2 MB TAR sample
A TAR file of exactly 2,097,152 bytes. It is a valid Tape archive file, generated by this site. Compare its checksum and test it with the parser used by your application. Use it wherever you need a 2 MB sample, test or dummy TAR file.
Download
sample-tar-2mb.tar
2 MB2,097,152 bytes
Download 2 MB TARCreated in your browser in a few seconds, then checked against the SHA-256 checksum. The file is not uploaded anywhere. No sign-up.
- Type
- application/x-tar
- SHA-256
8d22f2c39c9275ffd74b793a75ce5a143cbc10c26b34fae695e8fdf2c42a6ad6- Delivery
- Created in your browser from static generator assets (how it works).
What is in this file
A ustar archive with a README and payload.bin, 2,094,592 pseudo-random bytes, followed by the two zero blocks that end every tar archive.
| Entries | 2 (README.txt, payload.bin) |
|---|---|
| Format | POSIX ustar |
| Compression | None |
| Block size | 512 bytes |
First bytes of the file
The first 64 bytes of sample-tar-2mb.tar as a hex dump: offset, bytes, then the same bytes as text. The TAR signature is 75 73 74 61 72 at offset 257.
00000000 52 45 41 44 4d 45 2e 74 78 74 00 00 00 00 00 00 |README.txt......|
00000010 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000020 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000030 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|Preview
TAR files cannot be shown in a browser. Download the file and open it in an application that reads TAR, such as tar on Linux, macOS and Windows.
Where 2 MB matters
A 2,097,152-byte file: exactly the default upload limit of PHP, and twice the default of nginx and Spring Boot. These are the default limits a file of this size is useful for testing:
| System | Limit | Note |
|---|---|---|
| PHP | 2 MB per uploaded file by default (upload_max_filesize) | A file of exactly 2 MB is accepted; one byte more is refused. |
| nginx | 1 MB by default (client_max_body_size) | Rejected with 413 Request Entity Too Large. |
| Spring Boot multipart | 1 MB per file by default (max-file-size) | Rejected unless the property is raised. |
| Django | 2.5 MB in memory by default | 2 MB is held in memory; the 5 MB sample is streamed to a temporary file. |
| Vercel Functions | 4.5 MB request body | Accepted, including as base64 at about 2.8 MB. |
Use this file for
- Finding the first upload limit in a new stack
- Testing container and package pipelines
- Testing archive extraction on servers
Testing notes for TAR
- Like ZIP, tar entries can contain absolute paths or "../", and can be symbolic links. Validate before extracting.
- There is no index, so listing the contents means reading the whole archive.
Technical details
| File name | sample-tar-2mb.tar |
|---|---|
| Format | TAR (Tape archive) |
| Extension | .tar |
| MIME type | application/x-tar |
| Size | 2,097,152 bytes (2 MB) |
| Kind | Binary |
| Signature | 75 73 74 61 72 at offset 257 |
| SHA-256 | 8d22f2c39c9275ffd74b793a75ce5a143cbc10c26b34fae695e8fdf2c42a6ad6 |
| Created | 2026-10-23 |
| Validation | See the listed size and SHA-256. Small downloads are checked in the browser; verify streamed downloads manually. A hash match does not prove parser compatibility. |
| Preview | Not available for this file; details only |
| Source | Generated in your browser by this site's generator; not copied from elsewhere |
| Licence | Free to use, modify and redistribute (terms) |
| Category | Archives |
Check the stated structure and checksum against your application requirements. As with any download, scan the file with your own security tools before opening it. How files are made and checked
Verify your copy
This file is created in your browser, so it has no direct URL for curl or wget. The generator is designed to produce reproducible bytes. After saving, compare the checksum with the SHA-256 value above.
sha256sum sample-tar-2mb.tar # Linux
shasum -a 256 sample-tar-2mb.tar # macOSOn Windows, run Get-FileHash sample-tar-2mb.tar -Algorithm SHA256 in PowerShell. For scripts and pipelines, save the file once and keep your own copy.
Related files
Questions about this file
- Is this file exactly 2 MB?
- Yes. It is 2,097,152 bytes, which is 2 MB in the binary units that operating systems and server limits use (1 KB = 1,024 bytes).
- What is inside the 2 MB TAR file?
- A ustar archive with a README and payload.bin, 2,094,592 pseudo-random bytes, followed by the two zero blocks that end every tar archive.
- Why is there no 1 KB TAR sample?
- A tar archive is built from 512-byte blocks and ends with two empty blocks, so the smallest archive containing a README and a payload is larger than 1 KB.