RPM2CPIO(1) General Commands Manual RPM2CPIO(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

rpm2cpio - Extract cpio archive from RPM Package Manager (RPM) package

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**rpm2cpio** *PACKAGE\_FILE*

**rpm2cpio -**

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

**rpm2cpio** converts the specified **rpm** package to a [**cpio**(1)](/man/os/rpm/cpio.1) archive on the standard output.

**Note:** the [**cpio**(5)](/man/os/rpm/cpio.5) format cannot host individual files over 4GB in size, and so this tool is considered obsolete. Use [**rpm2archive**(1)](/man/os/rpm/rpm2archive.1) instead.

# [ARGUMENTS](#ARGUMENTS)

*PACKAGE\_FILE*

A binary or source RPM package.

If dash (**-**) is given as the argument, data is read from the standard input.

# [EXIT STATUS](#EXIT_STATUS)

On success, 0 is returned, a nonzero failure code otherwise.

# [EXAMPLES](#EXAMPLES)

**rpm2cpio glint-1.0-1.i386.rpm | cpio -dium**

Extract *glint-1.0-1.i386.rpm* contents relative to current directory.

**cat glint-1.0-1.i386.rpm | rpm2cpio - | cpio -tv**

View *glint-1.0-1.i386.rpm* file list with [**cpio**(1)](/man/os/rpm/cpio.1).

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**cpio**(1)](/man/os/rpm/cpio.1), [**rpm**(8)](/man/os/rpm/rpm.8), [**rpm2archive**(1)](/man/os/rpm/rpm2archive.1)

2026-08-31 RPM 6.1.0

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Document: rpm2cpio(1) from rpm 6.1.0-r1 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/rpm-software-management/rpm