makeuuid(1M)                                                                                                                          makeuuid(1M)

NAME

       makeuuid - generate Universal Unique Identifiers

SYNOPSIS

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

       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     mul-
       tiple 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 output.

       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 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 ). 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).

       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.

       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.

       The following exit values are returned:

       0        Successful completion.

       1        Out of memory.

       -1       Invalid Ethernet address given or access denied.

       /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.

       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE         |      ATTRIBUTE VALUE        |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability                 |SUNWwsr2                     |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

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

       The  formal  UUID  specification is in the OSF DCE specification, available 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.opengroup.org web site.

                                                                    6 Apr 2005                                                        makeuuid(1M)