sum
Compute legacy file checksums and block counts
TLDR
Calculate checksum using BSD algorithm (default)
$ sum [file]
Use System V algorithm with 512-byte blocks$ sum -s [file]
Explicitly use BSD algorithm with 1K blocks$ sum -r [file]
Read from stdin$ cat [file] | sum
SYNOPSIS
sum [options] [file...]
DESCRIPTION
sum prints checksum and block counts for each FILE. With no FILE, or when FILE is -, reads standard input. The default BSD algorithm uses 1024-byte blocks, while the System V algorithm uses 512-byte blocks.This is a legacy utility provided for compatibility. The cksum command is preferred for new applications.
PARAMETERS
-r
Use BSD algorithm, use 1K blocks (default)-s, --sysv
Use System V algorithm, use 512-byte blocks--help
Display help and exit--version
Output version information and exit
INSTALL
sudo apt install coreutils
sudo dnf install coreutils
sudo pacman -S coreutils
sudo apk add coreutils
sudo zypper install coreutils
brew install coreutils
nix profile install nixpkgs#coreutils
CAVEATS
Not cryptographically secure. Use sha256sum or similar for integrity verification. The checksum algorithm is not suitable for detecting intentional data tampering.
