Recovering files with Magic Rescue
File Wizardry
The Magic Rescue recovery utility saves corrupt or deleted files by reading a file's magic number.
Free software has no lack of utilities for recovering deleted files. However, over the years, Magic Rescue [1] has proved to be one of the most reliable. In fact, it's so reliable that it continues to be carried by most major distributions despite the fact that it has been unmaintained for several years. A day will probably come when it is obsolete, but, meanwhile, it remains a standard recovery tool.
Magic Rescue works by reading a file's magic bytes or magic pattern – that is, the unique signature that designates each file type. This signature is often, but not always, within the very first bites of a file. If it is not, then you can use a hex editor to find it (Figure 1). It is mostly used by the file command, often behind the scenes. Magic Rescue uses its collection of recipes to recognize the magic bytes in all deleted files of a particular type then saves deleted files to an output directory where they can be sorted.
Magic Rescue might not work on badly fragmented filesystems if it can only find the first chunk of a file; however, even then, it might be able to identify a file type for recovery, as long as the chunk is large enough to contain the complete magic byte.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.