How to use Microsoft Windows Powershell to find the checksum values of RSA Authentication Manager files

[#1]

Article Number

000036444

Applies To

RSA Product Set: SecurID
RSA Product/Service Type: Authentication Manager

Issue

This article explains how to use Microsoft Windows Powershell to find the checksum of Authentication Manager patch files.

Resolution

To find the checksum of a file,

1. Open Windows Powershell on a supported Windows operating system.  From the Start button type PowerShell and then select the Windows PowerShell option in the search results.
2. Make a note of the complete file path of the file for which the checksum or hash needs verification.   For example, if rsa-am-update-8.3.0.0.0.zip downloaded to C:\Users\jdoe\Downloads, then the full file path is C:\Users\jdoe\Downloads\rsa-am-update-8.3.0.0.0.zip.
3. Issue the command get-filehash <full file path> -algorithm <algorithm type> | format-list within Powershell:

• For SHA256:

PS C:\Users\jdoe> get-filehash C:\users\jdoe\Downloads\rsa-am-update-8.3.0.0.0.zip -algorithm SHA256 | format-list

Algorithm : SHA256
Hash      : 1941D0CBEDCDA4E224087D5BA8C45EA8090DAB74708C13CB0B9ABF75E7E7646A
Path      : C:\Users\jdoe\Downloads\rsa-am-update-8.3.0.0.0.zip

• For SHA1:

PS C:\Users\jdoe> get-filehash C:\users\jdoe\Downloads\rsa-am-update-8.3.0.0.0.zip -algorithm SHA1 | format-list 
Algorithm : SHA1
Hash      : 027E1967822CC679E5B0A93EBECB08C6DCCBA648
Path      : C:\Users\jdoe\Downloads\rsa-am-update-8.3.0.0.0.zip

• For MD5:

PS C:\Users\jdoe> get-filehash c:\users\prasas33\Downloads\rsa-am-update-8.3.0.0.0.zip -algorithm md5 | format-list

Algorithm : MD5
Hash      : D13CA84A124D2F4DEEE570E6568FA117
Path      : C:\Users\XXXX\Downloads\rsa-am-update-8.3.0.0.0.zip

Notes

• When a checksum algorithm is used, even a tiny change to the file will result in a completely different checksum value.
• If for whatever reason, there is a tampering of the files this will lead to two different computed hashes.  The matched hashes will confirm the integrity of the file.