Choosing a Key

Use a strong password, if you're planning to use an entered one.

dd can provide a suitable keyfile if you'd prefer a higher level of security:

dd if=/dev/urandom of=keyfile bs=1 count=4096 for a 4kb random keyfile

If you lose your file's key/keyfile, there is no recovering the encrypted data. This is not unique to Dexios - it's the nature of encryption as a whole.

Key Inputs

The priority is as follows:

  1. First, Dexios will check for whether or not you have specified a keyfile (via -k or --keyfile)
  2. If no keyfile is detected, it will look for the DEXIOS_KEY environment variable
  3. If neither of the above are found, you will be shown a prompt to enter a password manually

The priority above is thrown out of the window if -p is specified, as this will prompt you for a password (even if the environment variable is set).