makeuuid(1M)

NAME

     makeuuid - generate Universal Unique Identifiers

SYNOPSIS

     makeuuid [-e ether] [-n count] [-R root]

DESCRIPTION

     The makeuuid command generates UUIDs (Universal Unique Iden-
     tifiers)  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 multiple purposes, from tagging objects with  an
     extremely  short lifetime, to reliably identifying very per-
     sistent 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  spa-
     tially  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 output.

OPTIONS

     The makeuuid command supports the following options:

     -e ether
           Supplies an alternate address to be used in  the  gen-
           eration  of the UUIDs. Normally, the system's Ethernet
           address is acquired and used during the generation  of
           a UUID. However, this requires root privileges to open
           and read the network devices. If this is not possible,
           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,  other-
           wise  no  UUIDs will be generated and the command will
           return in failure.

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 Eth-
     ernet 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

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 unique-
           ness. A state file is a mechanism that allows makeuuid
           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  attri-
     butes:

     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Availability                | SUNWwsr2                    |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|

SEE ALSO

     prodreg(1M), intro(3), libwsreg(3LIB), attributes(5)

NOTES

     The formal UUID specification is in the OSF  DCE  specifica-
     tion, available at www.opengroup.org. As of the date of pub-
     lication 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.opengroup.org web site.