Create a TAR archive

Pack files into a TAR archive built to be byte-stable: your upload order, fixed timestamps and ownership metadata, and a read-back verification of every member …

tararchivepackbundle

Questions people ask

What makes the archive deterministic?: Every metadata field is fixed instead of inherited from the uploads. Member order is your upload order, timestamps are set to the epoch, ownership is recorded as zero with no owner or group names, and gzip runs at a fixed level with a zero timestamp in its header. The same files and settings always produce the same bytes.
What are the member names?: Members take the file names you uploaded. Control characters and characters archives handle poorly are replaced, leading and trailing dots and spaces are stripped, empty names fall back to named placeholders in upload order, and any name that repeats gains a numbered suffix. Paths on your computer are never part of the archive.
Is the file content of the uploads preserved exactly?: Yes. Each file is streamed into the archive as opaque bytes, and afterwards the built archive is read back: names, sizes and content digests are checked against what you uploaded. A build that does not verify is deleted and refused rather than delivered.
Does the archive include my files' timestamps?: No. Timestamps, ownership and permissions from the uploads are never copied: every member carries the fixed epoch timestamp and standard values. That is what keeps two archives of the same files byte-identical.
How large can the archive be?: Up to twenty files, 50 MB each and 200 MB in total, and the archive itself is capped at 256 MB. Uncompressed TAR adds a small amount of padding per member, so the archive can be slightly larger than your uploads.
What happens to my files?: Uploads are deleted as soon as processing finishes; the archive stays downloadable for about 10 minutes, then is deleted automatically.

About this tool

A deterministic TAR maker, and the determinism is stated rather than implied: your upload order, fixed epoch timestamps, zero ownership values and a fixed gzip setting mean the same files always build the same bytes. Names come from your uploads with collisions numbered, and paths from your computer are never carried into the archive. The built archive is read back, checked member by member against name, size and content digest, and a build that fails verification is deleted and refused with a named processor error, never shipped. Technical details: members are written in PAX format streamed to disk, not held in memory. Each upload is streamed through a capped reader, 50 MiB per file and 200 MiB across the job. The gzip option wraps the TAR with a zero mtime in the gzip header at a fixed compression level. The verify pass reopens the archive and compares every member's digest to the digest taken while packing. Honest limits: the tool packs regular file bytes only; directory structure cannot be recreated because uploads carry no filesystem layout. It does not convert formats, salt archive passwords or provide incremental archives, and the verification covers byte fidelity, not archive password protection, which the TAR format does not offer.

File limits

Up to 20 files per job
Each at most 50 MiB
Result at most 256 MiB

Supported formats

Any file type

Capabilities

tararchivepackbundle

Privacy & processing

Your file is processed in an isolated job on Tooley's own infrastructure. No third-party services are involved and nothing is stored beyond the result window.

Uploads are removed as soon as processing finishes. Results stay available for about 10 minutes, then they are deleted automatically.

Create a TAR archive

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