AA-DECODE(8)

💅 AA-DECODE 💅

okay bestie, so this is aa-decode from the AppArmor manual, section 8 (that's the sysadmin/systemy crew, iykyk). it's the lil glow-up your hex-garbled log lines have been waiting for 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

aa-decode — decode hex-encoded stuff you find chillin' in AppArmor log files 🦋

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

aa-decode [option] <HEX STRING>

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so like, aa-decode will decode hex-encoded strings — the exact kind you see staring back at you in AppArmor log output 😭 no more squinting at 2F746D702F666F6F, we're decoding that immediately, no cap.

and that's not even all of it, bestie. it will also take an audit log on standard input and convert any hex-encoded AppArmor log entries, then display them on standard output. the way that it just... handles the whole log for you? main character energy fr fr 👑

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✨ OPTIONS ✨

• --help — displays a short usage statement. like when you just need the vibe check, not the whole saga 💅

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

decode a hex string straight up: ⭐

$ aa-decode 2F746D702F666F6F20626172
Decoded: /tmp/foo bar

or pipe a whole log through it and watch the hex transform in real time 🧚

$ cat /var/log/kern.log | aa-decode
... denied_mask="r::" fsuid=1000 ouid=1000 name=/tmp/foo bar

not me being obsessed with how clean that output is 😭

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💀 BUGS 💀

None. literally none, we're thriving 🌸

but if you do find one (and like, respect for trying), please report it to gitlab at <https://gitlab.com/apparmor/apparmor/-/issues> — slide into their issues tab, they wanna know 🫶

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👀 SEE ALSO 👀

• apparmor(7)

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k bye ily, this was the aa-decode(8) page — brought to you by AppArmor 6.0.0~alpha1, dated 2026-10-05. mwah 💖✨