nix3-key-generate-secret(1)

Warning: This program is experimental and its interface is subject to change.

Name

nix key generate-secret - generate a secret key for signing store paths

Synopsis

nix key generate-secret [option…]

Examples

•   Generate a new secret key:

    # nix key generate-secret --key-name cache.example.org-1 > ./secret-key

    We can then use this key to sign the closure of the Hello package:

    # nix build nixpkgs#hello
    # nix store sign --key-file ./secret-key --recursive ./result

    Finally, we can verify the store paths using the corresponding public key:

    # nix store verify --trusted-public-keys $(nix key convert-secret-to-public < ./secret-key) ./result

Description

This command generates a new Ed25519 secret key for signing store paths and prints it on standard output. Use nix key convert-secret-to-public to get the corresponding public key for verifying signed store paths.

The mandatory argument --key-name specifies a key name (such as cache.example.org-1). It is used to look up keys on the client when it verifies signatures. It can be anything, but it’s suggested to use the host name of your cache (e.g.cache.example.org`) with a suffix denoting the number of the key (to be incremented every time you need to revoke a key).

Format

Both secret and public keys are represented as the key name followed by a base-64 encoding of the Ed25519 key data, e.g.

    cache.example.org-0:E7lAO+MsPwTFfPXsdPtW8GKui/5ho4KQHVcAGnX+Tti1V4dUxoVoqLyWJ4YESuZJwQ67GVIksDt47og+tPVUZw==

Options

•   --key-name name
    Identifier of the key (e.g. cache.example.org-1).