Base64 encoding is a common method for representing binary data in ASCII string format. We leverage this in our JSON configurations for passphrases but base64 encoding is used everywhere.
Encoding
We can use the base64 command to encode a string from your linux terminal:
echo -n 'This is a test!' | base64
VGhpcyBpcyBhIHRlc3Qhencoding This is a test! the base64 output is: VGhpcyBpcyBhIHRlc3Qh
In this example, we pipe the result to the base64 command, which performs the encoding. Notice, we used the -n flag with echo to prevent adding a trailing newline character to the string before performing the Base64 encoding. Alternatively, we can replace echo with printf to get the same output without extra switches.
printf 'This is a test!' | base64
VGhpcyBpcyBhIHRlc3QhYou can see its the same output
Decoding
We can still use the base64 command to decode a string from your linux terminal but we just use the -d:
base64 -d <<< VGhpcyBpcyBhIHRlc3Qh
This is a test!Here we obtain the original string from the encoded version.
Alternative is use openssl
You can use the openssl command, which offers a wide range of functions, including the base64 subcommand for encoding and decoding strings
Encode using openssl
openssl base64 <<< 'This is a test!'
VGhpcyBpcyBhIHRlc3QhCg==Decode using openssl
openssl base64 -d <<< VGhpcyBpcyBhIHRlc3QhCg==
This is a test!What’s the difference?
I have had more luck and more accuracy using base64 with openssl
