managing many archive types, including tar, tar+gzip, and zip. The project is administered by Oskar Liljeblad, is listed as non-GNU software on Savannah, and was registered there on 5 July 2005 with production/stable status. The 0.39.0 release tarball's NEWS file shows a longer pre-Savannah history, with releases documented back to at least 2002 and copyright years beginning in 2001. The 2005 Savannah-era 0.30.0 release added 7-Zip, ALZip, and Debian package support; 0.31.0 quickly followed with a serious adiff symlink-removal bug fix and the arepack command. Later releases expanded archive support and portability: Cabinet archives in 0.32.0, lzma in 0.34.0, rzip/lrzip/pbzip2 and configurable file-based detection in 0.35.0, xz/lzip in 0.37.0, and plzip, lbzip2, and pigz support in 0.39.0. ### Adoption history atool's adoption comes from its promise to make archive commands predictable. Savannah's project description highlights aunpack's safer extraction behavior: it extracts into a temporary directory first, avoids scattering archive contents, and prevents local files from being overwritten by mistake. The input package facts show atool packaged across Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Alpine, Arch, MacPorts, Nix, and openSUSE. That broad packaging footprint fits a mature Unix utility whose value is not novelty but muscle memory: packagers expose one small Perl script and users get a uniform interface over many archiver binaries. ### How it is used The man page documents separate commands for common operations: `aunpack` extracts, `apack` creates archives, `als` lists, `acat` writes archived files to stdout, `adiff` compares archives, and `arepack` converts between archive formats. atool detects archive formats by extension unless the user supplies a format, falling back to `file` for difficult cases such as rar-style numeric extensions when configured. Configuration is simple key/value text loaded from hardcoded defaults, `/etc/atool.conf`, then `~/.atoolrc`, with `--config` and `--option` overrides for one-off runs. ### Why package nerds care atool is a classic package-nerd utility: it is small, scriptable, old, and useful because it normalizes other command-line tools rather than replacing them. Its dependencies are the archive programs already found in Unix package sets. It also has the kind of changelog package maintainers care about. Archive format support, safe extraction semantics, symlink bugs, macOS build fixes, and compression-tool detection are all practical downstream concerns. ### Timeline - 2001: Earliest copyright year in the official 0.39.0 man page. - 2002: NEWS documents atool 0.23.0 and 0.25.0 releases. - 2005-07: Savannah project registration and atool 0.30.0 release. - 2005-08: atool 0.31.0 fixed a serious adiff symlink-removal bug and added arepack. - 2008: 0.35.0 added rzip, lrzip, pbzip2, and more file-identification options. - 2009: 0.37.0 added lzip and xz support. - 2012: 0.39.0 added plzip, lbzip2, and pigz support. ### Related projects - atool is conceptually adjacent to libarchive/bsdtar, p7zip, unrar, unzip, tar, gzip, bzip2, xz, and other archiver commands. Unlike libarchive-based tools, atool is a coordinator over external programs. ### Sources - Official Savannah project page. - Official Savannah release index. - Official atool 0.39.0 NEWS and atool.1 from release tarball. - input source_facts.package-manager. ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: /etc/atool.conf, ~/.atoolrc ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** atool - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - atool - 0.39.0-14: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: atool from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | tool for managing file archives of various types | https://www.nongnu.org/atool/ - Nix - atool: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/at/atool/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - atool - 0.39.0-14: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: atool from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | tool for managing file archives of various types | https://www.nongnu.org/atool/ - apk - atool - 0.39.0-r4: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: atool from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | a Perl script for managing file archives of various types | https://nongnu.org/atool/ - apk - atool-bash-completion - 0.39.0-r4: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: atool-bash-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Bash completions for atool | https://nongnu.org/atool/ - apk - atool-doc - 0.39.0-r4: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: atool-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | a Perl script for managing file archives of various types (documentation) | https://nongnu.org/atool/ - dnf - atool - 0.39.0-38.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: atool from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | A Perl script for managing file archives of various types | https://www.nongnu.org/atool/ - pacman - atool - 0.39.0-10: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: atool from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | A script for managing file archives of various types | https://www.nongnu.org/atool - zypper - atool - 0.39.0-6.2: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: atool from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Commandline Tool for Managing File Archives of various Types | http://www.nongnu.org/atool/ - MacPorts - atool: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: archivers/atool/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - winget - Intel.ACAT: installed executable or alias match | Windows Package Manager source index: Intel.ACAT from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Archive and compression packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/archive-compression-tools/) - Matched archive or compression metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Homebrew utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew-utility-packages/) - Matched Homebrew package provider. - [t2sz](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/t2sz/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: archives, cli, compression, system. - [cabextract](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cabextract/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: archives, cli, compression, system. - [fuse-zip](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fuse-zip/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: archives, cli, system. - [ratarmount](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ratarmount/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: archives, cli, system. - [unshield](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/unshield/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: archives, cli, system. - [unzip](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/unzip/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: archives, cli, compression, system. - [ouch](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ouch/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: archives, cli, compression, system. - [unp](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/unp/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, compression, perl, system. - [acl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/acl/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, system. - [attr](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/attr/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, system. - [man2html](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/man2html/) - Both packages touch the same language runtime or ecosystem. Shared terms: cli, perl, system. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/atool.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/atool.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph