diff --git a/oslo_utils/fileutils.py b/oslo_utils/fileutils.py
index b579addc..ed1bba90 100644
--- a/oslo_utils/fileutils.py
+++ b/oslo_utils/fileutils.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ File utilities.
 
 import contextlib
 import errno
+import hashlib
 import os
 import stat
 import tempfile
@@ -103,3 +104,23 @@ def write_to_tempfile(content, path=None, suffix='', prefix='tmp'):
     finally:
         os.close(fd)
     return path
+
+
+def compute_file_checksum(path, read_chunksize=65536, algorithm='sha256'):
+    """Compute checksum of a file's contents.
+
+    :param path: Path to the file
+    :param read_chunksize: Maximum number of bytes to be read from the file
+     at once. Default is 65536 bytes or 64KB
+    :param algorithm: The hash algorithm name to use. For example, 'md5',
+     'sha256', 'sha512' and so on. Default is 'sha256'. Refer to
+     hashlib.algorithms_available for available algorithms
+    :return: Hex digest string of the checksum
+
+    .. versionadded:: 3.31.0
+    """
+    checksum = hashlib.new(algorithm)  # Raises appropriate exceptions.
+    with open(path, 'rb') as f:
+        for chunk in iter(lambda: f.read(read_chunksize), b''):
+            checksum.update(chunk)
+    return checksum.hexdigest()
diff --git a/oslo_utils/tests/test_fileutils.py b/oslo_utils/tests/test_fileutils.py
index a16e28e4..33974adb 100644
--- a/oslo_utils/tests/test_fileutils.py
+++ b/oslo_utils/tests/test_fileutils.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #    under the License.
 
 import errno
+import hashlib
 import os
 import shutil
 import stat
@@ -189,3 +190,57 @@ class WriteToTempfileTestCase(test_base.BaseTestCase):
         self.assertTrue(basepath.startswith(tempfile.gettempdir()))
 
         self.check_file_content(res)
+
+
+class TestComputeFileChecksum(test_base.BaseTestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        super(TestComputeFileChecksum, self).setUp()
+        self.content = 'fake_content'.encode('ascii')
+
+    def check_file_content(self, content, path):
+        with open(path, 'r') as fd:
+            ans = fd.read()
+            self.assertEqual(content, six.b(ans))
+
+    def test_compute_checksum_default_algorithm(self):
+        path = fileutils.write_to_tempfile(self.content)
+        self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(path))
+        self.check_file_content(self.content, path)
+
+        expected_checksum = hashlib.sha256()
+        expected_checksum.update(self.content)
+
+        actual_checksum = fileutils.compute_file_checksum(path)
+
+        self.assertEqual(expected_checksum.hexdigest(), actual_checksum)
+
+    def test_compute_checksum_named_algorithm(self):
+        path = fileutils.write_to_tempfile(self.content)
+        self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(path))
+        self.check_file_content(self.content, path)
+
+        expected_checksum = hashlib.sha512()
+        expected_checksum.update(self.content)
+
+        actual_checksum = fileutils.compute_file_checksum(path,
+                                                          algorithm='sha512')
+
+        self.assertEqual(expected_checksum.hexdigest(), actual_checksum)
+
+    def test_compute_checksum_invalid_algorithm(self):
+        path = fileutils.write_to_tempfile(self.content)
+        self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(path))
+        self.check_file_content(self.content, path)
+
+        self.assertRaises(ValueError, fileutils.compute_file_checksum,
+                          path, algorithm='foo')
+
+    def test_file_does_not_exist(self):
+        random_file_name = uuid.uuid4().hex
+        path = os.path.join('/tmp', random_file_name)
+        self.assertRaises(IOError, fileutils.compute_file_checksum, path)
+
+    def test_generic_io_error(self):
+        tempdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
+        self.assertRaises(IOError, fileutils.compute_file_checksum, tempdir)