mkfile

creates files of specified size

TLDR

Create file of size

$ mkfile [100m] [filename]

Create sparse file

$ mkfile -n [1g] [filename]

Create file in bytes

$ mkfile [1048576] [filename]

Create multiple files

$ mkfile [10m] [file1] [file2]

Verbose output

$ mkfile -v [100m] [filename]

SYNOPSIS

mkfile [options] size file

DESCRIPTION

mkfile creates files of specified size. It can create empty files or sparse files.
The tool is useful for testing and creating disk images. Sparse files don't allocate full space.

PARAMETERS

SIZE

File size (b, k, m, g suffixes).

FILE

Output filename.

-n

Create sparse file.

-v

Verbose output.

--help

Display help information.

CAVEATS

macOS/Solaris utility. Linux uses truncate/fallocate. Sparse file support varies.

HISTORY

mkfile originates from Solaris and is also available on macOS for creating files of arbitrary size.