'\" et
.TH CKSUM "1P" 2013 "IEEE/The Open Group" "POSIX Programmer's Manual"
.SH PROLOG
This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.
The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult
the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior),
or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.

.SH NAME
cksum
\(em write file checksums and sizes
.SH SYNOPSIS
.LP
.nf
cksum \fB[\fIfile\fR...\fB]\fR
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.IR cksum
utility shall calculate and write to standard output a cyclic
redundancy check (CRC) for each input file, and also write to standard
output the number of octets in each file. The CRC used is based on the
polynomial used for CRC error checking in the ISO/IEC\ 8802\(hy3:\|1996 standard (Ethernet).
.P
The encoding for the CRC checksum is defined by the generating
polynomial:
.sp
.RS 4
.nf
\fB
\fIG\fR(\fIx\fR)=\fIx\fR\u\s-332\s+3\d+\fIx\fR\u\s-326\s+3\d+\fIx\fR\u\s-323\s+3\d+\fIx\fR\u\s-322\s+3\d+\fIx\fR\u\s-316\s+3\d+\fIx\fR\u\s-312\s+3\d+\fIx\fR\u\s-311\s+3\d+\fIx\fR\u\s-310\s+3\d+\fIx\fR\u\s-38\s+3\d+\fIx\fR\u\s-37\s+3\d+\fIx\fR\u\s-35\s+3\d+\fIx\fR\u\s-34\s+3\d+\fIx\fR\u\s-32\s+3\d+\fIx\fR+1
.fi \fR
.P
.RE
.P
Mathematically, the CRC value corresponding to a given file shall be
defined by the following procedure:
.IP " 1." 4
The
.IR n
bits to be evaluated are considered to be the coefficients of a mod 2
polynomial
.IR M (\c
.IR x )
of degree
.IR n \(mi1.
These
.IR n
bits are the bits from the file, with the most significant bit being
the most significant bit of the first octet of the file and the last
bit being the least significant bit of the last octet, padded with zero
bits (if necessary) to achieve an integral number of octets, followed
by one or more octets representing the length of the file as a binary
value, least significant octet first. The smallest number of octets
capable of representing this integer shall be used.
.IP " 2." 4
.IR M (\c
.IR x )
is multiplied by
.IR x \u\s-332\s+3\d
(that is, shifted left 32 bits) and divided by
.IR G (\c
.IR x )
using mod 2 division, producing a remainder
.IR R (\c
.IR x )
of degree \(<= 31.
.IP " 3." 4
The coefficients of
.IR R (\c
.IR x )
are considered to be a 32-bit sequence.
.IP " 4." 4
The bit sequence is complemented and the result is the CRC.
.SH OPTIONS
None.
.SH OPERANDS
The following operand shall be supported:
.IP "\fIfile\fR" 10
A pathname of a file to be checked. If no
.IR file
operands are specified, the standard input shall be used.
.SH STDIN
The standard input shall be used if no
.IR file
operands are specified, and shall be used if a
.IR file
operand is
.BR '\(mi' 
and the implementation treats the
.BR '\(mi' 
as meaning standard input.
Otherwise, the standard input shall not be used.
See the INPUT FILES section.
.SH "INPUT FILES"
The input files can be any file type.
.SH "ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES"
The following environment variables shall affect the execution of
.IR cksum :
.IP "\fILANG\fP" 10
Provide a default value for the internationalization variables that are
unset or null. (See the Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1\(hy2008,
.IR "Section 8.2" ", " "Internationalization Variables"
for the precedence of internationalization variables used to determine
the values of locale categories.)
.IP "\fILC_ALL\fP" 10
If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all the
other internationalization variables.
.IP "\fILC_CTYPE\fP" 10
Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of
text data as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to
multi-byte characters in arguments).
.IP "\fILC_MESSAGES\fP" 10
.br
Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format and
contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error.
.IP "\fINLSPATH\fP" 10
Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of
.IR LC_MESSAGES .
.SH "ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS"
Default.
.SH STDOUT
For each file processed successfully, the
.IR cksum
utility shall write in the following format:
.sp
.RS 4
.nf
\fB
"%u %d %s\en", <\fIchecksum\fR>, <\fI# of octets\fR>, <\fIpathname\fR>
.fi \fR
.P
.RE
.P
If no
.IR file
operand was specified, the pathname and its leading
<space>
shall be omitted.
.SH STDERR
The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
.SH "OUTPUT FILES"
None.
.SH "EXTENDED DESCRIPTION"
None.
.SH "EXIT STATUS"
The following exit values shall be returned:
.IP "\00" 6
All files were processed successfully.
.IP >0 6
An error occurred.
.SH "CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS"
Default.
.LP
.IR "The following sections are informative."
.SH "APPLICATION USAGE"
The
.IR cksum
utility is typically used to quickly compare a suspect file against a
trusted version of the same, such as to ensure that files transmitted
over noisy media arrive intact. However, this comparison cannot be
considered cryptographically secure. The chances of a damaged file
producing the same CRC as the original are small; deliberate deception
is difficult, but probably not impossible.
.P
Although input files to
.IR cksum
can be any type, the results need not be what would be expected on
character special device files or on file types not described by the
System Interfaces volume of POSIX.1\(hy2008. Since this volume of POSIX.1\(hy2008 does not specify the block size used when doing
input, checksums of character special files need not process all of the
data in those files.
.P
The algorithm is expressed in terms of a bitstream divided into octets.
If a file is transmitted between two systems and undergoes any data
transformation (such as changing little-endian byte ordering to
big-endian), identical CRC values cannot be expected. Implementations
performing such transformations may extend
.IR cksum
to handle such situations.
.SH EXAMPLES
None.
.SH RATIONALE
The following C-language program can be used as a model to describe the
algorithm. It assumes that a
.BR char
is one octet. It also assumes that the entire file is available for one
pass through the function. This was done for simplicity in
demonstrating the algorithm, rather than as an implementation model.
.sp
.RS 4
.nf
\fB
static unsigned long crctab[] = {
0x00000000,
0x04c11db7, 0x09823b6e, 0x0d4326d9, 0x130476dc, 0x17c56b6b,
0x1a864db2, 0x1e475005, 0x2608edb8, 0x22c9f00f, 0x2f8ad6d6,
0x2b4bcb61, 0x350c9b64, 0x31cd86d3, 0x3c8ea00a, 0x384fbdbd,
0x4c11db70, 0x48d0c6c7, 0x4593e01e, 0x4152fda9, 0x5f15adac,
0x5bd4b01b, 0x569796c2, 0x52568b75, 0x6a1936c8, 0x6ed82b7f,
0x639b0da6, 0x675a1011, 0x791d4014, 0x7ddc5da3, 0x709f7b7a,
0x745e66cd, 0x9823b6e0, 0x9ce2ab57, 0x91a18d8e, 0x95609039,
0x8b27c03c, 0x8fe6dd8b, 0x82a5fb52, 0x8664e6e5, 0xbe2b5b58,
0xbaea46ef, 0xb7a96036, 0xb3687d81, 0xad2f2d84, 0xa9ee3033,
0xa4ad16ea, 0xa06c0b5d, 0xd4326d90, 0xd0f37027, 0xddb056fe,
0xd9714b49, 0xc7361b4c, 0xc3f706fb, 0xceb42022, 0xca753d95,
0xf23a8028, 0xf6fb9d9f, 0xfbb8bb46, 0xff79a6f1, 0xe13ef6f4,
0xe5ffeb43, 0xe8bccd9a, 0xec7dd02d, 0x34867077, 0x30476dc0,
0x3d044b19, 0x39c556ae, 0x278206ab, 0x23431b1c, 0x2e003dc5,
0x2ac12072, 0x128e9dcf, 0x164f8078, 0x1b0ca6a1, 0x1fcdbb16,
0x018aeb13, 0x054bf6a4, 0x0808d07d, 0x0cc9cdca, 0x7897ab07,
0x7c56b6b0, 0x71159069, 0x75d48dde, 0x6b93dddb, 0x6f52c06c,
0x6211e6b5, 0x66d0fb02, 0x5e9f46bf, 0x5a5e5b08, 0x571d7dd1,
0x53dc6066, 0x4d9b3063, 0x495a2dd4, 0x44190b0d, 0x40d816ba,
0xaca5c697, 0xa864db20, 0xa527fdf9, 0xa1e6e04e, 0xbfa1b04b,
0xbb60adfc, 0xb6238b25, 0xb2e29692, 0x8aad2b2f, 0x8e6c3698,
0x832f1041, 0x87ee0df6, 0x99a95df3, 0x9d684044, 0x902b669d,
0x94ea7b2a, 0xe0b41de7, 0xe4750050, 0xe9362689, 0xedf73b3e,
0xf3b06b3b, 0xf771768c, 0xfa325055, 0xfef34de2, 0xc6bcf05f,
0xc27dede8, 0xcf3ecb31, 0xcbffd686, 0xd5b88683, 0xd1799b34,
0xdc3abded, 0xd8fba05a, 0x690ce0ee, 0x6dcdfd59, 0x608edb80,
0x644fc637, 0x7a089632, 0x7ec98b85, 0x738aad5c, 0x774bb0eb,
0x4f040d56, 0x4bc510e1, 0x46863638, 0x42472b8f, 0x5c007b8a,
0x58c1663d, 0x558240e4, 0x51435d53, 0x251d3b9e, 0x21dc2629,
0x2c9f00f0, 0x285e1d47, 0x36194d42, 0x32d850f5, 0x3f9b762c,
0x3b5a6b9b, 0x0315d626, 0x07d4cb91, 0x0a97ed48, 0x0e56f0ff,
0x1011a0fa, 0x14d0bd4d, 0x19939b94, 0x1d528623, 0xf12f560e,
0xf5ee4bb9, 0xf8ad6d60, 0xfc6c70d7, 0xe22b20d2, 0xe6ea3d65,
0xeba91bbc, 0xef68060b, 0xd727bbb6, 0xd3e6a601, 0xdea580d8,
0xda649d6f, 0xc423cd6a, 0xc0e2d0dd, 0xcda1f604, 0xc960ebb3,
0xbd3e8d7e, 0xb9ff90c9, 0xb4bcb610, 0xb07daba7, 0xae3afba2,
0xaafbe615, 0xa7b8c0cc, 0xa379dd7b, 0x9b3660c6, 0x9ff77d71,
0x92b45ba8, 0x9675461f, 0x8832161a, 0x8cf30bad, 0x81b02d74,
0x857130c3, 0x5d8a9099, 0x594b8d2e, 0x5408abf7, 0x50c9b640,
0x4e8ee645, 0x4a4ffbf2, 0x470cdd2b, 0x43cdc09c, 0x7b827d21,
0x7f436096, 0x7200464f, 0x76c15bf8, 0x68860bfd, 0x6c47164a,
0x61043093, 0x65c52d24, 0x119b4be9, 0x155a565e, 0x18197087,
0x1cd86d30, 0x029f3d35, 0x065e2082, 0x0b1d065b, 0x0fdc1bec,
0x3793a651, 0x3352bbe6, 0x3e119d3f, 0x3ad08088, 0x2497d08d,
0x2056cd3a, 0x2d15ebe3, 0x29d4f654, 0xc5a92679, 0xc1683bce,
0xcc2b1d17, 0xc8ea00a0, 0xd6ad50a5, 0xd26c4d12, 0xdf2f6bcb,
0xdbee767c, 0xe3a1cbc1, 0xe760d676, 0xea23f0af, 0xeee2ed18,
0xf0a5bd1d, 0xf464a0aa, 0xf9278673, 0xfde69bc4, 0x89b8fd09,
0x8d79e0be, 0x803ac667, 0x84fbdbd0, 0x9abc8bd5, 0x9e7d9662,
0x933eb0bb, 0x97ffad0c, 0xafb010b1, 0xab710d06, 0xa6322bdf,
0xa2f33668, 0xbcb4666d, 0xb8757bda, 0xb5365d03, 0xb1f740b4
};
.P
unsigned long memcrc(const unsigned char *b, size_t n)
{
/*  Input arguments:
 *  const unsigned char*   b == byte sequence to checksum
 *  size_t                 n == length of sequence
 */
.P
    register size_t i;
    register unsigned c, s = 0;
.P
    for (i = n; i > 0; \(mi\|\(mii) {
        c = *b++;
        s = (s << 8) ^ crctab[(s >> 24) ^ c];
    }
.P
    /* Extend with the length of the string. */
    while (n != 0) {
        c = n & 0377;
        n >>= 8;
        s = (s << 8) ^ crctab[(s >> 24) ^ c];
    }
.P
    return ~s;
}
.fi \fR
.P
.RE
.P
The historical practice of writing the number of ``blocks'' has been
changed to writing the number of octets, since the latter is not only
more useful, but also since historical implementations have not been
consistent in defining what a ``block'' meant.
.P
The algorithm used was selected to increase the operational robustness
of
.IR cksum .
Neither the System V nor BSD
.IR sum
algorithm was selected. Since each of these was different and each was
the default behavior on those systems, no realistic compromise was
available if either were selected\(emsome set of historical
applications would break. Therefore, the name was changed to
.IR cksum .
Although the historical
.IR sum
commands will probably continue to be provided for many years, programs
designed for portability across systems should use the new name.
.P
The algorithm selected is based on that used by the ISO/IEC\ 8802\(hy3:\|1996 standard (Ethernet)
for the frame check sequence field. The algorithm used does not match
the technical definition of a
.IR checksum ;
the term is used for historical reasons. The length of the file is
included in the CRC calculation because this parallels inclusion of a
length field by Ethernet in its CRC, but also because it guards against
inadvertent collisions between files that begin with different series
of zero octets. The chance that two different files produce identical
CRCs is much greater when their lengths are not considered. Keeping the
length and the checksum of the file itself separate would yield a
slightly more robust algorithm, but historical usage has always been
that a single number (the checksum as printed) represents the signature
of the file. It was decided that historical usage was the more
important consideration.
.P
Early proposals contained modifications to the Ethernet algorithm that
involved extracting table values whenever an intermediate result became
zero. This was demonstrated to be less robust than the current method
and mathematically difficult to describe or justify.
.P
The calculation used is identical to that given in pseudo-code in the
referenced Sarwate article. The pseudo-code rendition is:
.sp
.RS 4
.nf
\fB
X <\(mi 0; Y <\(mi 0;
for i <\(mi m \(mi1 step \(mi1 until 0 do
    begin
    T <\(mi X(1) ^ A[i];
    X(1) <\(mi X(0); X(0) <\(mi Y(1); Y(1) <\(mi Y(0); Y(0) <\(mi 0;
    comment: f[T] and f'[T] denote the T-th words in the
        table f and f' ;
    X <\(mi X ^ f[T]; Y <\(mi Y ^ f'[T];
    end
.fi \fR
.P
.RE
.P
The pseudo-code is reproduced exactly as given; however, note that in
the case of
.IR cksum ,
.BR A[i]
represents a byte of the file, the words
.BR X
and
.BR Y
are treated as a single 32-bit value, and the tables
.BR f
and
.BR f'
are a single table containing 32-bit values.
.P
The referenced Sarwate article also discusses generating the table.
.SH "FUTURE DIRECTIONS"
None.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1\(hy2008,
.IR "Chapter 8" ", " "Environment Variables"
.SH COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
-- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group.
(This is POSIX.1-2008 with the 2013 Technical Corrigendum 1 applied.) In the
event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online at
http://www.unix.org/online.html .

Any typographical or formatting errors that appear
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to have been introduced during the conversion of the source files to
man page format. To report such errors, see
https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .