How To Install rng-tools on Ubuntu 22.04
Introduction
In this tutorial we learn how to install rng-tools on Ubuntu 22.04.
What is rng-tools
rng-tools is:
The rngd daemon acts as a bridge between a Hardware TRNG (true random number generator) such as the ones in some Intel/AMD/VIA chipsets, and the kernel’s PRNG (pseudo-random number generator).
It tests the data received from the TRNG using the FIPS 140-2 (2002-10-10) tests to verify that it is indeed random, and feeds the random data to the kernel entropy pool.
This increases the bandwidth of the /dev/random device, from a source that does not depend on outside activity. It may also improve the quality (entropy) of the randomness of /dev/random.
A TRNG kernel module such as hw_random, or some other source of true entropy that is accessible as a device or fifo, is required to use this package.
This is an unofficial version of rng-tools which has been extensively modified to add multithreading and a lot of new functionality.
There are three methods to install rng-tools on Ubuntu 22.04. We can use apt-get, apt and aptitude. In the following sections we will describe each method. You can choose one of them.
Install rng-tools Using apt-get
Update apt database with apt-get using the following command.
sudo apt-get update
After updating apt database, We can install rng-tools using apt-get by running the following command:
sudo apt-get -y install rng-tools
Install rng-tools Using apt
Update apt database with apt using the following command.
sudo apt update
After updating apt database, We can install rng-tools using apt by running the following command:
sudo apt -y install rng-tools
Install rng-tools Using aptitude
If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Ubuntu. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.
sudo aptitude update
After updating apt database, We can install rng-tools using aptitude by running the following command:
sudo aptitude -y install rng-tools
How To Uninstall rng-tools on Ubuntu 22.04
To uninstall only the rng-tools package we can use the following command:
sudo apt-get remove rng-tools
Uninstall rng-tools And Its Dependencies
To uninstall rng-tools and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Ubuntu 22.04, we can use the command below:
sudo apt-get -y autoremove rng-tools
Remove rng-tools Configurations and Data
To remove rng-tools configuration and data from Ubuntu 22.04 we can use the following command:
sudo apt-get -y purge rng-tools
Remove rng-tools configuration, data, and all of its dependencies
We can use the following command to remove rng-tools configurations, data and all of its dependencies, we can use the following command:
sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge rng-tools
References
Summary
In this tutorial we learn how to install rng-tools package on Ubuntu 22.04 using different package management tools: apt, apt-get and aptitude.
