How do I create temporary files and directories using /dev/urandom on linux?

mountaing

If you need to be extra careful and secure about what to name your temporary file names. This can be used.

Important: Do not just cat the file /dev/urandom on its own, the file is a pseudodevice. It could terminate your shell session or lock it.

$ touch /tmp/secure_file.$(cat /dev/urandom | od -x | tr -d ' ' | head -n 1)

The od -x create an octal dump, tr -d removes spaces, head -n 1 grabs the first line of the octal dump.

The result is:

$ ls /tmp/secure_file*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 trainer trainer 0 Nov 13 11:45 secure_file.00000004e6a05447ce5151877e268374b6d5df4

The name is hard to guess but, you may want to make the permissions 600 as well