Hosting Operations

Create a SHA256 Checksum Manifest

You need checksums for key files before copying or archiving them.

Command

sha256sum source/app/config.yml source/content/index.md source/content/about.md source/assets/logo.svg

What changed

Nothing changes. The command calculates SHA256 hashes and prints them.

Danger

safe

When to use it

Use before a backup, migration, or manual copy when byte-level verification matters.

When not to use it

Do not paste checksum output containing sensitive filenames into public logs without review.

Undo or recovery

No undo needed because this command is read-only.

Expected output

SHA256 hashes followed by file paths.

demo script

Disposable terminal steps

find source -type f -print | sort
sha256sum source/app/config.yml source/content/index.md source/content/about.md source/assets/logo.svg

Terminal transcript Demo JSON

simulated output

What it looks like

disposable vessel

::fixture-ready::
$ find source -type f -print | sort
source/app/config.yml
source/assets/logo.svg
source/content/about.md
source/content/index.md
::exit-code::0
$ sha256sum source/app/config.yml source/content/index.md source/content/about.md source/assets/logo.svg
5a453a017f0c3bfb78e8205c21f7fcba3e26b1cc406b48664217931d26c1c50d  source/app/config.yml
5836e81dfa7b529b8773edf3addc5a43e3397d0bf8afc1534728f5090e7b2a5f  source/content/index.md
1dc8e74b2fc81bc174426952064e702cd22719d42ae1290df8f5081df42a758f  source/content/about.md
6d6ddf6160dbd0685f29b421c8f85ad7ae4e7c6eb12ef9987cc699c7debd046a  source/assets/logo.svg
::exit-code::0

YouTube Short

Checksum important files.

When bytes matter, create SHA256 hashes for the files you plan to back up or move.

experiments

A/B tests to run

Metric: save_rate

A: File list is not enough.

B: Verify bytes with SHA256.