I have a bunch (five is I want to re-DL Xubuntu) ISO's I would like to run checksums against, for the obvious reason.

However, the appropriate site the torrent comes from occasionally uses a prog' that won't be on my native distro (Ubuntu Koala), e.g. on FedoraProject.org it's "curl".

On Debian I would start a terminal as Root then use apt-get to add a key to my ring, but the hardware the distro is on hasn't the diskspace to hold 8 Gigs of ISO data

I appreciate I can quite easily Google "how to add [Distro-X] to Ubuntu GPG keyring" but surely someone has built something that could do multiple additions at once? I realise there are security implications to having bulk-installs to such a high-risk piece of software. If I was on Debian at least I'd have a second password to use!

A shell script may be the way to go to do this quickly, but I would prefer to write that myself and the how-to book I'm [goin to order] won't arrive for some time.

Advice appreciated.

I'm not sure I really understand what you're asking... But, if you're downloading with bittorrent, you don't have to check md5sums, error checking is included in the bittorrent protocol and you always have a perfect download.

And curl is certainly included in every distribution.

I fail to see the connection between apt-get, GPG keys and downloading iso images though.

It seems not just my knowledge of B.T. has a hole or two, then!

The abbreviated "precis" of my process to DL the required files seems to be confusing? I intended to speedily list what I would do on my Debian install. Although thinking about it the listed method I usually use to version-check a specific component on my system...

I shall shorten and slightly rephrase my original question:

Is it possible to access and therefore verify multiple checksums simultaneously?

Hi,

I'm still not sure as to why you would want to perform a md5sum check simultaneously. Please define what your attempting to do?

You can chain commands therefore I see no reason to prevent tasks.

'How to Ask Questions the Smart Way' may help you to present queries that we can understand.

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As I'm not representing my intentions properly, I shall state them again.

I wish to verify checksums of a group of files simultaneously. For a given (i.e. loose) concept of simultaneous.

I assume you mean via Shell-scripting? An answer involving some form of this set of techniques has come up more than once recently, I am intending to check it out (i.e. stop messing around and buy a book on the subject, recommendations welcome).

Indeed. 'Be explicit about your question' should help

Hi,

Yes, you can create a script but you can chain or pass within that script.

As for simultaneous checks, I'm still certain your not stating things properly. If you wish to check a file after download for 'md5sum' validity then perform a check on another after download then that is a serial action. You may want to look into 'gpg' and 'md5sum' to insure a valid complete file transfer.

Just a few links to aid you in this endeavor;

Linux Documentation Project
Rute Tutorial & Exposition
Linux Command Guide
Utimate Linux Newbie Guide
LinuxSelfHelp
Getting Started with Linux
Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide
Linux Home Networking


The above links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!

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Very much appreciated, (and to make it official) I can say without doubt the links will help!

I have also found something that may help my poor descriptions: multi-threaded code, or multithreading.This is a way of making an app' use what used to be broadly referred to as "symmetric multiprocessing" (SMP), but recently makes use of more modern multi-core (i.e. dual-core, quad-core etc) processor chips.

With hindsight it would have been more logical to split the original question into two parts: 1) how do I script (or use terminal commands) to quickly verify multiple files with checksums; 2) can I use a multithreaded process...

Thanks again