ENCFSCTL(1)

💖 NAME 💖

Okay bestie, meet encfsctl(1) — the administrative tool for working with EncFS filesystems. It's giving “group-chat admin with root access” energy. 👑

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

encfsctl [command command_args]

encfsctl [info] rootdir

encfsctl passwd rootdir

encfsctl showcruft rootdir

encfsctl decode [--extpass=prog] rootdir [encoded name ...]

encfsctl encode [--extpass=prog] rootdir [plaintext name ...]

encfsctl cat [--extpass=prog] [--reverse] rootdir <(cipher|plain) filename>

That's the whole command menu, no cap. 🎀

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So encfsctl is the administrative bestie for working with EncFS filesystems. It's literally capable of changing the user supplied password, displaying basic information about an encrypted volume, and handling other related operations. Main character admin energy. 💅

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👑 COMMANDS 👑

• info — Displays basic information about the filesystem. It takes a single argument, rootdir, which is the root directory of the encrypted filesystem. The filesystem does not need to be mounted. Also, info is the default command if you only give a root directory on the command line. Lowkey convenient. ✨
• passwd — Lets you change the password of the encrypted filesystem. The user will be prompted for the existing password and the new password. Password glow-up time. 🔐
• showcruft — Recursively searches through the entire volume and displays all files which are not decodable. It only checks filename encoding, not block MAC headers. This might be useful for cleanup in case you've made use of features which create files which are not decodable under the primary key. Cruft inspection, but make it cute. 🧹
• decode — Lets you specify an encoded name on the command line, and displays the decoded version. This is mostly useful for debugging, as debug messages always display encrypted filenames — to avoid leaking sensitive data through the debug channels. So this command provides a way to decode the filenames. Big “decode the group chat” energy. 🕵️‍♀️
  • --extpass=prog — Use this option to specify the program which returns the password — just like with encfs.
  • If no names are specified on the command line, then a list of filenames will be read from stdin and decoded.
• encode — Lets you specify a filename on the command line, and displays its encoded version. This is useful if e.g. you are taking a backup of an encrypted directory and would like to exclude some files. Backup brain activated. 🧠
  • --extpass=prog — Use this option to specify the program which returns the password — just like with encfs.
  • If no names are specified on the command line, then a list of filenames will be read from stdin and encoded.
• cat — Decodes and cats the content of an encrypted file. The filename can be given in a plain or ciphered form. With --reverse, the file content will instead be encrypted. Cat content, but make it cryptographic. 🐈
  • --reverse — Encrypts the file content instead of decoding it.

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

Show information about an encrypted filesystem:

 % encfsctl info ~/.crypt

 Version 5 configuration; created by EncFS 1.1 (revision 20040504)
 Filesystem cipher: "ssl/aes" , version 2:1:1
 Filename encoding: "nameio/block" , version 3:0:1
 Key Size: 192 bits
 Block Size: 512 bytes
 Each file contains 8 byte header with unique IV data.
 Filesname encoded using IV chaining mode.

Look at that output slaying in the terminal. 📟✨

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🫶 DISCLAIMER 🫶

Important tea, bestie: this library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Please refer to the "COPYING" file distributed with encfs for complete details. Legal-ish, but make it clear. 💀

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💜 AUTHORS 💜

EncFS was written by Valient Gough <vgough@pobox.com>. Iconic. 🫶

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⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

• encfs(1) — go read that too, bestie. Iykyk. 💖

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🎀 That's the encfsctl(1) tea: version 1.9.5, dated 2025-05-12, from the Encrypted Filesystem manual. Stay encrypted and slay! 💅✨