For symmetic encryption, you can use the following:
To encrypt:
openssl aes-256-cbc -salt -a -e -in plaintext.txt -out encrypted.txt
To decrypt:
openssl aes-256-cbc -salt -a -d -in encrypted.txt -out plaintext.txt
For Asymmetric encryption you must first generate your private key and extract the public key.
openssl genrsa -aes256 -out private.key 2048
openssl rsa -in private.key -pubout -out public.key
To encrypt:
openssl pkeyutl -encrypt -pubin -inkey public.key -in plaintext.txt -out encrypted.txt
To decrypt:
openssl pkeyutl -decrypt -inkey private.key -in encrypted.txt -out plaintext.txt
You can't directly encrypt a large file using pkeyutl. Instead, do the following:
- Generate a key using
openssl rand, e.g.openssl rand -out keyfile 32. - Encrypt the key file using
openssl pkeyutl. - Encrypt the data using
openssl enc, using the generated key from step 1. - Package the encrypted key file with the encrypted data. The recipient will need to decrypt the key with their private key, then decrypt the data with the resulting key.
Ultimate solution for safe and high secured encode anyone file in OpenSSL and command-line:
Private key generation (encrypted private key):
openssl genrsa -aes256 -out private.pem 2048
openssl rsa -in private.pem -pubout -out public.pem
With unecrypted private key:
openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 100000 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout private_key.pem -out certificate.pem
With encrypted private key:
openssl req -x509 -days 100000 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout private_key.pem -out certificate.pem
With existing encrypted (unecrypted) private key:
openssl req -x509 -new -days 100000 -key private_key.pem -out certificate.pem
Encrypt binary file:
openssl smime -encrypt -binary -aes-256-cbc -in plainfile.zip -out encrypted.zip.enc -outform DER yourSslCertificate.pem
Encrypt text file:
openssl smime -encrypt -aes-256-cbc -in input.txt -out output.txt -outform DER yourSslCertificate.pem
What is what:
smime— ssl command for S/MIME utility (smime(1)).-encrypt— chosen method for file process.-binary— use safe file process. Normally the input message is converted to "canonical" format as required by the S/MIME specification, this switch disable it. It is necessary for all binary files (like a images, sounds, ZIP archives).-aes-256-cbc— chosen cipher AES in 256 bit for encryption (strong). If not specified 40 bit RC2 is used (very weak). (Supported ciphers).-in plainfile.zip— input file name.-out encrypted.zip.enc— output file name.-outform DER— encode output file as binary. If is not specified, file is encoded by base64 and file size will be increased by 30%.yourSslCertificate.pem— file name of your certificate's. That should be in PEM format.
That command can very effectively a strongly encrypt any file regardless of its size or format.
Decrypt binary file:
openssl smime -decrypt -binary -in encrypted.zip.enc -inform DER -out decrypted.zip -inkey private.key -passin pass:your_password
For text files:
openssl smime -decrypt -in encrypted_input.txt -inform DER -out decrypted_input.zip -inkey private.key -passin pass:your_password
What is what:
-inform DER— same as-outformabove.-inkey private.key— file name of your private key. That should be in PEM format and can be encrypted by password.-passin pass:your_password— (optional) your password for private key encrypt.
Creating a signed digest of a file:
openssl dgst -sha512 -sign private_key.pem -out digest.sha512 file.txt
Verify a signed digest:
openssl dgst -sha512 -verify public_key.pem -signature digest.sha512 file.txt
- http://bsdsupport.org/2007/01/q-how-do-i-use-openssl-to-encrypt-files/
- http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7143514/how-to-encrypt-a-large-file-in-openssl-using-public-key
- http://www.madboa.com/geek/openssl/
- http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5140425/openssl-command-line-to-verify-the-signature
- http://www.openssl.org/docs/apps/openssl.html#PASS_PHRASE_ARGUMENTS
@antofthy Thank you for the info!
Yes, this write-up is from 2016, and now obsolete. I've been using this method to encrypt some secrets during deployment, but now there are out-of-the-box solutions, like Rails Credentials and Ansible Vault. So I've stopped doing "manual" encryption a while ago.