sha256sum flags & options

Basic usage

Compute the SHA-256 hash of a file.

sha256sum file.iso

Multiple files

Hash multiple files at once.

sha256sum *.tar.gz

-c, --check

Verify files against a checksum file.

sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS

--quiet

Only show failures when checking.

sha256sum -c --quiet SHA256SUMS

--status

Silent check — no output, just exit code.

sha256sum -c --status SHA256SUMS && echo "All OK"

-b, --binary

Read in binary mode.

sha256sum -b firmware.bin

--tag

Output in BSD-style format.

sha256sum --tag file.iso

Generate a checksum file

sha256sum *.iso > SHA256SUMS

Pipe from stdin

echo -n "hello" | sha256sum