Password Store with GPG and Git

2024-03-21T00:00:00+00:00

🚀 Problem & Solution

📌 Context / Backstory

We needed a secure way to manage passwords and secrets across multiple servers and team members. Commercial password managers were either too complex, costly, or required external services we wanted to avoid.

⚠️ The Problem

Managing secrets across systems and teams presents several challenges:

Keeping passwords secure yet accessible
Tracking changes and maintaining history
Sharing secrets securely between team members
Avoiding dependency on external services

💡 The Solution

We implemented password-store with GPG encryption and Git integration, providing:

Secure GPG encryption for all secrets
Git-based version control and distribution
Fully local operation with no external dependencies
Command-line interface for automation

👥 Who This Helps

System administrators managing multiple servers
DevOps teams handling shared credentials
Security-conscious users wanting local password management
Teams needing version-controlled secrets

⚙️ Technical Implementation

Let's visualize the password-store workflow:

1️⃣ Generating GPG Keys in Batch Mode

For automated environments:

cat > gpg-server-key.conf <<EOF
%no-protection
Key-Type: default
Subkey-Type: default
Name-Real: Server Automation Key
Name-Email: server@example.com
Expire-Date: 0
%commit
EOF

gpg --batch --generate-key gpg-server-key.conf

2️⃣ Setting Up the Environment

export PASSWORD_STORE_GPG_OPTS="--armor"
export GNUPGHOME=/etc/password-store/.gnupg
export PASSWORD_STORE_DIR=/etc/password-store/store

3️⃣ Initializing the Password Store

mkdir -p "$GNUPGHOME" "$PASSWORD_STORE_DIR"
chmod 700 "$GNUPGHOME" "$PASSWORD_STORE_DIR"
pass init server@example.com

4️⃣ Git Integration

cd "$PASSWORD_STORE_DIR"
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial password store"
git remote add origin git@example.com:secrets.git
git push -u origin main

🛠️ Troubleshooting & Debugging

Ensure proper GPG key permissions (700 for directories, 600 for files)
Verify GPG recipient when encryption fails
Check Git remote access rights for sync issues
Monitor Git conflicts when multiple users update simultaneously

🔁 Optimizations & Alternatives

Consider using GPG agent for improved key handling
Implement Git hooks for pre-commit validation
Use Git branches for testing password updates
Consider pass extensions for additional features

✅ Conclusion & Takeaways

Using GPG with password-store provides a flexible, secure, and lightweight method for managing secrets across machines. With Git integration, you get version history, team sharing, and distributed backup—without compromising security.

💬 Comments & Next Steps

How do you manage shared secrets in your infrastructure? Share your experience or ask questions below!

nunogrl.com - secrets-management