Introduction

In this blog post, we will explore the Pass - command-line password manager, which provides a secure and convenient way to manage your passwords. We will start with the initial setup, including generating a GPG key, and then proceed to cover storing, retrieving, and removing passwords using 'pass'. We will also discuss additional tips and best practices for using 'pass' effectively.

Initial setup

🔑 Generating a GPG Key

The first step to setting up the 'pass' password manager is generating a GPG (GNU Privacy Guard) key. GPG provides encryption and decryption functionality, securing your passwords in the 'pass' password store. To generate a GPG key, use the following command:

$ gpg --gen-key

You will be prompted to enter your name and email address. Additionally, you will be asked to set a passphrase.

Note
This passphrase is crucial as it acts as the master password for all your passwords, so make sure to choose a strong and memorable passphrase.

Copy your GPG Key 6G5E33C8EDF352343243256F23FW23A06C20 from the output

pub ...
6G5E33C8EDF352343243256F23FW23A06C20

🔒 Installing pass

Next, you need to install the 'pass' password manager on your system. The installation process may vary depending on your distribution. Here are a few examples:

sudo dnf install pass # Fedora
sudo apt install pass # Debian/Ubuntu/PopOS!
...

Now your 🔒 + 🔑 are ready, so create a 'password-store'

$ pass init <GPG KEY>
# pass init 6G5E33C8EDF352343243256F23FW23A06C20

a directory .password-store will be created in your HOME, this dir stores all your passwords (that simple it is!)

Storing passwords

• Inserting your own password

You want to store your Github password but you have two personal and work accounts, do this

$ pass insert github/personal
Enter password for github/personal: ...
$ pass insert github/work
Enter password for github/work: ...

Checkout .password-store, it'll look like this

📂  .password-store
└── 📂 github
   ├── 🔑 personal.gpg
   └── 🔑 work.gpg

• Generating random password

$ pass generate github/personal

A random password will be generated and stored under the specified label.

Retrieving passwords

To retrieve your stored passwords, you will need to provide the passphrase you set during the GPG key generation. Here are two ways to retrieve passwords:

• Show password in terminal

$ pass show github/personal
YOUR_PASSWORD

• Copy password in clipboard for 45 seconds

$ pass show -c github/personal
Copied github/personal to clipboard. Will clear in 45 seconds.

Removing passwords

$ pass rm github/personal
Are you sure you would like to delete github/personal? [y/N]
removed '/home/USER/.password-store/github/personal.gpg'

Conclusion

Checkout offical website for pass https://www.passwordstore.org/ to learn more.

There are many UI interfaces available for pass, if you use GNOME I have one for you...

git clone https://github.com/Anant-mishra1729/Pass-zenity.git
cd Pass-zenity

chmod u+x pass*

mv pass* ~/.local/bin/

Remember to refer to the 'pass' documentation or run man pass in the terminal for more detailed information on additional features and advanced usage of the 'pass' command-line password manager.