coreutils README

The project's README from github.com/uutils/coreutils. As one markdown file: README.md.

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uutils coreutils

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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.

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.

Minimal compatible glibc version is same with ubuntu-latest runner. Use coreutils-*-musl if coreutils-*-gnu is not compatible with your system.

Goals

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

Our key objectives include:

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

uutils coreutils ships by default on Ubuntu since version 25.10.

Documentation

uutils has both user and developer documentation available:

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.

You can try the utilities in your browser through the WebAssembly playground, without installing anything.

Requirements

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

Rust Version

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

Building

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

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
# or ...
cargo build --release --target wasm32-wasip1 --no-default-features --features feat_wasm

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

To speed up the checksum utilities (md5sum, sha1sum, sha224sum, sha256sum, sha384sum, sha512sum, and cksum) by using OpenSSL's libcrypto instead of the pure-Rust digest crates, enable the openssl feature:

cargo build --release --features openssl

By default OpenSSL is built from source and statically linked into the binary, so no runtime dependency on system libcrypto/libssl is added. To link dynamically against the system libcrypto instead, set OPENSSL_NO_VENDOR=1 at build time.

The speedup is largest on CPUs without SHA-NI hardware acceleration. The feature is a no-op on Windows (the pure-Rust implementations are always used there) and is automatically bypassed at runtime for any algorithm libcrypto refuses (for example, MD5 in strict FIPS mode).

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

Each utility is contained in its own package within the main repository, named "uu_UTILNAME". To build selected individual utilities, use the --package [aka -p] option. For example:

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

GNU Make

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

Install with Cargo

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

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

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

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

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

To uninstall uutils:

cargo uninstall coreutils

Uninstall with GNU Make

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

GNU test suite compatibility

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

Contributing

To contribute to uutils, please see CONTRIBUTING.

License

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

GNU Coreutils is licensed under the GPL 3.0 or later.

coreutils (uutils/coreutils)

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24.3K ·GitHub
Coreutils
What is this?A Rust rewrite of the GNU coreutils — the classic command-line utilities like ls, cp, cat and sort — aiming to be a drop-in replacement with output matching GNU exactly.
Is it one binary or a set of separate commands?Both: you can build one multicall (BusyBox-style) binary named 'coreutils', or separate per-tool binaries — each utility lives in its own uuUTILNAME package in the repo.
What's the quickest way to get it installed?Run 'cargo install coreutils' — the tools land in $HOME/.cargo/bin. GNU Make works too ('make install'), and prebuilt binaries, manpages and shell completions are published from the main branch.
Do I need a Rust toolchain and anything else on my system?A Rust toolchain (cargo, rustc); GNU Make is optional. Building the SELinux utilities (chcon, runcon) needs libselinux and libclang, and the optional OpenSSL feature speeds up the checksum tools.
Can I trust it as a full GNU replacement, or will some flags behave differently?All programs are implemented, but some options may be missing or behave differently — any difference from GNU is treated as a bug, and GNU test-suite pass rates are published in the README.
Does it run on Windows and macOS too, or is it Linux-only?Linux, macOS, BSD, Windows and WASI — being able to use the same utils everywhere so scripts transfer between platforms unchanged is a core project goal.
Is the license the same as the GNU coreutils it replaces?No — uutils is MIT-licensed while GNU coreutils is GPL-3.0-or-later, which also makes it easier to embed in permissive projects.
Why would I switch from the GNU tools I already have?Mainly portability: the same utils on every OS mean scripts move between Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD and WASI unchanged. It also commits to matching GNU output exactly, treats performance slowdowns as bugs, and adds extensions where relevant, like --progress.
What's different about its error messages?In an interactive terminal, parse errors are shown as compiler-style reports with a caret under the argument at fault, where GNU prints a single line. Scripts and pipes still receive the plain GNU message, so automation is unaffected.
Is this production-ready or still experimental?It ships by default on Ubuntu since version 25.10, and the README tracks GNU test-suite pass rates for the main branch. A WebAssembly playground also lets you try the utilities in your browser before installing anything.
What are similar projects?coreutils, z, fzf, bashka, tmuxinator, nvm, ripgrep, n
Which topics is it in?posix, unix, bash, wasm, cli-tool, shell, utility, command-line, rust, command-line-tool, free, terminal
Creator
uutils
Size
47.4 MB
Stars
24.3K
Updated
CommitOct 17Release0.12.0Sep 17
Age
13y
Commits · 90 Days