---
page_title: md5 function reference
description: |-
  The `md5` function computes the MD5 hash of a given string and encodes it
  with hexadecimal digits. Learn how to use the `md5` function in Packer templates.
---

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> [!IMPORTANT]  
> **Documentation Update:** Product documentation previously located in `/website` has moved to the [`hashicorp/web-unified-docs`](https://github.com/hashicorp/web-unified-docs) repository, where all product documentation is now centralized. Please make contributions directly to `web-unified-docs`, since changes to `/website` in this repository will not appear on developer.hashicorp.com.
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# `md5` Function

`md5` computes the MD5 hash of a given string and encodes it with
hexadecimal digits.

The given string is first encoded as UTF-8 and then the MD5 algorithm is applied
as defined in [RFC 1321](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1321). The raw hash is
then encoded to lowercase hexadecimal digits before returning.

Before using this function for anything security-sensitive, refer to
[RFC 6151](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6151) for updated security
considerations applying to the MD5 algorithm.

## Examples

```shell-session
> md5("hello world")
5eb63bbbe01eeed093cb22bb8f5acdc3
```