README.md

secrets-nix-example

This is an example of my nix-secrets repository, used in nixos-config. It uses agenix to manage encrypting and decrypting your sensitive data.

To get started, you need a set of SSH keys that will persist between installations.

You'll want to keep them secure and available in the event you're forced to reinstall the OS.

How I manage keys

I first created an EdDSA public/private key pair to use for agenix, and then I age encrypted them to a set of three Yubikeys I use in my daily life. In this way, they're backed up and the key to read them is stored away in something secure I'm already using.

If I wanted, I could also probably store the encrypted keys as paper. But I prefer the Yubikey approach.

Here are the steps I took to create secrets from Yubikeys.

Yubikeys

Encrypt keys to multiple Yubikeys

I used this to encrypt my "bootstrap" keys to a set of Yubikeys. From my nixos-config working directory:

Bring in age and yubikey related tools. This is currently defined here.

nix develop

Export yubikey identities.

age-plugin-yubikey --identity > identities

This cryptic shit makes the identities suitable for use in the next step. ChatGPT wrote it.

identities=$(cat identities | grep Recipient | sed -e "s/ //g" | cut -d':' -f2 | sed -e 's/^age\(.*\)/ -r age\1/g'  | tr -d '\n')

Encrypt the key to an age file.

age $identities -o id_ed25519_agenix.age id_ed25519_agenix

Decrypt using Yubikey

I used this to read keys for the initial bootstrap. I delete the decrypted keys after use.

age-plugin-yubikey --identity > identity 2>/dev/null

cat id_ed25519_agenix.age | age -d -i identity