That’s all. I just found this in a random script. Generates a random UUID every time it’s called. I didn’t know.
Of course I can also use uuidgen or pipe /dev/(u)random into something to get a random alphanumeric string - but this is built right into the kernel!
In /proc/sys/kernel/random/, there’s also boot_id which seems to do the same is static, and some tweakable parameters.
❤️🐧
See also: /dev/null
It’s basically a black hole where you can throw anything.
Yes, but what if it were a subscription? May I present: /dev/null-as-a-Service.
lol.
while :; do cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid > /dev/null; doneedit: on all cores for maximum “efficiency”
Would have to be
cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid > /dev/nullYou can’t pipe to a file, only to programs, and since /dev/null isn’t an executable your command will simply give an error.
To make it more clear, consider using
dd, which lets you explicitly specify an input and output file. For example:dd if=/proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid of=/dev/sda1wait shit that wasn’t the right output oh god oh fudd is just cp but more confusing here.
The only thing dd can do that cp can’t is stop ahead of time, which only really matters for infinite files like
/dev/randomcp /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid /dev/sdaPeanuts. Real men do
dd if=/proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid of=/dev/sdaThanks, I’m overworked lately.
lol, the last part
i saw this and came to do THE THING but you beat me too it. GOOD ANYA
The information will be evenly distributed upon its surface and some believe one day it will be be radiated back out into the rest of the system.
That’s a horrifying concept. Better not think about it.
no.
That reminds me of the CPU stress test I ran many years ago.
dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/nullIf you have 8 cores, just open 8 terminals, and run that code in each of them.
Can you guarantee that each process will run on its own core?
Absolutely not, quite the opposite actually. However, the end result is close to 100% CPU load, which is good enough for some purposes. Let’s say you want to test the performance of your CPU cooler, or overclock stability, this should good enough. There are also dedicated tools for people with more advanced needs.
/dev/urandom should stress the CPU more. /dev/random can be entropy limited
for i in {1..n} # where n == number of cores do dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/null & done # to stop: jobs -p | xargs killOh yeah. This looks like a much better way to do it. My solution is pretty bare bones by comparison.
the advantage of yours is that you can actually see the performance number afterwards.