How to view files in binary from bash?

Question

I would like to view the contents of a file in the current directory, but in binary from the command line. How can I achieve this?

Solution 1

xxd does both binary and hexadecimal.

bin:

xxd -b file

hex:

xxd file

Solution 2

hexdump -C yourfile.bin

unless you want to edit it of course. Most linux distros have hexdump by default (but obviously not all).

Solution 3

vi your_filename

hit esc

Type :%!xxd to view the hex strings, the n :%!xxd -r to return to normal editing.

Solution 4

As a fallback there's always od -xc filename

Solution 5

If you want to open binary files (in CentOS 7):

strings <binary_filename>

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