sha256sum

Compute or verify SHA-256 checksums

low risk

interactive breakdown — edit the command and press Explain
$ 
⚠ Risks & cautions
What it does

Prints or verifies SHA-256 digests; use to confirm downloads and backups are intact.

Common flags
FlagMeaning
-cVerify against a checksum file
--ignore-missing --ignore-missingSkip files that are not present
--quiet --quietOnly print failures
Examples
sha256sum ubuntu.isoPrint the digest · explain & risk-check →
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMSVerify files listed in a checksum file · explain & risk-check →
Related
md5sum gpg openssl
Open the full explainer →More in Files & Archives

Reference text is hand-written and may be incomplete — check man sha256sum for your version. Test destructive commands on a non-production system first.