MySQL in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Name

DES_ENCRYPT()

Synopsis

DES_ENCRYPT(string, [key])

This function returns encrypted text using the triple DES algorithm with a 128-bit key length. It returns NULL if an error occurs. The function is available as of version 4.0.1 of MySQL.

This function requires MySQL to be configured for SSL support. In addition, a key file must be created and the mysqld daemon must be started with the --des-key-file option. The key file should be set up with a separate key string on each line. Each line should begin with a single-digit number (0–9) as an index, followed by a space before the key string (e.g., key_number des_string).

The key given as the second argument to the function can either be the actual key to use for encryption or a number that refers to a key in the key file. If the second argument is omitted, the function uses the first key in the key file:

UPDATE orders
SET credit_card_nbr = DES_ENCRYPT('4011-7839-1234-4321')
WHERE order_nbr = '8347';

The results of this function can be reversed with DES_DECRYPT().