Generate a Random File in Linux

For testing purposes, sometimes it's useful to generate a lot of random data, e.g. for testing the effect of file compression on a system. Generating random file data is simple using the random number generator in the /dev directory. Reading from /dev/urandom will result in a random byte. Running the following command will dump random characters to the display:

cat /dev/urandom
To generate and write random data to a file, use the following command:

cat /dev/urandom > randfile
To limit the output, Ctrl+C the process, or use a sleep followed by kill. For example:

(cat /dev/urandom > randfile &); sleep 5; killall cat
The command sequence above will write random data to randfile for five seconds. The actual amount of data written will vary.