Generating a file of a specific size

Every once in a while someone is looking for a file of a specific size. Occasionally, it must be real data. If you are transmitting the file and the data will be compressed then the type of data will make a difference.

However, if you just need a file to fill some space or there will be no compression then Windows has a neat little utility called FSUTIL.

The FSUTIL file can be used for a number of things but the nicest feature is creating a new file filled with zero bytes. First, you need to know how many bytes. If you want a file which is 38 gigabytes then you need to figure out how many bytes that is. Technically, it is 1024*1024*1024*38. If you want  a rough idea you can just use 38,000,000,000 but a 38 gigabyte file is really 40,802,189,312. Next is which file you want to hold the data. Let's say you want to create C:\DELETEME.TXT then the full FSUTIL command is:

fsutil file createnew C:\DELETEME.TXT 40802189312

This will create a 38G file is a matter of seconds.

For UNIX, Mac OS X or Linux you can use DD. The DD command is for converting and copying files. If we wanted to create the 38G file with DD the command would be:

dd of=deleteme.txt oseek=79691776

The oseek is the magic. It will seek n*512 bytes. The standard size of a block is 512. So we take 79691776*512, which is 38G. Even easier would be:

dd of=deleteme.txt oseek=38m obs=1024

This will generate a file of 38M * 1024 or 38G. Much easier to figure things on working with values like these. That is, no need for a calculator.

IMPORTANT: after you press enter on the DD command it will take the standard input as its input. So you need to enter CONTROL-D.

The other option for UNIX/Linux/Mac OS X is to copy a file of a set size. The nice thing about this is you can take a file with real data and copy it enough times to make a single file of the correct size. For example, if I have a text file with 512 bytes of real data I can set the if= to that file and make multiple copies of that one file into the output file.