How do I calculate md5sum for a variable?

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How to get the MD5 hash of a string directly in the terminal?

I have a given variable and I have to calculate its md5sum. I have tried with "md5sum $variable", but it doesn't work.

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 14 '11 at 16:05

3

md5sum takes filenames as parameters.

Iif you have a string you want to calculate the hash of, you need to pass it to md5sum's standard input via a pipe:

echo -n $variable | md5sum

(-n to suppress adding a newline)

edited Dec 14 '11 at 16:05

Caesium

answered Dec 10 '11 at 19:46

tumbleweed

not -e, but -n – arrange Dec 10 '11 at 19:51
Also, you need to quote "$variable", otherwise leading and trailing spaces are not taken into account, as multiple consecutive spaces inside the content of variable. – enzotib Dec 10 '11 at 21:30

Alexandre · Answer 2 · 2011-12-21T21:48:46.647

0

I think you could try this:

echo -n "$VARIABLE" | md5sum

As suggested in comments, echo -n should will not add a new line. Also, using quotes will keep new lines as in original content.

edited Dec 21 '11 at 21:48

answered Dec 10 '11 at 19:55

Alexandre

echo will append a trailing newline then, use echo -n $VAR instead. – math Dec 14 '11 at 16:41

2 Answers2