From time to time the CloudExtend team may provide you with a link to a download file. In order to verify the integrity of a file the link may also be accompanied by a CheckSum value such as 0ad3e986030a505ce8f0e000c2785e2c.
A checksum is a string of numbers and letters used to uniquely identify a file and guarantee authenticity. Checksum is most commonly used to verify if a copy of a file is identical to an original.
What circumstances would warrant verifying a CheckSum value?
Files may be changed during download, transmission, or storage. For example, if there is an issue with network connectivity at the time of download, the file may not download correctly. Issues with hard drive storage could also lead to file alteration.
How to verify a CheckSum value
CloudExtend generates CheckSum values using the MD5 algorithm.
Step 1: Locate the key provide by CloudExtend (typically in the article with the download link).
Step 2: Use the online verification method or a manual verification method (detailed below).
Step 3: Ensure the values match.
Step 4: If they don't something may have gone wrong with your download. Try again and if the issue persists contact CloudExtend support.
MD5 Checksum verification Online
If you are not comfortable executing the below commands there are online services where you can upload the file and get the MD5 value, Following are some services that you can use as of 26th May 2021.
If you prefer to manually validate the values keep reading.
Windows 10
Open Windows PowerShell Utility/App
Execute the following command by updating the path to the downloaded registry file.
Get-FileHash <filepath> -Algorithm MD5
Eg:- Get-FileHash C:\Users\user1\Downloads\samesitepolicy-edge.reg -Algorithm MD5
Compare the output with the provided value in this article to verify the integrity.
MacOS
Open Terminal.app (Open spotlight by pressing Command + Space and type Terminal)
Change directory (cd) to the location where you have downloaded the registry file.
Eg:- Downloads directory cd /Users/<username>/Downloads/
Run md5 command for the file downloaded(chrome or edge)
md5 samesitepolicy-chrome91+.reg
md5 samesitepolicy-edge.reg
Compare the output generated with the value provided by CloudExtend
Finally, compare the values generated from above with the values provided by CloudExtend to verify the integrity.
For example, if you are using the (samesitepolicy-chrome91+.reg) file the key provided by CloudExtend (0ad3e986030a505ce8f0e000c2785e2c) should match the one generated from above output.