cmp
TLDR
Compare two files
$ cmp [file1] [file2]
Silent comparison (exit code only)$ cmp -s [file1] [file2]
Show all differences$ cmp -l [file1] [file2]
Print differing bytes$ cmp -b [file1] [file2]
Compare first N bytes$ cmp -n [1024] [file1] [file2]
Skip bytes at start$ cmp -i [100] [file1] [file2]
SYNOPSIS
cmp [option]... file1 [file2 [skip1 [skip2]]]
DESCRIPTION
cmp compares two files byte by byte. Reports first difference location or indicates files are identical. More efficient than diff for binary files. Part of GNU diffutils.
PARAMETERS
-b, --print-bytes
Print differing bytes-i skip, --ignore-initial skip
Skip first bytes of both files-i skip1:skip2
Skip different amounts per file-l, --verbose
Output all byte differences-n limit, --bytes limit
Compare at most limit bytes-s, --quiet, --silent
Suppress output, exit code only--help
Display help-v, --version
Show version
EXIT STATUS
0: Files are identical
1: Files differ
2: Error occurred
SKIP SUFFIXES
K (1024), M (1048576), G (1073741824)
kB (1000), MB (1000000), GB (1000000000)
CAVEATS
Cannot compare directories, only files. For text file differences, use diff instead. Reading from stdin use - as filename.
