Repository: uutils/coreutils

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README.md Copy Chapter

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!uutils logo

uutils coreutils



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---

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uutils coreutils is a cross-platform reimplementation of the GNU coreutils in
Rust. While all programs have been implemented, some
options might be missing or different behavior might be experienced.

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We provide prebuilt binaries, manpages, and shell completions from main branch at https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/releases/tag/latest-commit .
The latest stable tag https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/releases/latest also exists for reproducible products and packagers.
Bug reporters should use binary from latest commit.

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Goals Copy Chapter

uutils coreutils aims to be a drop-in replacement for the GNU utils. Differences with GNU
are treated as bugs.

Our key objectives include:
- Matching GNU's output (stdout and error code) exactly
- Better error messages
- Providing comprehensive internationalization support (UTF-8)
- Improved performances
- Extensions when relevant (example: --progress)

uutils aims to work on as many platforms as possible, to be able to use the same
utils on Linux, macOS, Windows and other platforms. This ensures, for example,
that scripts can be easily transferred between platforms.

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Documentation Copy Chapter

- User Manual
- Developer Documentation

Both can also be generated locally, the instructions for that can be found in
the coreutils docs repository.

Use weblate/rust-coreutils to translate the Rust coreutils into your language.

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Requirements Copy Chapter

- Rust (cargo, rustc)
- GNU Make (optional)

Rust Version Copy Section

uutils follows Rust's release channels and is tested against stable, beta and
nightly.

Building Copy Chapter

There are currently two methods to build the uutils binaries: either Cargo or
GNU Make.

Building the full package, including all documentation, requires both Cargo

and GNU Make on a Unix platform.

For either method, we first need to fetch the repository:

git clone https://github.com/uutils/coreutils
cd coreutils

Cargo Copy Section

Building uutils using Cargo is easy because the process is the same as for every
other Rust program:

cargo build --release

Replace --release with --profile=release-small to optimize binary size.

This command builds the most portable common core set of uutils into a multicall
(BusyBox-type) binary, named 'coreutils', on most Rust-supported platforms.

Additional platform-specific uutils are often available. Building these expanded
sets of uutils for a platform (on that platform) is as simple as specifying it
as a feature:

cargo build --release --features windows
or ...

cargo build --release --features unix

To build SELinux-specific features, including chcon and runcon, ensure that libselinux
and libclang are installed on your system. Then, run the following command:

cargo build --release --features unix,feat_selinux

If you don't want to build every utility available on your platform into the
final binary, you can also specify which ones you want to build manually. For
example:

cargo build --features "base32 cat echo rm" --no-default-features

If you want to build the utilities as individual binaries, that is also possible:

cargo build --release --bins --workspace --exclude coreutils --exclude uu_runcon --exclude uu_chcon

cargo build -p uu_base32 -p uu_cat -p uu_echo -p uu_rm

GNU Make Copy Section

Building using make is a simple process as well.

To simply build all available utilities (with debug profile):

make

In release mode:

make PROFILE=release

To build all but a few of the available utilities:

make SKIP_UTILS='UTILITY_1 UTILITY_2'

To build only a few of the available utilities:

make UTILS='UTILITY_1 UTILITY_2'

Installation Copy Chapter

Install with Cargo Copy Section

Likewise, installing can simply be done using:

cargo install --path . --locked

This command will install uutils into Cargo's _bin_ folder (_e.g._
$HOME/.cargo/bin).

This does not install files necessary for shell completion or manpages. For
manpages or shell completion to work, use GNU Make or see
Manually install shell completions/Manually install manpages.

Install with GNU Make Copy Section

To install all available utilities (PROFILE=release by default):

make install

To install using sudo switch -E must be used:

sudo -E make install

To install all but a few of the available utilities:

make SKIP_UTILS='UTILITY_1 UTILITY_2' install

To install only a few of the available utilities:

make UTILS='UTILITY_1 UTILITY_2' install

To install every program with a prefix (e.g. uu-echo uu-cat):

make PROG_PREFIX=uu- install

To install the multicall binary:

make MULTICALL=y install

Set install parent directory (default value is /usr/local):

DESTDIR is also supported

make PREFIX=/my/path install

Installing with make installs shell completions for all installed utilities
for bash, fish and zsh. Completions for elvish and powershell can also
be generated; See Manually install shell completions.

To skip installation of completions and manpages:

make COMPLETIONS=n MANPAGES=n install

Manually install shell completions Copy Section

The uudoc binary generates completions for the bash, elvish,
fish, powershell and zsh shells to stdout.

Install uudoc by

cargo install --bin uudoc --features uudoc --path .

Then use the installed binary:

uudoc completion <utility> <shell>

So, to install completions for ls on bash to
/usr/local/share/bash-completion/completions/ls, run:

uudoc completion ls bash > /usr/local/share/bash-completion/completions/ls.bash

Completion for prefixed cp with uu- on zsh is generated by

env PROG_PREFIX=uu- uudoc completion cp zsh

Manually install manpages Copy Section

To generate manpages, the syntax is:

uudoc manpage <utility>

So, to install the manpage for ls to /usr/local/share/man/man1/ls.1 run:

uudoc manpage ls > /usr/local/share/man/man1/ls.1

Un-installation Copy Chapter

Un-installation differs depending on how you have installed uutils. If you used
Cargo to install, use Cargo to uninstall. If you used GNU Make to install, use
Make to uninstall.

Uninstall with Cargo Copy Section

To uninstall uutils:

cargo uninstall coreutils

Uninstall with GNU Make Copy Section

To uninstall all utilities:

make uninstall

To uninstall every program with a set prefix:

make PROG_PREFIX=uu- uninstall

To uninstall the multicall binary:

make MULTICALL=y uninstall

To uninstall from a custom parent directory:

DESTDIR is also supported

make PREFIX=/my/path uninstall

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GNU test suite compatibility Copy Chapter

Below is the evolution of how many GNU tests uutils passes. A more detailed
breakdown of the GNU test results of the main branch can be found
in the user manual.

See <https://github.com/orgs/uutils/projects/1> for the main meta bugs
(many are missing).

!Evolution over time

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Contributing Copy Chapter

To contribute to uutils, please see CONTRIBUTING.

License Copy Chapter

uutils is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details

GNU Coreutils is licensed under the GPL 3.0 or later.