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dcfldd

dcfldd - enhanced version of dd for forensics and security

Help this project

dcfldd needs your help. If you are a programmer and if you want to help a nice project, this is your opportunity.

dcfldd was imported from some tarballs (the original homepage1 and developers are inactive). After this, all patches found in Debian project and other places for this program were applied. All initial work was registered in ChangeLog file (version 1.5 and later releases).

If you are interested to help dcfldd, read the CONTRIBUTING.md file.

What is dcfldd?

dcfldd is a modified version of GNU dd. The major features added are:

  • Hashing on-the-fly: dcfldd can hash the input data as it is being transferred, helping to ensure data integrity.
  • Status output: dcfldd can update the user of its progress in terms of the amount of data transferred and how much longer operation will take.
  • Flexible disk wipes: dcfldd can be used to wipe disks quickly and with a known pattern if desired.
  • Image/wipe verify: dcfldd can verify that a target drive is a bit-for-bit match of the specified input file or pattern.
  • Multiple outputs: dcfldd can output to multiple files or disks at the same time.
  • Split output: dcfldd can split output to multiple files with more configurability than the split command.
  • Piped output and logs: dcfldd can send all its log data and output to commands as well as files natively.

dcfldd was originally created by Nicholas Harbour from the DoD Computer Forensics Laboratory (DCFL). Nick Harbour still maintaining the package, although he was no longer affiliated with the DCFL.

Nowadays, dcfldd is maintained by volunteers.

Build and Install

To build and install, run the following commands:

$ ./autogen.sh
$ ./configure
$ make
# make install

To return to original source code you can use '$ make distclean' command.

On Debian systems you can use '# apt install dcfldd'.

There is a bash completion file inside doc/ directory in source code.

Author

dcfldd was originally developed by Nicholas Harbour under GPL-2+ license.

Currently, the source code and newer versions are available at https://github.com/resurrecting-open-source-projects/dcfldd

See AUTHORS file for more information.