How to handle .tar.md5 files

First of all tar -xf should work since tar continues while it matches its' packing algorithm. If the file stops matching so would tar. Also most archive managers such as 7-zip or winrar will open it if you remove the ".md5". They might print error regarding mismatch with the end of the file, ignore it.

As for verifying the file:

• print out the stored md5sum: tail -z -n 1 [File name here].tar.md5

• calculate the md5sum of the tar part of the file: head -z -n -1 [File name here].tar.md5 | md5sum