Create a file of a specific size with random printable strings in bash

Question

I want to create a file of a specific size containing only printable strings in bash.

My first thought was to use /dev/urandom:

dd if=/d         


        

Answer 1

You can use one of the following:

1. truncate You should have a baseline textfile with a size larger than what you need. then use the following:

   truncate -s 5M filename
   DESCRIPTION
      Shrink or extend the size of each FILE to the specified size
   
   [...]
   
    -s, --size=SIZE
         set or adjust the file size by SIZE
   

2.Use tail: this options requires reference text file too.

tail -c 1MB reference_big.txt> 1mb.txt