Linux hexdump Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to hexdump on Linux, covering Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions including hexadecimal dump, binary data inspection, and file analysis.

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Table of Contents

1. hexdump Basics
2. Hexadecimal Dump
3. Different Formats
4. File Analysis
5. Troubleshooting

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hexdump Basics

Hex Dump

Basic usage:

# Hexadecimal dump
hexdump file.txt

# Shows file in hexadecimal format

Canonical Format

Canonical hex:

# Canonical format
hexdump -C file.txt

# -C = canonical (standard hex dump format)

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Hexadecimal Dump

Default Format

Hex output:

# Default hex format
hexdump file.txt

# Shows:
# - Offset (hex)
# - Hexadecimal bytes
# - ASCII representation

Canonical Format

Standard format:

# Canonical format
hexdump -C file.txt

# Shows:
# - Offset
# - Hex bytes (16 per line)
# - ASCII representation

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Different Formats

Decimal Offset

Decimal address:

# Decimal offset
hexdump -d file.txt

# -d = decimal (offset in decimal)

One-byte Format

Single bytes:

# One-byte format
hexdump -b file.txt

# -b = bytes (one-byte octal)

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File Analysis

ASCII View

ASCII representation:

# ASCII view
hexdump -C file.txt

# -C shows ASCII on right side

Length Limit

Limit output:

# Limit length
hexdump -C -n 100 file.txt

# -n = length (first 100 bytes)

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Troubleshooting

hexdump Not Found

Check installation:

# hexdump is part of util-linux
# Usually pre-installed

# Check hexdump
which hexdump

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Summary

This guide covered hexdump usage, hexadecimal dump, and binary data analysis for Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions.

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Next Steps

• od Guide - Octal dump
• file Guide - File type detection
• stat Guide - File statistics
• hexdump Documentation: man hexdump

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This guide covers Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other Linux distributions. For distribution-specific details, refer to your distribution's documentation.