Sample archive downloads

Download small archives to test opening, listing and extracting files. Each multi-file sample contains the same four UTF-8 text files, including a folder, a filename with spaces and a Unicode filename.

Download sample ZIP Samples with passwords

These files were created for this library. You may use, copy, modify and redistribute them for testing and documentation. They contain ordinary text, with no executables, scripts or symbolic links. No account is needed.

ZIP, 7z and TAR samples

Choose a format below. These downloads are not encrypted. Each expands to a kernir-sample folder with the contents shown further down the page. The small sizes make them useful for checking behavior, not for comparing compression speed or real-world storage savings.

For step-by-step help, see ZIP on Mac, 7z on Mac, TAR, TAR.GZ / TGZ, TAR.BZ2, TAR.XZ or TAR.ZST. A TGZ is a TAR.GZ archive with a shorter extension.

Samples with passwords

The password for every encrypted sample is kernir. It is public test data. Use it to check a password prompt, a rejected password and successful extraction; choose your own password for private archives.

The ZIP samples use two different encryption schemes. ZipCrypto is a legacy compatibility option; the other ZIP uses WinZip-compatible AES-256. Neither sample hides its filenames. The encrypted 7z also encrypts the header, so a reader needs the password to list its contents.

If one sample works and another does not, check whether the application supports that encryption scheme. See opening protected ZIP files, creating a ZIP with a password and 7z password support. Kernir currently supports these ZIP schemes and 7z AES-256; encrypted RAR and PKWARE Strong Encryption ZIPs remain unsupported.

Single compressed files

Each download below contains the same single sample.txt file. These are compressed streams, not folders of archived files. For a multi-file example, choose the corresponding TAR combination above.

Instructions: GZ, BZ2, XZ and Zstandard. You can also read the uncompressed sample text.

What is inside?

The ZIP, 7z and TAR variants all contain these four files:

kernir-sample/
  README.txt
  docs/
    hello.txt
    file with spaces.txt
    café.txt

The files let you check that a reader preserves folder paths, spaces and UTF-8 names. Read the README, hello.txt, file with spaces.txt or café.txt before downloading an archive.

Try listing the ordinary ZIP and extracting one file into a new empty folder:

unzip -l "kernir-sample.zip"
mkdir "Sample output"
unzip -n "kernir-sample.zip" "kernir-sample/docs/hello.txt" -d "Sample output"

Run the commands from the folder containing your download. If Sample output already exists, choose a different name. The result is Sample output/kernir-sample/docs/hello.txt; the other three files stay unextracted. For the mobile workflow, see archives on iPhone and iPad.

Check a download

The SHA-256 list records the published bytes. The JSON manifest also includes each file's size, encryption scheme, expected extracted paths and content hashes.

On Mac, calculate a downloaded file's checksum with:

shasum -a 256 "kernir-sample.zip"

Compare the result with that filename's row in the checksum list. Matching it confirms that you have the bytes published here. It does not guarantee that an archive program supports the format, or certify arbitrary files from elsewhere.

This first library contains ZIP, 7z, TAR variants and single compressed streams. It does not include RAR, ISO, CPIO, XAR, LHA or CAB downloads. The format guide index covers opening those formats.

All 14 samples were extracted and compared with the source texts using 7-Zip and zstd on Linux. Protected variants were also checked with a wrong password. This is not a benchmark or a test on every supported device. Updated November 10, 2026.