Getting SHA1 Fingerprint for Google API Console

Getting SHA1 Fingerprint for Google API Console

Here is an Example of Getting SHA1 Fingerprint for Google API Console. As we all know, To use any Google API in Android we need to generate an API Key from Google API Console. This same API key can be used for accessing multiple APIs under the same project but to generate an API key we need SHA1 fingerprint of our Keystore.

Type of Keystores in Android

In Android there are two types of keystores:

1. Debug Keystore

   Debug Keystore has generated automatically when the Android SDK is installed or run for the first time.

2. Release Keystore

   Release Keystore has to be generated manually by the user for each application before release. As it requires private information such as name, password etc.

We will see how to generate both API key but first of all the question is why we need two Keystores?

As we all know SHA1 is the unique signature that depends upon the Keystore and Debug Keystore is unique for each system and it is automatically maintained by the Android SDK. So according to that if we sign a Release APK with the debug Keystore we have to update the same application with the same Keystore in future which is easy if you are working on the same machine for the lifetime but it is not practically possible. In this scenario, we will get stuck if we have to change the machine so to remove this problem we generate a Release Keystore (.jks) for each App which is transportable and we can update our application from the other machine too by using this Release Keystore.

Obtaining SHA1 Fingerprint from Android Keystore

Debug Keystore

There are two ways to get the Debug Keystore SHA1 which are using the CLI or by using Android Studio. Let’s see both ways:

Using CLI

Windows:
1. Open a terminal window.
2. Change the directory to the JDK bin directory. The path of the JDK depends upon the operating system you are using.

cd C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_121\bin

1	cd C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_121\bin

3. Now we have to run the following command using the keytool.exe file in JDK/bin

keytool -list -v -keystore "%USERPROFILE%\.android\debug.keystore" -alias androiddebugkey -storepass android -keypass android

1	keytool -list -v -keystore "%USERPROFILE%\.android\debug.keystore" -alias androiddebugkey -storepass android -keypass android

Ubuntu/Mac:
1. Open a terminal window.
2. Now run the following command

keytool -list -v -keystore ~/.android/debug.keystore -alias androiddebugkey -storepass android -keypass android

1	keytool -list -v -keystore ~/.android/debug.keystore -alias androiddebugkey -storepass android -keypass android

Using Android Studio

Release Keystore

To get the Release key CLI is the only best option we found till now.
Windows:
1. Open a terminal window.
2. Change the directory to the JDK bin directory. The path of the JDK depends upon the operating system you are using.

cd C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_121\bin

1	cd C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_121\bin

3. Now we have to run the following command using the keytool.exe file in JDK/bin

keytool -list -v -keystore {path_to_your_.jks_file} -alias {alias_name}

1	keytool -list -v -keystore {path_to_your_.jks_file} -alias {alias_name}

Ubuntu/Mac:
1. Open a terminal window.
2. Now run the following command

keytool -list -v -keystore {path_to_your_.jks_file} -alias {alias_name}

1	keytool -list -v -keystore {path_to_your_.jks_file} -alias {alias_name}

Example

keytool -list -v -keystore C:\Users\Admin\Desktop\myproject.jks -alias myproject

1	keytool -list -v -keystore C:\Users\Admin\Desktop\myproject.jks -alias myproject

It will prompt for a password.

Enter the password, you will get the SHA1 and MD5 fingerprint.