How to add random characters/numbers to a filename? (Solved)

[RSH]

Hi.

During the process of converting files I'm in trouble, as I need to finish one file before starting to convert another one. So, I thought about to add a random part of characters/numbers to the temp filename - each time another and different one automatically.

Is this possible?
How can I do such in shell script?

[MochiMoppel]

How can I do such in shell script?

You don't need a script. The mktemp tool command does exactly what you are asking for. Run mktemp --help for the syntax.

[RSH]

Hey, that's great.
Never heard of mktemp.

Thanks a lot!

[fredx181]

Or if mktemp is not available (could be) something like myfile=myfile-$RANDOM-$RANDOM; touch /tmp/$myfile
Or for directory: mydir=mydir-$RANDOM-$RANDOM; mkdir /tmp/$mydir
edit: probably twice $RANDOM is exaggerated .

[Doggy]

I ran into a similar issue when I was working on a project that involved file conversions. What worked for me was using a combination of date and $RANDOM in my shell script to create unique temporary filenames. Here’s a simple way to do it: you can set your filename like this: filename="tempfile_$(date +%s)_$RANDOM". This way, each time you run the script, it generates a different name, so you won’t have to deal with overwriting files. If you need something more secure, using mktemp is also a great option to ensure your filenames are unique and avoid conflicts.

[MochiMoppel]

Sorry for reviving this already solved thread, but since the topic of creating random strings (for passwords, not filenames) came up here, I just want to add that the mentioned mktemp can be used to easily generate random strings. Strings are a combination of alphanumerics [a-zA-Z0-9], so not really suitable for strong passwords, but may be sufficient in other scenarios.

To generate a 6 digit random string try this in a console:

Code: Select all

mktemp -u XXXXXX