cfv

Versatile checksum file verifier and creator

TLDR

Verify files against a checksum file in the current directory

$ cfv

Create an SFV checksum file for all files in a directory

$ cfv -C -t sfv -f [checksum.sfv] [path/to/directory/*]

Create an MD5 checksum file

$ cfv -C -t md5 -f [checksum.md5] [path/to/files/*]

Create a SHA1 checksum file

$ cfv -C -t sha1 -f [checksum.sha1] [path/to/files/*]

Verify and show status for each file

$ cfv -v [path/to/checksum.sfv]

Recursively verify all checksum files in subdirectories

$ cfv -r

Search for misnamed files when verification fails

$ cfv -s [path/to/checksum.sfv]

SYNOPSIS

cfv [-T|-C] [-t type] [-f file] [-r|-rr] [-v|-V] [-n|-N] [-s] [-u|-uu] [files...]

cfv is a utility for testing and creating checksum verification files. It automatically detects the checksum format when verifying, and supports a wide range of formats including SFV, MD5, SHA1, SHA256, SHA512, CSV, PAR/PAR2, and BitTorrent metainfo files.In test mode (default), cfv reads a checksum file and verifies that each listed file matches its recorded checksum. In create mode (-C), it generates a new checksum file from the specified input files. The tool can search for misnamed files, rename corrupted files, and recursively process directory trees.

PARAMETERS

-C

Create mode: generate a new checksum file.

-T

Test mode (default): verify files against a checksum file.

-t type

Checksum type: sfv, md5, bsdmd5, sha1, sha256, sha512, csv, csv2, csv4, crc, par, par2, torrent, auto (default, auto-detect).

-f file

Specify the checksum file to read or write.

-r

Recurse into directories. Use -rr to recurse into both files and checksum files.

-v

Verbose: print status for every file, not just errors.

-V

Disable verbose output (default). Use -VV to also suppress the status line.

-q

Quiet mode: suppress all output including error messages. Check exit status only.

-Q

Print only status lines, not individual errors.

-n

Rename files with bad checksums to filename.bad.

-N

Disable renaming (default).

-m

Check only for missing files without comparing checksums.

-s

Search for misnamed files when a file is not found.

-S

Disable search for misnamed files (default).

-u

Show unverified files. Use -uu to show unverified files in subdirectories.

-U

Do not show unverified files (default).

-i

Ignore case when matching filenames.

-l

Follow directory symlinks in recursive mode (default).

-L

Do not follow directory symlinks in recursive mode.

-z

Support gzip-compressed checksum files. Use -zz to force gzip on all checksum files.

-p dir

Change to directory before processing.

--strippaths n

Strip leading path components from filenames in test mode.

--progress val

Control progress bar display: no, auto (default), or yes.

CONFIGURATION

Configuration file at ~/.cfvrc contains default options (one per line, same syntax as command-line flags). Options on the command line override the config file.

CAVEATS

PAR and PAR2 formats are supported for verification only, not creation. BitTorrent verification requires the original directory structure. Exit codes are bitwise-ORed: 2 (bad checksum), 4 (size mismatch), 8 (not found), 16 (file error), 32 (unverified), 64 (checksum file error).

HISTORY

cfv was originally written in Python as an open-source checksum verification tool. It gained popularity in the file-sharing community for its broad format support, particularly SFV and MD5. The project was later forked as cfv2 to maintain Python 3 compatibility after the original project became unmaintained.

cfv