The base64 Command-Line Tool

Encode raw data using the base64 algorithm or decode base64-encoded data back to its raw representation.

Usage

base64 {subCommand} {arguments}

This tool uses subcommands to indicate which function you want to perform.
Jump to a list of the available subcommands.

Global Arguments

• --interactive — Launch the tool in interactive mode.
  This argument is not allowed to have a value. If this argument is included in a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'true'. If it is absent from a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'false'.
  
  
• -H / --help — Display usage information for this program.
  This argument is not allowed to have a value. If this argument is included in a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'true'. If it is absent from a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'false'.
  
  
• --helpSubcommands — Display the names and descriptions of the supported subcommands.
  This argument is not allowed to have a value. If this argument is included in a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'true'. If it is absent from a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'false'.
  
  
• -V / --version — Display version information for this program.
  This argument is not allowed to have a value. If this argument is included in a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'true'. If it is absent from a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'false'.
  
  
• --propertiesFilePath {path} — The path to a properties file used to specify default values for arguments not supplied on the command line.
  The specified path must refer to a file that exists.
  
  
• --generatePropertiesFile {path} — Write an empty properties file that may be used to specify default values for arguments.
  The specified path must refer to a file which may or may not exist, but whose parent directory must exist.
  
  
• --noPropertiesFile — Do not obtain any argument values from a properties file.
  This argument is not allowed to have a value. If this argument is included in a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'true'. If it is absent from a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'false'.
  
  
• --suppressPropertiesFileComment — Suppress output listing the arguments obtained from a properties file.
  This argument is not allowed to have a value. If this argument is included in a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'true'. If it is absent from a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'false'.
  
  

Exclusive Argument Sets

• The following arguments cannot be used together: --propertiesFilePath, --noPropertiesFile

Examples

• Base64-encodes the string 'Hello' and writes the result to standard output.

    base64 encode --data Hello

• Base64-decodes the data contained in the 'encoded-data.txt' file and writes the result to the 'raw-data.txt' file.

    base64 decode --inputFile encoded-data.txt --outputFile decoded-data.txt

Available Subcommands

• encode — Base64-encodes raw data.
  
  
• decode — Decodes base64-encoded data.
  
  

Usage For Subcommand encode

Base64-encodes raw data.

Arguments

• -d {data} / --data {data} — The raw data to be encoded. If neither the --data nor the --inputFile argument is provided, then the data will be read from standard input.
  
  
• -f {path} / --inputFile {path} — The path to a file containing the raw data to be encoded. If neither the --data nor the --inputFile argument is provided, then the data will be read from standard input.
  The specified path must refer to a file that exists.
  
  
• -o {path} / --outputFile {path} — The path to a file to which the encoded data should be written. If this is not provided, the encoded data will be written to standard output.
  The specified path must refer to a file which may or may not exist, but whose parent directory must exist.
  
  
• --url — Encode the data with the base64url mechanism rather than the standard base64 mechanism.
  This argument is not allowed to have a value. If this argument is included in a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'true'. If it is absent from a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'false'.
  
  
• --ignoreTrailingLineBreak — Ignore any end-of-line marker that may be present at the end of the data to encode.
  This argument is not allowed to have a value. If this argument is included in a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'true'. If it is absent from a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'false'.
  
  

Exclusive Argument Sets

• The following arguments cannot be used together: --data, --inputFile

Examples

• Base64-encodes the string 'Hello' and writes the result to standard output.

    base64 encode encode --data Hello

• Base64-encodes the data contained in the 'raw-data.txt' file and writes the result to the 'encoded-data.txt' file.

    base64 encode encode --inputFile raw-data.txt \
         --outputFile encoded-data.txt

• Base64-encodes data read from standard input and writes the result to standard output.

    base64 encode encode

Usage For Subcommand decode

Decodes base64-encoded data.

Arguments

• -d {data} / --data {data} — The base64-encoded data to be decoded. If neither the --data nor the --inputFile argument is provided, then the data will be read from standard input.
  
  
• -f {path} / --inputFile {path} — The path to a file containing the base64-encoded data to be decoded. If neither the --data nor the --inputFile argument is provided, then the data will be read from standard input.
  The specified path must refer to a file that exists.
  
  
• -o {path} / --outputFile {path} — The path to a file to which the decoded data should be written. If this is not provided, the decoded data will be written to standard output.
  The specified path must refer to a file which may or may not exist, but whose parent directory must exist.
  
  
• --url — Decode the data with the base64url mechanism rather than the standard base64 mechanism.
  This argument is not allowed to have a value. If this argument is included in a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'true'. If it is absent from a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'false'.
  
  
• --addTrailingLineBreak — Add a line break to the end of the decoded data.
  This argument is not allowed to have a value. If this argument is included in a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'true'. If it is absent from a set of arguments, then it will be assumed to have a value of 'false'.
  
  

Exclusive Argument Sets

• The following arguments cannot be used together: --data, --inputFile

Examples

• Base64-decodes the string 'SGVsbG8=' and writes the result to standard output.

    base64 decode decode --data SGVsbG8=

• Base64-decodes the data contained in the 'encoded-data.txt' file and writes the result to the 'raw-data.txt' file.

    base64 decode decode --inputFile encoded-data.txt \
         --outputFile decoded-data.txt

• Base64-decodes data read from standard input and writes the result to standard output.

    base64 decode decode