500 KB TAR sample

A TAR file of exactly 512,000 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 500 KB sample, test or dummy TAR file.

sample-tar-500kb.tar

500 KB512,000 bytes

Download 500 KB TAR

Created 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: 22b1680e729402a747707ea82804ee86f2e572e9e19f63f310ede1d539716ee9
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, 509,440 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-500kb.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 500 KB matters

A 512,000-byte file: larger than most API body limits, smaller than most upload limits. These are the default limits a file of this size is useful for testing:

System	Limit	Note
Amazon DynamoDB items	400 KB per item	500 KB cannot be stored as a single item.
Express body parsers	100 KB by default	Rejected unless the limit is raised.
nginx request body	1 MB by default (client_max_body_size)	Accepted with room to spare.

All 500 KB sample files

Use this file for

Checking email size handling
Testing container and package pipelines
Testing archive extraction on servers

Testing notes for TAR

There is no index, so listing the contents means reading the whole archive.
Like ZIP, tar entries can contain absolute paths or "../", and can be symbolic links. Validate before extracting.

TAR format reference

Technical details

File name	sample-tar-500kb.tar
Format	TAR (Tape archive)
Extension	.tar
MIME type	application/x-tar
Size	512,000 bytes (500 KB)
Kind	Binary
Signature	75 73 74 61 72 at offset 257
SHA-256	22b1680e729402a747707ea82804ee86f2e572e9e19f63f310ede1d539716ee9
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-500kb.tar     # Linux
shasum -a 256 sample-tar-500kb.tar # macOS

On Windows, run Get-FileHash sample-tar-500kb.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 500 KB?: Yes. It is 512,000 bytes, which is 500 KB in the binary units that operating systems and server limits use (1 KB = 1,024 bytes).
What is inside the 500 KB TAR file?: A ustar archive with a README and payload.bin, 509,440 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.

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