cksum(1) User Commands cksum(1)
NAME
cksum - compute and verify file checksums
SYNOPSIS
cksum [OPTION]... [FILE]...
DESCRIPTION
Print or verify checksums. By default use the 32 bit CRC algorithm.
With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options
too.
-a, --algorithm=TYPE
select the digest type to use. See DIGEST below
--base64
emit base64-encoded digests, not hexadecimal
-c, --check
read checksums from the FILEs and check them
-l, --length=BITS
digest length in bits; must not exceed the max size and must be
a multiple of 8 for blake2b; must be 224, 256, 384, or 512 for
sha2 or sha3
--raw emit a raw binary digest, not hexadecimal
--tag create a BSD-style checksum (the default)
--untagged
create a reversed style checksum, without digest type
-z, --zero
end each output line with NUL, not newline, and disable file
name escaping
The following five options are useful only when verifying checksums:
--ignore-missing
don't fail or report status for missing files
--quiet
don't print OK for each successfully verified file
--status
don't output anything, status code shows success
--strict
exit non-zero for improperly formatted checksum lines
-w, --warn
warn about improperly formatted checksum lines
--debug
indicate which implementation used
--help display this help and exit
--version
output version information and exit
DIGEST determines the digest algorithm and default output format:
sysv (equivalent to sum -s)
bsd (equivalent to sum -r)
crc (equivalent to cksum)
crc32b (only available through cksum)
md5 (equivalent to md5sum)
sha1 (equivalent to sha1sum)
sha2 (equivalent to sha{224,256,384,512}sum)
sha3 (only available through cksum)
blake2b
(equivalent to b2sum)
sm3 (only available through cksum)
When checking, the input should be a former output of this program, or
equivalent standalone program.
AUTHOR
Written by Padraig Brady and Q. Frank Xia.
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to: bug-coreutils@gnu.org
GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU
GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
SEE ALSO
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/cksum>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) cksum invocation'
GNU coreutils 9.10 March 2026 cksum(1)
coreutils 9.10 - Generated Wed Apr 1 18:45:54 CDT 2026