SUM(1) User Commands SUM(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

sum - checksum and count the blocks in a file

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**sum** \[*OPTION*]... \[*FILE*]...

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

Print or check BSD (16-bit) checksums. Legacy interface to the [**cksum**(1)](/man/os/coreutils/cksum.1) utility.

With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.

[**-r**](#r)

use BSD sum algorithm (the default), use 1K blocks

[**-s, --sysv**](#s,)

use System V sum algorithm, use 512 bytes blocks

[**--help**](#help)

display this help and exit

[**--version**](#version)

output version information and exit

# [AUTHOR](#AUTHOR)

Written by Kayvan Aghaiepour and David MacKenzie.

# [REPORTING BUGS](#REPORTING_BUGS)

Report bugs to: <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.  
Report any translation bugs to: <https://translationproject.org/team/>.  
GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>  
General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>

# [COPYRIGHT](#COPYRIGHT)

Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.  
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/sum>  
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) sum invocation'

October 2026 GNU coreutils 9.12

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Document: sum(1) from coreutils 9.12-r7 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/coreutils.git