| --base64 | same as 'base64' program (RFC4648 section 4) |
| --base64url | file- and url-safe base64 (RFC4648 section 5) |
| --base32 | same as 'base32' program (RFC4648 section 6) |
| --base32hex | extended hex alphabet base32 (RFC4648 section 7) |
| --base16 | hex encoding (RFC4648 section 8) |
| --base2msbf | bit string with most significant bit (msb) first |
| --base2lsbf | bit string with least significant bit (lsb) first |
| -d--decode | decode data |
| -i--ignore-garbage | when decoding, ignore non-alphabet characters |
| -w--wrap | wrap encoded lines after COLS character (default 76). Use 0 to disable line wrapping |
| --z85 | ascii85-like encoding (ZeroMQ spec:32/Z85); when encoding, input length must be a multiple of 4; when decoding, input length must be a multiple of 5 |
| --help | display this help and exit |
| --version | output version information and exit |
NAME
basenc - Encode/decode data and print to standard output
SYNOPSIS
basenc [OPTION]... [FILE]
DESCRIPTION
basenc encode or decode FILE, or standard input, to standard output.
With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
- --base64
same as 'base64' program (RFC4648 section 4)
- --base64url
file- and url-safe base64 (RFC4648 section 5)
- --base32
same as 'base32' program (RFC4648 section 6)
- --base32hex
extended hex alphabet base32 (RFC4648 section 7)
- --base16
hex encoding (RFC4648 section 8)
- --base2msbf
bit string with most significant bit (msb) first
- --base2lsbf
bit string with least significant bit (lsb) first
- -d, --decode
decode data
- -i, --ignore-garbage
when decoding, ignore non-alphabet characters
- -w, --wrap=COLS
wrap encoded lines after COLS character (default 76). Use 0 to disable line wrapping
- --z85
ascii85-like encoding (ZeroMQ spec:32/Z85); when encoding, input length must be a multiple of 4; when decoding, input length must be a multiple of 5
- --help
display this help and exit
- --version
output version information and exit
When decoding, the input may contain newlines in addition to the bytes of the formal alphabet. Use --ignore-garbage to attempt to recover from any other non-alphabet bytes in the encoded stream.
ENCODING EXAMPLES
$ printf '\376\117\202' | basenc --base64
/k+C
$ printf '\376\117\202' | basenc --base64url
_k-C
$ printf '\376\117\202' | basenc --base32
7ZHYE===
$ printf '\376\117\202' | basenc --base32hex
VP7O4===
$ printf '\376\117\202' | basenc --base16
FE4F82
$ printf '\376\117\202' | basenc --base2lsbf
011111111111001001000001
$ printf '\376\117\202' | basenc --base2msbf
111111100100111110000010
$ printf '\376\117\202\000' | basenc --z85
@.FaCAUTHOR
Written by Simon Josefsson and Assaf Gordon.
REPORTING BUGS
GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/> Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
SEE ALSO
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/basenc> or available locally via: info '(coreutils) basenc invocation'
Packaged by Debian (9.7-3) Copyright © 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.