Convert MD5 to UUID in Node.js

Hello there! As someone who spends a considerable chunk of their day immersed in code, I’ve come across various requirements, and the fascinating world of cryptography often piques my interest. Today, I’m going to take you on a journey through one such unique requirement – converting an MD5 string to UUID using Node.js. As we dive in, you’ll see how this process can become a pivotal part of your programming repertoire.

As we’ve seen in earlier posts, you can create an MD5 hash of a string and generate a hash in string type. But, what if you had to create a UUID out of it? Practical real-world use-cases can be – if you have a unique ID that you have in your database which you can map.

This implementation is for Node.js and server-side frameworks like Expressjs. In case you are looking for a JavaScript on the frontend (Javascript, React.js, Vue.js etc.,), implementation using cryptoJS module for JavaScript.

Converting an MD5 string to UUID in Node.js

In this article, we’ll explore how to convert an MD5 string to UUID using Node.js. We’ll also look at a few examples to help you understand the process better. So, without further ado, let’s get started!

import { createHash } from "crypto";

function MD5toUUID(md5Hash) {
  return (
    md5Hash.substring(0, 8) +
    "-" +
    md5Hash.substring(8, 12) +
    "-" +
    md5Hash.substring(12, 16) +
    "-" +
    md5Hash.substring(16, 20) +
    "-" +
    md5Hash.substring(20)
  ).toLowerCase();
}

const yourString = "password";
const hash = createHash("md5").update(yourString).digest("hex");

console.log(MD5toUUID(hash));

In the above code, you can see that we are passing the hash string to the MD5toUUID function, which returns the UUID value of the md5 hash.

The output of the above code will be a UUID-

5f4dcc3b-5aa7-65d6-1d83-27deb882cf99

I’m glad that you found this article to create UUID from a MD5 hash string useful. And there we have it! We’ve just explored together how to convert an MD5 string to UUID in Node.js. It’s been an interesting journey, hasn’t it? You now have a powerful tool at your disposal to efficiently handle MD5 strings in your applications. As we wrap up this enlightening adventure, remember, every coding challenge is an opportunity to learn and grow. Keep exploring, keep experimenting, and never stop coding! Happy Coding.