Operator tip · john
Format detection
john --list=formats | rg -i sha then --format= explicitly. Wrong format = silent sadness.
Guide
John the Ripper will happily try the wrong format and report no cracked hashes while your GPU/CPU spins. Explicit formats save evenings.
Why it matters
Hash identification is its own skill (see the hash-id lab). Once you know the family, pin --format= so John does not guess wrong among similar encodings.
How-to
john --list=formats | rg -i 'sha|nt|md5' # Identify first (hashid / hash-identifier / lab notes) john --format=Raw-SHA256 hashes.txt --wordlist=rockyou.txt john --show --format=Raw-SHA256 hashes.txt
- Use the hash-id lab instincts before burning a wordlist.
- For salted formats, ensure the file layout matches what John expects.
- Keep a cheat sheet of formats you actually hit in labs.