scrypt(1)

SCRYPT(1) General Commands Manual SCRYPT(1)

NAME

scrypt — encrypt and decrypt files.

SYNOPSIS

scrypt {enc | dec | info} [-f] [--logN value] [-M maxmem] [-m maxmemfrac] [-P] [-p value] [--passphrase method:arg] [-r value] [-t maxtime] [-v] infile [outfile]
scrypt --version

DESCRIPTION

scrypt enc encrypts infile and writes the result to outfile if specified, or the standard output otherwise. The user will be prompted to enter a passphrase (twice) to be used to generate a derived encryption key.

scrypt dec decrypts infile and writes the result to outfile if specified, or the standard output otherwise. The user will be prompted to enter the passphrase used at encryption time to generate the derived encryption key.

scrypt info provides information about the encryption parameters used for infile.

If -P is not given, scrypt reads passphrases from its controlling terminal, or failing that, from stdin. Prompts are only printed when scrypt is reading passphrases from some terminal. If -P is given, then scrypt does not print any prompts, and reads a passphrase from stdin.

OPTIONS
-f

Force the decryption to proceed even if it is anticipated to require an excessive amount of memory or CPU time.

--logN value

Set the work parameter N to 2ˆvalue. If --logN is set, -r and -p must also be set. If such explicit parameters are given, the resource limits set by -M, -m, and -t are not enforced.

-M maxmem

Use at most maxmem bytes of RAM to compute the derived encryption key.

-m maxmemfrac

Use at most the fraction maxmemfrac of the available RAM to compute the derived encryption key.

-P

Always read passphrase from stdin, and do so only once even when encrypting. This cannot be used if infile is also stdin (aka ’-’).

-p value

Set the work parameter p to value. If -p is set, --logN and -r must also be set. If such explicit parameters are given, the resource limits set by -M, -m, and -t are not enforced.

--passphrase method:arg

Read the passphrase using the specified method.

dev:tty-stdin

Attempt to read the passphrase from /dev/tty; if that fails, read it from stdin. This is the default behaviour.

dev:stdin-once

Attempt to read the passphrase from stdin, and do so only once even when encrypting. This cannot be used if infile is also stdin (aka ’-’).

dev:tty-once

Attempt to read the passphrase from /dev/tty, and do so only once even when encrypting.

env:VAR

Read the passphrase from the environment variable specified by VAR.

Storing a passphrase in an environment variable may be a security risk. Only use this option if you are certain that you know what you are doing.

file:FILENAME

Read the passphrase from the file specified by FILENAME.

Storing a passphrase in a file may be a security risk. Only use this option if you are certain that you know what you are doing.

-r value

Set the work parameter r to value. If -r is set, --logN and -p must also be set. If such explicit parameters are given, the resource limits set by -M, -m, and -t are not enforced.

-t maxtime

Use at most maxtime seconds of CPU time to compute the derived encryption key.

--v

Print encryption parameters (N, r, p) and memory/cpu limits.

--version

Print version of scrypt, and exit.

In scrypt enc, the memory and CPU time limits are enforced by picking appropriate parameters to the scrypt key derivation function. In scrypt dec, the memory and CPU time limits are enforced by exiting with an error if decrypting the file would require too much memory or CPU time.

EXIT STATUS

The scrypt utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

Note that if the input encrypted file is corrupted, scrypt dec may produce output prior to determining that the input was corrupt and exiting with a non-zero status; so users should direct the output to a safe location and check the exit status of scrypt before using the decrypted data.

ALGORITHM PARAMETERS

The scrypt algorithm has three tuneable work parameters: N, r, p. When decrypting, scrypt will always use the values specified by the encryption header. When encrypting, scrypt will choose appropriate values based on your system’s speed and memory (influenced by -M, -m, and/or -t), unless you specify explicit parameters via --logN, -p, -r.

SEE ALSO
Colin Percival

,

Stronger Key Derivation via Sequential Memory-Hard Functions ,
BSDCan’09 ,
May 2009 .

Colin Percival

and

Simon Josefsson ,
The scrypt Password-Based Key Derivation Function ,
IETF RFC 7914 ,
August 2016 .

HISTORY

The scrypt utility was written in May 2009 by Colin Percival as a demonstration of the scrypt key derivation function. The scrypt key derivation function was invented in March 2009 by Colin Percival in order to allow key files from the Tarsnap backup system to be passphrase protected. GNU @DATE@ SCRYPT(1)