Symmetric encryption with GnuPG 2

2012-09-19 sysadmin gnupg encryption

I use these commands to symmetrically encrypt files with GnuPG 2. Sometimes you just need to get away from all this private/public key business.

Install gnupg2 with your favorite package manager, then type the following commands. It will prompt for the encryption password:

# Encrypt "file.txt" to "file.txt.gpg".
gpg2 -c -a --force-mdc --batch -o file.txt.gpg file.txt

# Decrypt "file.txt.gpg" to "file.txt".
gpg2 -d --batch -o file.txt file.txt.gpg

If you want to get the password from a file, use these:

# Encrypt "file.txt" to "file.txt.gpg".
gpg2 -c -a --force-mdc --batch \
  --passphrase-file passphrase.txt \
  -o file.txt.gpg file.txt

# Decrypt "file.txt.gpg" to "file.txt".
gpg2 -d --batch \
  --passphrase-file passphrase.txt \
  -o file.txt file.txt.gpg

May your files be secure.

GnuPG 2.x