makeuuid(1M) System Administration Commands makeuuid(1M)NAMEmakeuuid - generate Universal Unique Identifiers
SYNOPSISmakeuuid [-e ether] [-n count] [-R root]
DESCRIPTION
The makeuuid command generates UUIDs (Universal Unique Identifiers)
conforming to the OSF DCE specification for UUIDs. The specification
states:
"A UUID is an identifier that is unique across both space and time,
with respect to the space of all UUIDs. A UUID can be used for multi‐
ple purposes, from tagging objects with an extremely short lifetime, to
reliably identifying very persistent objects across a network.
"The generation of UUIDs does not require a registration authority for
each single identifier. Instead, it requires a unique value over space
for each UUID generator. This spatially unique value is [normally]
specified as an IEEE 802 address, which is usually already applied to
network-connected systems."
The makeuuid command generates one or more UUIDs on the standard out‐
put.
OPTIONS
The makeuuid command supports the following options:
-e ether
Supplies an alternate address to be used in the generation of the
UUIDs. Normally, the system's Ethernet address is acquired and used
during the generation of a UUID. However, this requires root privi‐
leges to open and read the network devices. If this is not possi‐
ble, you must supply an alternate Ethernet address.
-n count
Generate multiple UUIDs. This option generates the specified number
of UUIDs, one per line. Using this form is more efficient than, and
functionally equivalent to, calling the makeuuid command multiple
times. This can be used, for example, when a large number of UUIDs
need to be generated for a given application.
-R root
Use root as the root filesystem path when updating the shared state
file (see FILES). The shared state file must be writable by the
user running makeuuid, otherwise no UUIDs will be generated and the
command will return in failure.
Note - The root file system of any non-global zones must not be
referenced with the -R option. Doing so might damage the
global zone's file system, might compromise the security of
the global zone, and might damage the non-global zone's
file system. See zones(5).
USAGE
Normally, you run the makeuuid command with root privileges, as the
Ethernet address and state files can be easily accessed and updated. If
this is not possible, you must use the -R and -e options to specify an
alternate root and Ethernet address to use when calculating the UUIDs.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Generating Multiple UUIDs
The following command generates 3000 UUIDs:
example# makeuuid-n 3000
Example 2: Invoking Without Root Privileges
If you cannot obtain root privileges, you must specify an alternate
Ethernet address and state file location:
example% makeuuid-e 11:22:33:44:55:66 -R /export/root/example2
See the caveat on the use of the -R option in the description of that
option, above.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned:
0 Successful completion.
1 Out of memory.
-1 Invalid Ethernet address given or access denied.
FILES
/var/sadm/system/uuid_state UUID state file. Use of time values is
one way that UUID generators, such as
makeuuid, guarantee uniqueness. A state
file is a mechanism that allows makeu‐
uid to "remember" the last time value
it used so it can increment that value
for use in a new UUID. See the Internet
Draft "UUIDs and GUIDs," dated February
4, 1998, for details on the state file
mechanism.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │SUNWwsr2 │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOprodreg(1M), intro(3), libwsreg(3LIB), attributes(5)NOTES
The formal UUID specification is in the OSF DCE specification, avail‐
able at www.opengroup.org. As of the date of publication of this man
page, a copy of the specification is available at:
http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9629399/apdxa.htm
Sun has no control over the availability of documents on the www.open‐
group.org web site.
SunOS 5.10 6 Apr 2005 makeuuid(1M)
