Base64 encoding and decoding has many use cases, but it’s important to understand that it’s different from encryption and decryption. While base64 encoding focuses on data usability, so it can be properly consumed, encryption focuses on data confidentiality. Instead of using online base64 encoders / decoders for your data, you could do the same from the CLI.
Prerequisites
- Base64
base64 encode
Step 1. Open Terminal and run the following command:
echo -n "devcoops.com" | base64
Expected output:
ZGV2Y29vcHMuY29t
Step 2. Encode a text file. For instance:
base64 test.txt > output_encoded_test.txt
base64 decode
Step 1. Open Terminal and run the following command:
echo -n "ZGV2Y29vcHMuY29t" | base64 --decode
Expected output:
devcoops.com
Step 2. Decode a text file.
base64 --decode output_encoded_test.txt
Conclusion
It’s as easy and simple as it gets. On a side note, openssl base64 -in <in_file> -out <out_file> is another way you could try to encode and decode data. Feel free to leave a comment below and if you find this tutorial useful, follow our official channel on Telegram.
