SHUF(1) User Commands SHUF(1)

shuf - generate random permutations

shuf [OPTION]... [FILE]
shuf -e [OPTION]... [ARG]...
shuf -i LO-HI [OPTION]...

Write a random permutation of the input lines to standard output.

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

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

-e, --echo
treat each ARG as an input line
-i, --input-range=LO-HI
treat each number LO through HI as an input line
-n, --head-count=COUNT
output at most COUNT lines
-o, --output=FILE
write result to FILE instead of standard output
--random-source=FILE
get random bytes from FILE
-r, --repeat
output lines can be repeated
-z, --zero-terminated
line delimiter is NUL, not newline
--help
display this help and exit
--version
output version information and exit

Written by Paul Eggert.

Report bugs to: bug-coreutils@gnu.org
GNU coreutils home page: https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/
General help using GNU software: https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/
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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.

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

February 2026 GNU coreutils 9.10