How To Install rng-tools-debian on Debian 12
Introduction
In this tutorial we learn how to install rng-tools-debian on Debian 12.
What is rng-tools-debian
rng-tools-debian is:
The rngd daemon acts as a bridge between a Hardware RNG (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 HWRNG using the FIPS 140-2 (2002-10-10) tests to verify that it is indeed random then 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.
An HWRNG 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. Securely tunneling entropy over the network and feeding it to rngd is also possible.
This is an unofficial version of rng-tools (as classically shipped by Debian up to and including release 10 ??buster??), version 2, extensively modified to add multithreading and a lot of new functionality. However, most users of newer or high-bandwidth HWRNGs might wish to install the latest version of upstream rng-tools (packaged as rng-tools5) instead; that package offers more performant support for those, even if it lacks the new functionality from this version.
There are three methods to install rng-tools-debian on Debian 12. 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-debian 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-debian using apt-get by running the following command:
sudo apt-get -y install rng-tools-debian
Install rng-tools-debian Using apt
Update apt database with apt using the following command.
sudo apt update
After updating apt database, We can install rng-tools-debian using apt by running the following command:
sudo apt -y install rng-tools-debian
Install rng-tools-debian 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 Debian. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.
sudo aptitude update
After updating apt database, We can install rng-tools-debian using aptitude by running the following command:
sudo aptitude -y install rng-tools-debian
How To Uninstall rng-tools-debian on Debian 12
To uninstall only the rng-tools-debian package we can use the following command:
sudo apt-get remove rng-tools-debian
Uninstall rng-tools-debian And Its Dependencies
To uninstall rng-tools-debian and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Debian 12, we can use the command below:
sudo apt-get -y autoremove rng-tools-debian
Remove rng-tools-debian Configurations and Data
To remove rng-tools-debian configuration and data from Debian 12 we can use the following command:
sudo apt-get -y purge rng-tools-debian
Remove rng-tools-debian configuration, data, and all of its dependencies
We can use the following command to remove rng-tools-debian configurations, data and all of its dependencies, we can use the following command:
sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge rng-tools-debian
Dependencies
rng-tools-debian have the following dependencies:
References
Summary
In this tutorial we learn how to install rng-tools-debian package on Debian 12 using different package management tools: apt, apt-get and aptitude.
