TARSNAP-KEYGEN(1)

💖 TARSNAP-KEYGEN 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to tarsnap-keygen(1) — that's the General Commands Manual one, from the Debian fam, and it's literally the little tool that makes your key file for tarsnap(1). it's giving "small but crucial". let's get into it 🫶

---

✨ NAME ✨

tarsnap-keygen — generate a key file for use with tarsnap(1). that's it, that's the whole job, and it does it beautifully 💅

---

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

tarsnap-keygen --keyfile key-file --user user-name --machine
               machine-name [--passphrased] [--passphrase-mem maxmem]
               [--passphrase-time maxtime]
tarsnap-keygen --version

like, look at those three required flags just standing there looking all main character 👑

---

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

tarsnap-keygen generates cryptographic keys, registers with the tarsnap server, and writes a key file for use with tarsnap(1).

no cap, that's the whole arc: make keys → register with the server → write the key file. iconic behavior honestly 🔥

🎀 the options, one by one 🎀

• --keyfile key-file — this one specifies the name of the file in which to write the newly-generated keys. it's the file, bestie. the whole point. protect it with your life 😭
• --user user-name — this specifies the name (i.e. email address) of the Tarsnap account. yes, that's your email, not your @ handle, don't get cute 🙈
• --machine machine-name — this specifies a name which will be displayed in accounting reports so that you can see how much data each machine is storing. so name it something you'll actually recognize later, like laptop-of-doom or whatever, iykyk 💜
• --passphrased — if this is specified, the user will be prompted to enter a passphrase (twice) to be used to encrypt the key file. twice! because typos in a passphrase are a whole situation. the vibe check happens on the second entry 🧚
• --passphrase-mem maxmem — if this is specified, a maximum of maxmem bytes of RAM will be used in the scrypt key derivation function to encrypt the key file. lowkey the important part: it may be necessary to set this option if a key file is being generated on a system with far more RAM than the system on which the key file will be used. so like, big machine making a key for a small machine? that's exactly when you reach for this ⭐
• --passphrase-time maxtime — if this is specified, a maximum of approximately maxtime seconds will be used in the scrypt key derivation function to encrypt the key file. approximately! don't come for the scrypt girlies over a few milliseconds 💀
• --version — this prints the version number of tarsnap-keygen, then exits. classic. slays and leaves. 👑

---

💖 reminder bestie: the key file you're generating is the whole entire point of your tarsnap setup. treat it like a diary you'd never want the group chat to read. 💖

---

🌈 the cute sign-off 🌈

this gorgeous little page comes to you courtesy of Debian, dated March 20, 2025, and it lives in the TARSNAP-KEYGEN(1) section of the manual. go forth and generate those keys, bestie — you're gonna ate ✨💅🎀