Simple Utility to Calculate File Hashes

I have to download various files from time-to-time, and it's nice when websites provide checksum hashes so I can validate that the file I just downloaded matches the version on the server. (ON a related note, I wrote a blog several years ago which showed how to create a provider for the IIS FTP service which automatically creates checksum files when files are uploaded to a server; see my Automatically Creating Checksum Files for FTP Uploads blog post for the details.)

In order to calculate hashes for files that I have downloaded, several years ago I wrote a simple command-line application for Windows which uses several of the built-in algorithms in .NET's System.Security.Cryptography. And while I realize that there are probably other tools that provide this same functionality, I have used this little utility for years, and I've had several people ask me for copies. With that in mind, I thought that it might make a nice blog topic if I shared the code with everyone. (Note: It's a really simple sample; the .NET framework does all the real work for this application.)

Without further fanfare, here's the source code. In order to use this code sample, you need to create a new C# project in Visual Studio and choose the Console Application template. When the new project opens, replace the template's code with the following:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;
using System.Security.Cryptography;

class Hash
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // Verify the correct number of command-line arguments.
        if (args.Length != 2)
        {
            // Show the help message if an incorrect number of arguments was specified.
            ShowHelp();
            return;
        }
        else
        {
            byte[] hashValue = null;
            // Verify that the specified file exists.
            if (!File.Exists(args[1]))
            {
                // Show the help message if a non-existent filename was specified.
                ShowHelp();
                return;
            }
            else
            {
                try
                {
                    // Create a fileStream for the file.
                    FileStream fileStream = File.OpenRead(args[1]);
                    // Be sure it's positioned to the beginning of the stream.
                    fileStream.Position = 0;
                    // Use the specified hash algorithm.
                    switch (args[0].ToUpper())
                    {
                        case "MD5":
                            // Compute the MD5 hash of the fileStream.
                            hashValue = MD5.Create().ComputeHash(fileStream);
                            break;
                        case "SHA1":
                            // Compute the SHA1 hash of the fileStream.
                            hashValue = SHA1.Create().ComputeHash(fileStream);
                            break;
                        case "SHA256":
                            // Compute the SHA256 hash of the fileStream.
                            hashValue = SHA256.Create().ComputeHash(fileStream);
                            break;
                        case "SHA384":
                            // Compute the SHA384 hash of the fileStream.
                            hashValue = SHA384.Create().ComputeHash(fileStream);
                            break;
                        case "SHA512":
                            // Compute the SHA512 hash of the fileStream.
                            hashValue = SHA512.Create().ComputeHash(fileStream);
                            break;
                        case "BASE64":
                            // Compute the BASE64 hash of the fileStream.
                            byte[] binaryData = new Byte[fileStream.Length];
                            long bytesRead = fileStream.Read(binaryData, 0, (int)fileStream.Length);
                            if (bytesRead != fileStream.Length)
                            {
                                throw new Exception(String.Format("Number of bytes read ({0}) does not match file size ({1}).", bytesRead, fileStream.Length));
                            }
                            string base64String = System.Convert.ToBase64String(binaryData, 0, binaryData.Length);
                            Console.WriteLine("File: {0}\r\nBASE64 Hash: {1}", fileStream.Name, base64String);
                            hashValue = null;
                            break;
                        default:
                            // Display the help message if an unrecognized hash algorithm was specified.
                            ShowHelp();
                            return;
                    }
                    if (hashValue != null)
                    {
                        // Write the hash value to the Console.
                        PrintHashData(args[0].ToUpper(), fileStream.Name, hashValue);
                    }
                    // Close the file.
                    fileStream.Close();
                }
                catch (Exception ex)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Error: {0}", ex.Message);
                }
            }
        }
    }

    // Display the help message.
    private static void ShowHelp()
    {/>        Console.WriteLine("HASH.exe <hash algorithm> <file name>\n\n" +
            "\tWhere <hash algorithm> is one of the following:\n" +
            "\t\tBASE64\n\t\tMD5\n\t\tSHA1\n\t\tSHA256\n\t\tSHA384\n\t\tSHA512\n");
    }

    // Print the hash data in a readable format.
    private static void PrintHashData(string algorithm, string fileName, byte[] array)
    {
        Console.Write("File: {0}\r\n{1} Hash: ", fileName,algorithm);
        for (int i = 0; i < array.Length; i++)
        {
            Console.Write(String.Format("{0:X2}", array[i]));
        }
        Console.WriteLine();
    }/>}

When you compile and run the application, you will see following help message when you specify no command-line parameters:

HASH.exe <hash algorithm> <file name>

    Where <hash algorithm> is one of the following:
        BASE64
        MD5
        SHA1
        SHA256
        SHA384
        SHA512

When you specify one of the supported hashing algorithms and a filename, the application will display something like the following example:

C:\>hash.exe SHA1 foobar.zip
File: C:\foobar.zip
SHA1 Hash: 57686F6120447564652C20426F6220526F636B73

That's all there is to it. As I mentioned earlier, it's a pretty simple sample. ;-]