.TH MD5 1 "Feb 14, 1994"
.SH NAME
md5 \- calculate a message-digest fingerprint (checksum) for a file
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B md5
[ -p | -t | -x | -sstring | filename(s) ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B md5
takes as input a message of arbitrary length and produces
as output a 128-bit "fingerprint" or "message digest" of the input.
It is conjectured that it is computationally infeasible to produce
two messages having the same message digest, or to produce any
message having a given prespecified target message digest.
The MD5 algorithm is intended for digital signature applications, where a
large file must be "compressed" in a secure manner before being
encrypted with a private (secret) key under a public-key cryptosystem
such as
.I RSA.
.SH OPTIONS
The following four options may be used in any combination, except
that
.B "filename(s)"
must be the last objects on the command line.
.in +5
.PP
.B -sstring
prints a checksum of the given "string".
.PP
.B -p
echos stdin to stdout and appends the MD5 sum to stdout.
.PP
.B -t
runs a built-in time trial.
.PP
.B -x
runs a built-in test script.
.PP
.B filename(s)
prints a checksum(s) for each of the files.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR cksum (1)
.PP
RFC 1321 describes in detail the MD2, MD4, and MD5 message-digest algorithms.
.SH ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This program is placed in the public domain for free general use by
RSA Data Security.