Calculate a file’s SHA-256 digest.
PowerShell: Get-FileHash hashes bytes without requiring the caller to load the whole file.
$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
Set-StrictMode -Version Latest
(Get-FileHash -LiteralPath 'data.bin' -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLowerInvariant()Expected output EXAMPLE
2cf24dba5fb0a30e26e83b2ac5b9e29e1b161e5c1fa7425e73043362938b9824
Details
Requires PowerShell 7. Save as snippet.ps1 and run pwsh -NoProfile -File snippet.ps1. Tested on Linux; these examples use portable paths and cmdlets. Get-FileHash hashes bytes without requiring the caller to load the whole file.
Compare with a digest from a trusted source; a digest alone does not prove who supplied the file.
Tested on Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS · · PowerShell 7.6.6 · powershell 7.6.6-1.deb
Test inputs, results and environment
The exact published code ran in a dedicated Linux test container with prepared inputs. Snippet process uid 65534 with a read-only root filesystem and temporary working files. Networking disabled. Fixtures and output records are isolated from the application database. Testing covers this example and its stated checks, not every input, operating system, or runtime version. The Linux container shares its host's kernel; this is not a native Windows test.
- Architecture / host kernel
- x86_64 / 6.18.54.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
- Snippet identity / locale
- uid=65534, gid=65534 (unprivileged process) / C.UTF-8
- Interpreter invocation
pwsh -NoLogo -NoProfile -NonInteractive -File snippet.ps1- Container image ID
sha256:ec91410a8f6ec3e985830b5e3a0560306d36f8c1c5ccd91a6699abe707123fa3- Code SHA-256
4cecaf532047c6b738a875db17a4060196734f926b838200fc91b24af30f77f3- Dependencies
- powershell 7.6.6-1.deb
Test input setup
These are the prepared inputs used by the test harness. See Details above for the prerequisites and how to run this example.
printf hello > data.bin
Observed standard output
2cf24dba5fb0a30e26e83b2ac5b9e29e1b161e5c1fa7425e73043362938b9824
Exit code: 0. Standard error: empty. Validation: Exact stdout comparison. System-dependent values above are one recorded run.