RH: How can I split a file into several smaller pieces?
Solution:
Cutting down or splitting a file to several smaller pieces have great benefits. A large file split into several smaller files can easilly fit in a CD or floppy disk or even transferred over the network. Splitting the file is possible using the split command.
Below is an example on how to use the split command:
Using split on a 5.3MB image.iso file:
# split -b 1400k image.iso
It will generate 4 files with the following file sizes:
1404k xaa
1404k xab
1404k xac
1208k xad
To recreate the file, the cat command can be
used.
cat xa* > new-image.iso
The split and cat commands are provided by the coreutils package. Once the new new-image.iso file is restored, its possible to delete the other split files.
Note: To verify that the file has been correctly restored, use the command md5sum before and after splitting the file. Syntax:
md5sum [filename]
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