---
name: "unshield"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "unshield"
version: "1.6.2-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/unshield"
---

# unshield(1)

extract CAB files from an InstallShield installer archive

## NAME

unshield - extract CAB files from an InstallShield installer archive

## SYNOPSIS

unshield \[-c COMPONENT\] \[-d DIRECTORY\] \[-D LEVEL\] \[-g GROUP\] \[-h\] \[-i VERSION\] \[-e ENCODING\] \[-j\] \[-L\] \[-O\] \[-r\] \[-R\] \[-V\] c\|g\|l\|t\|x CABFILE \[FILENAME...\]

## DESCRIPTION

Unshield extracts CAB files from InstallShield installers, used to  install software on Microsoft Windows based machines.

## OPTIONS

- **-c** COMPONENT

  Only list/extract this component

- **-d** DIRECTORY

  Extract files to DIRECTORY

- **-D** LEVEL

  Set debug log level 0 - No logging (default) 1 - Errors only 2 - Errors and warnings 3 - Errors, warnings and debug messages

- **-g** GROUP

  Only list/extract this file group

- **-h**

  Show help message

- **-i** VERSION

  Force InstallShield version number (don't autodetect)\
   Use this option if you have a very old archive (generated with InstallShield \<= 4) and / or the automatic detection fails

- **-e** ENCODING

  Convert filename character encoding to local codepage from ENCODING (implicitly sets -R)

- **-j**

  Junk paths (do not make directories)

- **-L**

  Make file and directory names lowercase

- **-O**

  Use old compression

- **-r**

  Save raw data (do not decompress)

- **-R**

  Don't do any conversion to file and directory names when extracting

- **-V**, **--version**

  Print version information

### Commands:

- c

  List components

- g

  List file groups

- l

  List files

- t

  Test files

- x

  Extract files

### Other:

- CABFILE

  The file to list or extract contents of

- FILENAME

  Optionally specify names of specific files to extract (wildcards are supported)

## AUTHOR

This manual page was adapted by Mark Ellis \<mark@mpellis.org.uk\>, from the skeleton generated by help2man