# uuid > Generate and decode Universally Unique Identifiers (UUID). > See also `uuidgen`. > More information: . - Generate a UUIDv1 (based on time and system's hardware address, if present): `uuid` - Generate a UUIDv4 (based on random data): `uuid -v {{4}}` - Generate multiple UUIDv4 identifiers at once: `uuid -v {{4}} -n {{number_of_uuids}}` - Generate a UUIDv4 and specify the output format: `uuid -v {{4}} -F {{BIN|STR|SIV}}` - Generate a UUIDv4 and write the output to a file: `uuid -v {{4}} -o {{path/to/file}}` - Generate a UUIDv5 (based on the supplied object name) with a specified namespace prefix: `uuid -v {{5}} ns:{{DNS|URL|OID|X500}} {{object_name}}` - Decode a given UUID: `uuid -d {{uuid}}`