COMMAND LINE DECODE BASE64 HOW TO
COMMAND LINE DECODE BASE64 SOFTWARE
COMMAND LINE DECODE BASE64 DOWNLOAD

While rare, you may come across software or scripts that accept an entire configuration file as a Base64-encoded string.Ĭonsider the configuration file below, which is a YAML dictionary: $ cat config.yamlĪttempting to store this as an environment variable doesn’t work because the newlines are lost: $ CONFIG=$(cat config.yaml)Īllowed_users: - name: alice group: admins - name: bob group: powerusers allowed_groups: - admins - powerusers - secops This enables another interesting use case: You can encode multiline files into Base64 strings. $ kubectl get secret api-secrets -o jsonpath= | base64 -dīase64 encoding uses printable characters to encode binary data. Uid: ac23136b-4b51-4df1-b732-cff0195fff6bĮxisting secrets can be decoded using the base64 command after retrieving them with kubectl: # Read back the encoded secret using a jsonpath $ kubectl create secret generic -from-literal=api-key=SuperSecret123! api-secrets For example, creating and reading back a secret shows that the value of the secret is Base64-encoded: # Create a secret A Kubernetes secret contains key/value pairs where the value is Base64-encoded. $ openssl x509 -inform der -in -noout -datesĪnother common use for Base64 encoding is Kubernetes secrets. # Confirm that OpenSSL can inspect the decoded certificate file # Confirm that the decoded file and the original binary file are the same $ tail -n +2 | head -n -1 | base64 -di > You can see that it is exactly the same as the binary file that was saved using OpenSSL earlier: # Decode the certificate and save it to The Base64-encoded PEM certificate can then be decoded using the base64 command. NTk1OVowgcoxHTAbBgNVBA8MFFByaXZhdGUgT3JnYW5pemF0aW9uMRMwEQYLKwYBīAGCNzwCAQMTAlVTMRkwFwYLKwYBBAGCNzwCAQITCERlbGF3YXJlMRAwDgYDVQQFĮwcyOTQ1NDM2MQswCQYDVQQGEwJVUzEXMBUGA1UECBMOTm9ydGggQ2Fyb2xpbmExĮDAOBgNVBAcTB1JhbGVpZ2gxFjAUBgNVBAoTDVJlZCBIYXQsIEluYy4xFzAVBgNVīAMTDnd3dy5yZWRoYXQuY29tMIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKC IFZhbGlkYXRpb24gU2VydmVyIENBMB4XDTIxMTIwMTAwMDAwMFoXDTIyMTIwMTIz MQswCQYDVQQGEwJVUzEVMBMGA1UEChMMRGlnaUNlcnQgSW5jMRkwFwYDVQQLExB3ĭ3cuZGlnaWNlcnQuY29tMTQwMgYDVQQDEytEaWdpQ2VydCBTSEEyIEV4dGVuZGVk MIIHNjCCBh6gAwIBAgIQCVe4E0h49mzI0NcSqMy1+jANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQsFADB1 # Confirm that the PEM encoded certificate contains printable, Base64 encoded data $ echo | openssl s_client -connect 2>/dev/null | openssl x509 -outform der -out

COMMAND LINE DECODE BASE64 DOWNLOAD

# Download the certificate in binary DER format $ echo | openssl s_client -connect 2>/dev/null | openssl x509 -outform pem -out To see this in action, you can obtain the PEM-encoded certificate and the binary DER certificate for : # Download the certificate in Base64 encoded PEM format A PEM certificate can be converted to its binary Distinguished Encoding Rules (DER) equivalent by decoding the Base64-encoded data. The Base64-encoded certificate structure is commonly referred to as the Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM) format, but a certificate is fundamentally binary data. If you have worked with the OpenSSL tool, you have seen several examples of Base64-encoded certificates. One of the most common use cases is certificate encoding.

COMMAND LINE DECODE BASE64 HOW TO

Knowing how to recognize, encode, and decode Base64 is valuable due to its prevalence as an encoding approach. Using Base64 encoding may seem esoteric, but there are many common scenarios where you will encounter Base64 in systems administration. How well do you know Linux? Take a quiz and get a badge.Linux system administration skills assessment.A guide to installing applications on Linux.Download RHEL 9 at no charge through the Red Hat Developer program.This can be done by looking up the values in an ASCII-to-binary conversion table. The first step in the encoding process is to obtain the binary representation of each ASCII character. For example, consider the sentence Hi , where the represents a newline. This allows you to transport binary over protocols or mediums that cannot handle binary data formats and require simple text.īase64 uses 6-bit characters grouped into 24-bit sequences. How Base64 worksįundamentally, Base64 is used to encode binary data as printable text. Finally, I provide some practical examples of Base64 encoding that you will likely encounter as a sysadmin. Once I explain this simple encoding format, I will introduce the base64 command-line utility that you can use to encode and decode data.

This article walks you through the theoretical aspects of Base64 encoding. It also enables you to use Base64 encoding in your own applications and scripts. Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS security FAQĭespite Base64's ubiquity, many systems administrators have limited knowledge of how this encoding format actually works. Understanding Base64 can help you better comprehend how data is stored and used by the tools you rely on and support.

Command line decode base64