Volumes are parts of a split archiv

Volumes are parts of a split archive. Volumes are supported only by the RAR archive format, so you cannot create ZIP volumes. Generally volumes are used to store a large archive on several diskettes or other removable media.

By default RAR volumes have names like 'volname.partNNN.rar', where NNN is the volume number. Using -vn switch it is possible to switch to another, extension based naming scheme, where the first volume file in a multi-volume set has the extension .rar, following volumes are numbered from .r00 to .r99.

Volumes can also be solid and self-extracting. First self-extracting volume has a different (i.e. not .rar) file extension, for example, .exe for Windows SFX volumes.

It is impossible to add, update or delete files in already existing volumes. You can create only a new volume set.

To unpack volumes you need to start extraction from the first volume. If volumes are stored on non-removable media like a hard disk, you need to put all volumes in the same folder before starting extraction