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+.\" Copyright 1999 Andreas Dilger (adilger@enel.ucalgary.ca)
+.\"
+.\" %Begin-Header%
+.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
+.\" are met:
+.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+.\" notice, and the entire permission notice in its entirety,
+.\" including the disclaimer of warranties.
+.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
+.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
+.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
+.\" 3. The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote
+.\" products derived from this software without specific prior
+.\" written permission.
+.\"
+.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
+.\" WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
+.\" OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ALL OF
+.\" WHICH ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE
+.\" LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
+.\" CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT
+.\" OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR
+.\" BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF
+.\" LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+.\" (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE
+.\" USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+.\" DAMAGE.
+.\" %End-Header%
+.\"
+.\" Created Wed Mar 10 17:42:12 1999, Andreas Dilger
+.TH UUID_GENERATE 3 "@E2FSPROGS_MONTH@ @E2FSPROGS_YEAR@" "E2fsprogs version @E2FSPROGS_VERSION@"
+.SH NAME
+uuid_generate, uuid_generate_random, uuid_generate_time \- create a new unique UUID value
+.SH SYNOPSIS
+.nf
+.B #include <uuid/uuid.h>
+.sp
+.BI "void uuid_generate(uuid_t " out );
+.BI "void uuid_generate_random(uuid_t " out );
+.BI "void uuid_generate_time(uuid_t " out );
+.fi
+.SH DESCRIPTION
+The
+.B uuid_generate
+function creates a new universally unique identifier (UUID). The uuid will
+be generated based on high-quality randomness from
+.IR /dev/urandom ,
+if available. If it is not available, then
+.B uuid_generate
+will use an alternative algorithm which uses the current time, the
+local ethernet MAC address (if available), and random data generated
+using a pseudo-random generator.
+.sp
+The
+.B uuid_generate_random
+function forces the use of the all-random UUID format, even if
+a high-quality random number generator (i.e.,
+.IR /dev/urandom )
+is not available, in which case a pseudo-random
+generator will be substituted. Note that the use of a pseudo-random
+generator may compromise the uniqueness of UUID's
+generated in this fashion.
+.sp
+The
+.B uuid_generate_time
+function forces the use of the alternative algorithm which uses the
+current time and the local ethernet MAC address (if available).
+This algorithm used to be the default one used to generate UUID, but
+because of the use of the ethernet MAC address, it can leak
+information about when and where the UUID was generated. This can cause
+privacy problems in some applications, so the
+.B uuid_generate
+function only uses this algorithm if a high-quality source of
+randomness is not available.
+.sp
+The UUID is 16 bytes (128 bits) long, which gives approximately 3.4x10^38
+unique values (there are approximately 10^80 elementary particles in
+the universe according to Carl Sagan's
+.IR Cosmos ).
+The new UUID can reasonably be considered unique among all UUIDs created
+on the local system, and among UUIDs created on other systems in the past
+and in the future.
+.SH RETURN VALUE
+The newly created UUID is returned in the memory location pointed to by
+.IR out .
+.SH "CONFORMING TO"
+OSF DCE 1.1
+.SH AUTHOR
+Theodore Y. Ts'o
+.SH AVAILABILITY
+.UR http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net/
+http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net/
+.UE
+.SH "SEE ALSO"
+.BR uuid (3),
+.BR uuidgen (1),
+.BR uuid_clear (3),
+.BR uuid_compare (3),
+.BR uuid_copy (3),
+.BR uuid_is_null (3),
+.BR uuid_parse (3),
+.BR uuid_time (3),
+.BR uuid_unparse (3)