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age/doc/age-plugin-batchpass.1.ronn
2025-12-24 12:35:15 +01:00

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age-plugin-batchpass(1) -- non-interactive passphrase encryption plugin for age(1)
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## SYNOPSIS
`age` `-e` `-j` `batchpass`<br>
`age` `-d` `-j` `batchpass`<br>
## DESCRIPTION
`age-plugin-batchpass` is an age(1) plugin that enables non-interactive
passphrase-based encryption and decryption using environment variables.
## WARNING
This functionality is not built into the age CLI because most applications
should use native keys instead of scripting passphrase-based encryption.
Humans are notoriously bad at remembering and generating strong passphrases.
age uses scrypt to partially mitigate this, which is necessarily very slow.
If a computer will be doing the remembering anyway, you can and should use
native keys instead. There is no need to manage separate public and private
keys, you encrypt directly to the private key:
$ age-keygen -o key.txt
$ age -e -i key.txt file.txt > file.txt.age
$ age -d -i key.txt file.txt.age > file.txt
Likewise, you can store a native identity string in an environment variable
or through your CI secrets manager and use it to encrypt and decrypt files
non-interactively:
$ export AGE_SECRET=$(age-keygen)
$ age -e -i <(echo "$AGE_SECRET") file.txt > file.txt.age
$ age -d -i <(echo "$AGE_SECRET") file.txt.age > file.txt
The age CLI also natively supports passphrase-encrypted identity files, so you
can use that functionality to non-interactively encrypt multiple files such that
you will be able to decrypt them later by entering the same passphrase:
$ age-keygen -pq | age -p -o encrypted-identity.txt
Public key: age1pq1cd[... 1950 more characters ...]
Enter passphrase (leave empty to autogenerate a secure one):
age: using autogenerated passphrase "eternal-erase-keen-suffer-fog-exclude-huge-scorpion-escape-scrub"
$ age -r age1pq1cd[... 1950 more characters ...] file.txt > file.txt.age
$ age -d -i encrypted-identity.txt file.txt.age > file.txt
Enter passphrase for identity file "encrypted-identity.txt":
Finally, when using this plugin care should be taken not to let the password be
persisted in the shell history or leaked to other users on multi-user systems.
## ENVIRONMENT
* `AGE_PASSPHRASE`:
The passphrase to use for encryption or decryption.
Mutually exclusive with `AGE_PASSPHRASE_FD`.
* `AGE_PASSPHRASE_FD`:
A file descriptor number to read the passphrase from.
Trailing newlines are stripped from the file contents.
Mutually exclusive with `AGE_PASSPHRASE`.
* `AGE_PASSPHRASE_WORK_FACTOR`:
The scrypt work factor to use when encrypting.
Must be between 1 and 30. Default is 18.
Higher values are more secure but slower.
* `AGE_PASSPHRASE_MAX_WORK_FACTOR`:
The maximum scrypt work factor to accept when decrypting.
Must be between 1 and 30. Default is 30.
Can be used to avoid very slow decryptions.
## EXAMPLES
Encrypt a file with a passphrase:
$ AGE_PASSPHRASE=secret age -e -j batchpass file.txt > file.txt.age
Decrypt a file with a passphrase:
$ AGE_PASSPHRASE=secret age -d -j batchpass file.txt.age > file.txt
Read the passphrase from a file descriptor:
$ AGE_PASSPHRASE_FD=3 age -e -j batchpass file.txt 3< passphrase.txt > file.txt.age
## SEE ALSO
age(1)
## AUTHORS
Filippo Valsorda <age@filippo.io>