sector009 / lock_files

Python command line tool to encrypt or decrypt files using AES encryption and a common password.

lock_files

Python command line tool to encrypt or decrypt files using AES encryption and a common password.

You can use it lock files before they are uploaded to storage services like DropBox or Google Drive.

The password can be stored in a safe file, specified on the command line or it can be manually entered each time the tool is run.

Here is how you would use this tool to encrypt a number of files using a local, secure file.

$ cat >password-file
thisismysecretpassword
EOF
$ chmod 0600 password-file
$ lock_files -P ./password-file -r -v -e file1.txt file2.txt dir1 dir2

Here is how you would use this tool to decrypt a number of files.

$ lock_files -P ./password-file -r -v -d file1.txt file2.txt dir1 dir2

Here is how you would use this tool to decrypt a file, execute a program and then re-encrypt it when the program exits.

$ lock_files -P ./password --decrypt file1.txt
$ emacs file1.txt
$ lock_files -P ./password --encrypt file1.txt

The tool checks each file to make sure that it is writeable before processing. If any files are not writeable, it means that they cannot be changed so the program aborts.

Notice that the program writes the encrypted data to the same file name by default. You can override this using the -u or --unique option as follows:

$ lock_files -P ./password-file -r -v -e -u file1.txt
$ ls file1.txt*
file1.txt   file1.txt.enc

The -u option appends the .enc extension for files that are encrypted or the .dec extension for files that are decrypted. It is useful for guaranteeing that you do not overwrite the original files.

Finally, if you specify -v -v (very verbose), you will see the operations on each file.

Here is the on-line help:

usage: lock_files.py [-h] [-d | -e] [-p PASSWORD_FILE | -P PASSWORD] [-r] [-u]
                     [-v] [-V]
                     [FILES [FILES ...]]

description:
  Encrypt and decrypt files using AES encryption and a common
  password. You can use it lock files before they are uploaded to
  storage services like DropBox or Google Drive.

  The password can be stored in a safe file, specified on the command
  line or it can be manually entered each time the tool is run.
  
  Here is how you would use this tool to encrypt a number of files
  using a local, secure file.
  
     $ cat >password-file
     thisismysecretpassword
     EOF
     $ chmod 0600 password-file
     $ lock_files -P ./password-file -r -v -e file1.txt file2.txt dir1 dir2
  
  Here is how you would use this tool to decrypt a number of files.

     $ lock_files -P ./password-file -r -v -d file1.txt file2.txt dir1 dir2

  Here is how you would use this tool to decrypt a file, execute a
  program and then re-encrypt it when the program exits.

     $ lock_files -P ./password --decrypt file1.txt
     $ emacs file1.txt
     $ lock_files -P ./password --encrypt file1.txt
  
  The tool checks each file to make sure that it is writeable before
  processing. If any files are not writeable, it means that they cannot
  be changed so the program aborts.

  Notice that the program writes the encrypted data to the same file
  name by default. You can override this using the -u or --unique option
  as follows:

     $ lock_files -P ./password-file -r -v -e -u file1.txt
     $ ls file1.txt*
     file1.txt   file1.txt.enc

  The -u option appends the .enc extension for files that are encrypted
  or the .dec extension for files that are decrypted. It is useful for
  guaranteeing that you do not overwrite the original files.

  Finally, if you specify -v -v (very verbose), you will see the
  operations on each file.

positional arguments:
  FILES                 files to process

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -d, --decrypt         decrypt
  -e, --encrypt         encrypt
  -p PASSWORD_FILE, --password-file PASSWORD_FILE
                        file that contains the password, default is to prompt
  -P PASSWORD, --password PASSWORD
                        password on the command line, not secure
  -r, --recurse         recurse when directories are encountered
  -u, --unique          use a unique file name for the output files
  -v, --verbose         level of verbosity
  -V, --version         show program's version number and exit