random_int
(PHP 7, PHP 8)
random_int — Get a cryptographically secure, uniformly selected integer
Description
The randomness generated by this function is suitable for all applications, including
the generation of long-term secrets, such as encryption keys.
The sources of randomness in the order of priority are as follows:
-
Linux: » getrandom(), /dev/urandom
-
FreeBSD >= 12 (PHP >= 7.3): » getrandom(), /dev/urandom
-
Windows (PHP >= 7.2): » CNG-API
Windows: » CryptGenRandom
-
macOS (PHP >= 8.2; >= 8.1.9; >= 8.0.22 if CCRandomGenerateBytes is available at compile time): CCRandomGenerateBytes()
macOS (PHP >= 8.1; >= 8.0.2): arc4random_buf(), /dev/urandom
-
NetBSD >= 7 (PHP >= 7.1; >= 7.0.1): arc4random_buf(), /dev/urandom
-
OpenBSD >= 5.5 (PHP >= 7.1; >= 7.0.1): arc4random_buf(), /dev/urandom
-
DragonflyBSD (PHP >= 8.1): » getrandom(), /dev/urandom
-
Solaris (PHP >= 8.1): » getrandom(), /dev/urandom
-
Any combination of operating system and PHP version not previously mentioned: /dev/urandom
-
If none of the sources are available or they all fail to generate
randomness, then a Random\RandomException
will be thrown.
Note:
Although this function was added to PHP in PHP 7.0, a
» userland implementation
is available for PHP 5.2 to 5.6, inclusive.
Parameters
min
-
The lowest value to be returned.
max
-
The highest value to be returned.
Return Values
A cryptographically secure, uniformly selected integer from the closed interval
[min, max]. Both
min and max are
possible return values.
Examples
Example #1 random_int() example
<?php
var_dump(random_int(100, 999));
var_dump(random_int(-1000, 0));
?>
The above example will output
something similar to: