10 KB TAR sample file

A TAR file of exactly 10,240 bytes. It is a valid Tape archive file, generated for this site and checked with an independent parser.

Download

sample-tar-10kb.tar

10 KB10,240 bytes

Download 10 KB TAR

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Type
application/x-tar
SHA-256
dbab345af416eb39cefb7722788c41f5bafb030d132667101651ead0b523e7f2
Direct URL
https://sampletestfiles.com/downloads/tar/sample-tar-10kb.tar

What is in this file

A ustar archive with a README and payload.bin, 7,680 pseudo-random bytes, followed by the two zero blocks that end every tar archive.

Entries2 (README.txt, payload.bin)
FormatPOSIX ustar
CompressionNone
Block size512 bytes

First bytes of the file

The first 64 bytes of sample-tar-10kb.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 with tar on Linux, macOS and Windows.

Where 10 KB matters

A 10,240-byte file that still arrives in the first round trip of a new connection. These are the default limits a file of this size is useful for testing:

SystemLimitNote
TCP initial congestion windowAbout 14.6 KB (10 segments)A 10 KB response fits in the first flight of packets; the 25 KB sample does not.
nginx and Apache request headers8 KB per header line by defaultData this large must go in the request body.
webpack asset modules8 KB by defaultAssets over the threshold are emitted as files instead of data URIs.

All 10 KB sample files

Use this file for

  • Checking thumbnail and icon handling
  • 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.

TAR format reference

Technical details

File namesample-tar-10kb.tar
FormatTAR (Tape archive)
Extension.tar
MIME typeapplication/x-tar
Size10,240 bytes (10 KB)
KindBinary
Signature75 73 74 61 72 at offset 257
SHA-256dbab345af416eb39cefb7722788c41f5bafb030d132667101651ead0b523e7f2
Created2026-10-10
ValidationExact size, signature bytes and structure checked when the file was generated
PreviewNot available for this format; details only
SourceGenerated for this site; not copied from elsewhere
LicenceFree to use, modify and redistribute (terms)
CategoryArchives

Validated for expected format and integrity. As with any download, scan the file with your own security tools before opening it. How files are made and checked

Download from the command line and verify

Fetch the file with curl, then compare its checksum with the SHA-256 value above.

curl -o sample-tar-10kb.tar 'https://sampletestfiles.com/downloads/tar/sample-tar-10kb.tar'
sha256sum sample-tar-10kb.tar     # Linux
shasum -a 256 sample-tar-10kb.tar # macOS

On Windows, run Get-FileHash sample-tar-10kb.tar -Algorithm SHA256 in PowerShell. A matching value proves that the download is complete and unaltered.

Related files

Questions about this file

Is this file exactly 10 KB?
Yes. It is 10,240 bytes, which is 10 KB in the binary units that operating systems and server limits use (1 KB = 1,024 bytes).
What is inside the 10 KB TAR file?
A ustar archive with a README and payload.bin, 7,680 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.