sops-nix/README.md

# sops-nix

![sops-nix logo](https://github.com/Mic92/sops-nix/releases/download/assets/logo.gif "Logo of sops-nix")

Atomic, declarative, and reproducible secret provisioning for NixOS based on [sops](https://github.com/mozilla/sops).

## How it works

Secrets are decrypted from [`sops` files](https://github.com/mozilla/sops#2usage) during
activation time. The secrets are access-controlled by by full declarative configuration of their users, permissions, and groups.
It can use `age`, GPG, or SSH keys for decryption. 
In the future, we will also support cloud key management APIs such as AWS
KMS, GCP KMS, Azure Key Vault and Hashicorp Vault.

## Features

- Compatible with all NixOS deployment frameworks: [NixOps](https://github.com/NixOS/nixops), nixos-rebuild, [krops](https://github.com/krebs/krops/), [morph](https://github.com/DBCDK/morph), [nixus](https://github.com/Infinisil/nixus), etc.
- Version-control friendly: Since all files are encrypted they can directly committed to version control without worry. Diffs of the secrets are readable, and [can be shown in cleartext](https://github.com/mozilla/sops#showing-diffs-in-cleartext-in-git).
- CI friendly: Since sops files can be added to the Nix store without leaking secrets, a machine definition can be built as a whole from a repository, without needing to rely on external secrets or services.
- Works well in teams: sops-nix comes with `nix-shell` hooks that allows multiple people to quickly import all keys.
  The cryptography used in sops is designed to be scalable: Secrets are only encrypted once with a master key
  instead of each machine/developer key.
- Atomic upgrades: New secrets are written to a new directory which replaces the old directory atomically.
- Rollback support: If sops files are added to the Nix store, old secrets can be rolled back. This is optional.
- Fast time-to-deploy: Unlike solutions implemented by NixOps, krops and morph, no extra steps are required to upload secrets.
- A variety of storage formats: Secrets can be stored in YAML, JSON or binary.
- Minimizes configuration errors: sops files are checked against the configuration at evaluation time.

## Demo

There is a `configuration.nix` example in the [deployment step](#deploy-example) of our usage example.

## Supported encryption methods

sops-nix supports two basic ways of encryption, GPG and age. 

GPG is based on [GnuPG](https://gnupg.org/) and encrypts against GPG public keys. Private GPG keys may
be used to decrypt the secrets on the target machine. The tool [`ssh-to-pgp`](https://github.com/Mic92/ssh-to-pgp) can
be used to derive a GPG key from a SSH (host) key in RSA format.

The other method is age which is based on [age](https://github.com/FiloSottile/age).
The tool ([`ssh-to-age`](https://github.com/Mic92/ssh-to-age)) can convert SSH host or user keys in Ed25519
format to age keys.

## Usage example

<details>
<summary><b>1. Install nix-sops</b></summary>

Choose one of the following methods:

#### [niv](https://github.com/nmattia/niv) (Current recommendation)
  First add it to niv:
  
```console
$ niv add Mic92/sops-nix
```

  Then add the following to your `configuration.nix` in the `imports` list:
  
```nix
{
  imports = [ "${(import ./nix/sources.nix).sops-nix}/modules/sops" ];
}
```
  
#### nix-channel

  As root run:
  
```console
$ nix-channel --add https://github.com/Mic92/sops-nix/archive/master.tar.gz sops-nix
$ nix-channel --update
```
  
  Then add the following to your `configuration.nix` in the `imports` list:
  
```nix
{
  imports = [ <sops-nix/modules/sops> ];
}
```

#### fetchTarball

  Add the following to your `configuration.nix`:

``` nix
{
  imports = [ "${builtins.fetchTarball "https://github.com/Mic92/sops-nix/archive/master.tar.gz"}/modules/sops" ];
}
```
  
  or with pinning:
  
```nix
{
  imports = let
    # replace this with an actual commit id or tag
    commit = "298b235f664f925b433614dc33380f0662adfc3f";
  in [ 
    "${builtins.fetchTarball {
      url = "https://github.com/Mic92/sops-nix/archive/${commit}.tar.gz";
      # replace this with an actual hash
      sha256 = "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000";
    }}/modules/sops"
  ];
}
```
  
#### Flakes

If you use experimental nix flakes support:

``` nix
{
  inputs.sops-nix.url = github:Mic92/sops-nix;
  # optional, not necessary for the module
  #inputs.sops-nix.inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
  
  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, sops-nix }: {
    # change `yourhostname` to your actual hostname
    nixosConfigurations.yourhostname = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      # customize to your system
      system = "x86_64-linux";
      modules = [
        ./configuration.nix
        sops-nix.nixosModules.sops
      ];
    };
  };
}
```

</details>

<details>
<summary><b>2. Generate a key for yourself</b></summary>

This key will be used for you to edit secrets.

You can generate yourself a key:
```console
# for age
$ mkdir -p ~/.config/sops/age
$ age-keygen -o ~/.config/sops/age/keys.txt
# to convert an ssh ed25519 key to an age key
$ mkdir -p ~/.config/sops/age
$ nix-shell -p ssh-to-age --run "ssh-to-age -private-key -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 > ~/.config/sops/age/keys.txt"
# for GPG >= version 2.1.17
$ gpg --full-generate-key
# for GPG < 2.1.17
$ gpg --default-new-key-algo rsa4096 --gen-key
```

Or you can use the `ssh-to-pgp` tool to get a GPG key from an SSH key: 
```console
$ nix-shell -p gnupg -p ssh-to-pgp --run "ssh-to-pgp -private-key -i $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa | gpg --import --quiet"
2504791468b153b8a3963cc97ba53d1919c5dfd4
# This exports the public key
$ nix-shell -p ssh-to-pgp --run "ssh-to-pgp -i $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa -o $USER.asc"
2504791468b153b8a3963cc97ba53d1919c5dfd4
```
(Note that `ssh-to-pgp` currently only supports RSA keys.)  
If you get the following,
```console
ssh-to-pgp: failed to parse private ssh key: ssh: this private key is passphrase protected
```
then your SSH key is encrypted with your password and you will need to create an unencrypted copy temporarily.
```console
$ cp $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa /tmp/id_rsa
$ ssh-keygen -p -N "" -f /tmp/id_rsa
$ nix-shell -p gnupg -p ssh-to-pgp --run "ssh-to-pgp -private-key -i /tmp/id_rsa | gpg --import --quiet"
$ rm /tmp/id_rsa
```

You can also use your existing SSH key as an age key.

<details>
<summary> How to find the age public key </summary>

If you generated an age key, the age public key can be found via `age-keygen -y $PATH_TO_KEY`:
```console
$ age-keygen -y ~/.config/sops/age/keys.txt
age12zlz6lvcdk6eqaewfylg35w0syh58sm7gh53q5vvn7hd7c6nngyseftjxl
```

Otherwise, you can convert an existing SSH key into an age public key:
```console
$ nix-shell -p ssh-to-age --run "ssh-to-age < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub"
# or
$ nix-shell -p ssh-to-age --run "ssh-add -L | ssh-to-age"
```

If you get this,

```console
failed to parse ssh private key: ssh: this private key is passphrase protected
```

then your SSH key is encrypted with your password and you need to create an unencrypted copy temporarily:

```console
$ cp $HOME/.ssh/id_ed25519 /tmp/id_ed25519
$ ssh-keygen -p -N "" -f /tmp/id_ed25519
$ nix-shell -p ssh-to-age --run "ssh-to-age -private-key -i /tmp/id_ed25519 > ~/.config/sops/age/keys.txt"
```

</details>

<details>
<summary> How to find the GPG fingerprint of a key </summary>

Invoke this command and look for your key:
```console
$ gpg --list-secret-keys
/tmp/tmp.JA07D1aVRD/pubring.kbx
-------------------------------
sec   rsa2048 1970-01-01 [SCE]
      9F89C5F69A10281A835014B09C3DC61F752087EF
uid           [ unknown] root <root@localhost>
```

The fingerprint here is `9F89C5F69A10281A835014B09C3DC61F752087EF`.
</details>

Your age public key or GPG fingerprint can written to your [`.sops.yaml`](https://github.com/mozilla/sops#using-sops-YAML-conf-to-select-kms-pgp-for-new-files) in the root of your configuration directory or repository:
```yaml
# This example uses YAML anchors which allows reuse of multiple keys 
# without having to repeat yourself.
# Also see https://github.com/Mic92/dotfiles/blob/master/nixos/.sops.yaml
# for a more complex example.
keys:
  - &admin_alice 2504791468b153b8a3963cc97ba53d1919c5dfd4
  - &admin_bob age12zlz6lvcdk6eqaewfylg35w0syh58sm7gh53q5vvn7hd7c6nngyseftjxl
creation_rules:
  - path_regex: secrets/[^/]+\.yaml$
    key_groups:
    - pgp:
      - *admin_alice
    - age:
      - *admin_bob
```

</details>

<details>
<summary><b>3. Get a public key for your target machine</b></summary>

The easiest way to add new machines is using SSH host keys (this requires OpenSSH to be enabled).  

If you are using age, the `ssh-to-age` tool can be used to convert any SSH public key to the age format:
```console
$ nix-shell -p ssh-to-age --run 'ssh-keyscan my-server.com | ssh-to-age'
age1rgffpespcyjn0d8jglk7km9kfrfhdyev6camd3rck6pn8y47ze4sug23v3
$ nix-shell -p ssh-to-age --run 'cat /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub | ssh-to-age'
age1rgffpespcyjn0d8jglk7km9kfrfhdyev6camd3rck6pn8y47ze4sug23v3
```

For GPG, since sops does not natively support SSH keys yet, nix-sops supports a conversion tool (`ssh-to-pgp`)
to store them as GPG keys:

```console
$ ssh root@server01 "cat /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key" | nix-shell -p ssh-to-pgp --run "ssh-to-pgp -o server01.asc"
# or with sudo
$ ssh youruser@server01 "sudo cat /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key" | nix-shell -p ssh-to-pgp --run "ssh-to-pgp -o server01.asc"
0fd60c8c3b664aceb1796ce02b318df330331003
# or just read them locally/over ssh
$ nix-shell -p ssh-to-pgp --run "ssh-to-pgp -i /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key -o server01.asc"
0fd60c8c3b664aceb1796ce02b318df330331003
```

The output of these commands is the identifier for the server's key, which can be added to your `.sops.yaml`:

```yaml
keys:
  - &admin_alice 2504791468b153b8a3963cc97ba53d1919c5dfd4
  - &admin_bob age12zlz6lvcdk6eqaewfylg35w0syh58sm7gh53q5vvn7hd7c6nngyseftjxl
  - &server_azmidi 0fd60c8c3b664aceb1796ce02b318df330331003
  - &server_nosaxa age1rgffpespcyjn0d8jglk7km9kfrfhdyev6camd3rck6pn8y47ze4sug23v3
creation_rules:
  - path_regex: secrets/[^/]+\.yaml$
    key_groups:
    - pgp:
      - *admin_alice
      - *server_azmidi
    - age:
      - *admin_bob
      - *server_nosaxa
  - path_regex: secrets/azmidi/[^/]+\.yaml$
    key_groups:
    - pgp:
      - *admin_alice
      - *server_azmidi
    - age:
      - *admin_bob
```

If you prefer having a separate GPG key, see [Use with GPG instead of SSH keys](#use-with-GPG-instead-of-SSH-keys).

</details>

<details>
<summary><b>4. Create a sops file</b></summary>

To create a sops file you need write a `.sops.yaml` as described above.

When using GnuPG you also need to import your personal GPG key
(and your colleagues) and your servers into your GPG key chain.

<details>
<summary>sops-nix can automate the import of GPG keys with a hook for nix-shell, allowing public
keys to be shared via version control (i.e. git).</summary>

```nix
# shell.nix
with import <nixpkgs> {};
let
  sops-nix = builtins.fetchTarball {
    url = "https://github.com/Mic92/sops-nix/archive/master.tar.gz";
  };
in
mkShell {
  # imports all files ending in .asc/.gpg
  sopsPGPKeyDirs = [ 
    "./keys/hosts"
    "./keys/users"
  ];
  # Also single files can be imported.
  #sopsPGPKeys = [ 
  #  "./keys/users/mic92.asc"
  #  "./keys/hosts/server01.asc"
  #];
  
  # This hook can also import gpg keys into its own seperate
  # gpg keyring instead of using the default one. This allows
  # to isolate otherwise unrelated server keys from the user gpg keychain.
  # By uncommenting the following lines, it will set GNUPGHOME
  # to .git/gnupg. 
  # Storing it inside .git prevents accedentially commiting private keys.
  # After setting this option you will also need to import your own
  # private key into keyring, i.e. using a a command like this 
  # (replacing 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 with your fingerprint)
  # $ (unset GNUPGHOME; gpg --armor --export-secret-key 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000) | gpg --import
  #sopsCreateGPGHome = true;
  # To use a different directory for gpg dirs set sopsGPGHome
  #sopsGPGHome = "${toString ./.}/../GnuPG";
  
  nativeBuildInputs = [
    (pkgs.callPackage sops-nix {}).sops-import-keys-hook
  ];
}
```

A valid directory structure for this might look like:

```console
$ tree .
.
├── keys
│   ├── hosts
│   │   └── server01.asc
│   └── users
│       └── mic92.asc
```

</details>

After configuring `.sops.yaml`, you can open a new file with sops:

```console
$ nix-shell -p sops --run "sops secrets/example.yaml"
```

This will start your configured editor located at the `$EDITOR` environment variable.  
An example secret file might be:
```yaml
# Files must always have a string value
example-key: example-value
# Nesting the key results in the creation of directories.
# These directories will be owned by root:keys and have permissions 0751.
myservice:
  my_subdir:
    my_secret: password1
```

An example result when saving this file could be:

```
example-key: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:AB8XMyid4P7mXdjj+A==,iv:RRsZC+V+3w22pOi/2TCjBYn/0OYsNGCu5CT1ZBSKGi0=,tag:zT5mlujrSuA6KKxLKL8CMQ==,type:str]
#ENC[AES256_GCM,data:59QWbzCQCP7kLdhyjFOZe503MgegN0kv505PBNHwjp6aYztDHwx2N9+A1Bz6G/vWYo+4LpBo8/s=,iv:89q3ZXgM1wBUg5G29ROor3VXrO3QFGCvfwDoA3+G14M=,tag:hOSnEZ6DKycnF37LCXOjzg==,type:comment]
#ENC[AES256_GCM,data:kUuJCkDE9JT9C+kdNe0CSB3c+gmgE4We1OoX4C1dWeoZCw/o9/09CzjRi9eOBUEL0P1lrt+g6V2uXFVq4n+M8UPGUAbRUr3A,iv:nXJS8wqi+ephoLynm9Nxbqan0V5dBstctqP0WxniSOw=,tag:ALx396Z/IPCwnlqH//Hj3g==,type:comment]
myservice:
    my_subdir:
        my_secret: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:hcRk5ERw60G5,iv:3Ur6iH1Yu0eu2otcEv+hGRF5kTaH6HSlrofJ5JXvewA=,tag:hpECXFnMhGNnAxxzuGW5jg==,type:str]
sops:
    kms: []
    gcp_kms: []
    azure_kv: []
    hc_vault: []
    age:
        - recipient: age12zlz6lvcdk6eqaewfylg35w0syh58sm7gh53q5vvn7hd7c6nngyseftjxl
          enc: |
            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSB1dFYvSTRHa3IwTVpuZjEz
            SDZZQnc5a0dGVGEzNXZmNEY5NlZDbVgyNVU0Clo3ZC9MRGp4SHhLUTVCeWlOUUxS
            MEtPdW4rUHhjdFB6bFhyUXRQTkRpWjAKLS0tIDVTbWU2V3dJNUZrK1A5U0c5bkc0
            S3VINUJYc3VKcjBZbHVqcGJBSlVPZWcKqPXE01ienWDbTwxo+z4dNAizR3t6uTS+
            KbmSOK1v61Ri0bsM5HItiMP+fE3VCyhqMBmPdcrR92+3oBmiSFnXPA==
            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
        - recipient: age18jtffqax5v0t6ehh4ypaefl4mfhcrhn6ek3p80mhfp9psx6pd35qew2ww3
          enc: |
            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBzT3FxcDEzaFRQOVFpNkg2
            Skw4WEIxZzNTWkNBaDRhcUN2ejY4QTAwTERvCkx2clIzT2wyaFJZcjl0RkFXL2p6
            enhqVEZ3ZkNKUU5jTlUxRC9Lb090TzAKLS0tIDBEaG00RFJDZ3ZVVjBGUWJkRHdQ
            YkpudG43eURPVWJUejd3Znk5Z29lWlkK0cIngn2qdmiOE5rHOHxTRcjfZYuY3Ej7
            Yy7nYxMwTdYsm/V6Lp2xm8hvSzBEIFL+JXnSTSwSHnCIfgle5BRbug==
            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
    lastmodified: "2021-11-20T16:21:10Z"
    mac: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:5ieT/yv1GZfZFr+OAZ/DBF+6DJHijRXpjNI2kfBun3KxDkyjiu/OFmAbsoVFY/y6YCT3ofl4Vwa56Veo3iYj4njgxyLpLuD1B6zkMaNXaPywbAhuMho7bDGEJZHrlYOUNLdBqW2ytTuFA095IncXE8CFGr38A2hfjcputdHk4R4=,iv:UcBXWtaquflQFNDphZUqahADkeege5OjUY38pLIcFkU=,tag:yy+HSMm+xtX+vHO78nej5w==,type:str]
    pgp: []
    unencrypted_suffix: _unencrypted
    version: 3.7.1
```

</details>

<details>
<summary id="deploy-example"><b>5. Deploy</b></summary>

If you derived your server public key from SSH, all you need in your `configuration.nix` is:

```nix
{
  imports = [ <sops-nix/modules/sops> ];
  # This will add secrets.yml to the nix store
  # You can avoid this by adding a string to the full path instead, i.e.
  # sops.defaultSopsFile = "/root/.sops/secrets/example.yaml";
  sops.defaultSopsFile = ./secrets/example.yaml;
  # This will automatically import SSH keys as age keys
  sops.age.sshKeyPaths = [ "/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key" ];
  # This is using an age key that is expected to already be in the filesystem
  sops.age.keyFile = "/var/lib/sops-nix/key.txt";
  # This will generate a new key if the key specified above does not exist
  sops.age.generateKey = true;
  # This is the actual specification of the secrets.
  sops.secrets.example-key = {};
  sops.secrets."myservice/my_subdir/my_secret" = {};
}
```

On `nixos-rebuild switch` this will make the keys accessible 
via `/run/secrets/example-key` and `/run/secrets/myservice/my_subdir/my_secret`:

```console
$ cat /run/secrets/example-key
example-value
$ cat /run/secrets/myservice/my_subdir/my_secret
password1
```

`/run/secrets` is a symlink to `/run/secrets.d/{number}`:

```console
$ ls -la /run/secrets
lrwxrwxrwx 16 root 12 Jul  6:23  /run/secrets -> /run/secrets.d/1
```

</details>

## Set secret permission/owner and allow services to access it

By default secrets are owned by `root:root`. Furthermore
the parent directory `/run/secrets.d` is only owned by
`root` and the `keys` group has read access to it:

``` console
$ ls -la /run/secrets.d/1
total 24
drwxr-x--- 2 root keys   0 Jul 12  6:23 .
drwxr-x--- 3 root keys   0 Jul 12  6:23 ..
-r-------- 1 root root  20 Jul 12  6:23 example-secret
```

The secrets option has further parameter to change secret permission.
Consider the following nixos configuration example:

```nix
{
  # Permission modes are in octal representation (same as chmod),
  # the digits represent: user|group|owner
  # 7 - full (rwx)
  # 6 - read and write (rw-)
  # 5 - read and execute (r-x)
  # 4 - read only (r--)
  # 3 - write and execute (-wx)
  # 2 - write only (-w-)
  # 1 - execute only (--x)
  # 0 - none (---)
  sops.secrets.example-secret.mode = "0440";
  # Either a user id or group name representation of the secret owner
  # It is recommended to get the user name from `config.users.<?name>.name` to avoid misconfiguration
  sops.secrets.example-secret.owner = config.users.nobody.name;
  # Either the group id or group name representation of the secret group
  # It is recommended to get the group name from `config.users.<?name>.group` to avoid misconfiguration
  sops.secrets.example-secret.group = config.users.nobody.group;
}
```

To access secrets each non-root process/service needs to be part of the keys group.
For systemd services this can be achieved as following:

```nix
{
  systemd.services.some-service = {
    serviceConfig.SupplementaryGroups = [ config.users.groups.keys.name ];
  };
}
```

For login or system users this can be done like this:

```nix
{
  users.users.example-user.extraGroups = [ config.users.groups.keys.name ];
}
```

<details>
<summary>This example configures secrets for buildkite, a CI agent;
the service needs a token and a SSH private key to function.</summary>

```nix
{ pkgs, config, ... }:
{
  services.buildkite-agents.builder = {
    enable = true;
    tokenPath = config.sops.secrets.buildkite-token.path;
    privateSshKeyPath = config.sops.secrets.buildkite-ssh-key.path;

    runtimePackages = [
      pkgs.gnutar
      pkgs.bash
      pkgs.nix
      pkgs.gzip
      pkgs.git
    ];

  };

  systemd.services.buildkite-agent-builder = {
    serviceConfig.SupplementaryGroups = [ config.users.groups.keys.name ];
  };

  sops.secrets.buildkite-token.owner = config.users.buildkite-agent-builder.name;
  sops.secrets.buildkite-ssh-key.owner = config.users.buildkite-agent-builder.name;
}
```

</details>

## Restarting/reloading systemd units on secret change

**With NixOS 21.11**, it is possible to restart or reload units when a secret changes or is newly initialized.
This behaviour can be configured per-secret:
```nix
{
  sops.secrets."home-assistant-secrets.yaml" = {
    restartUnits = [ "home-assistant.service" ];
  };
}
```

This logic respects units that prefer to be reloaded or not to be restarted at all.

## Symlinks to other directories

Some services might expect files in certain locations.
Using the `path` option as symlink to this directory can
be created:

```nix
{
  sops.secrets."home-assistant-secrets.yaml" = {
    owner = "hass";
    path = "/var/lib/hass/secrets.yaml";
  };
}
```

```console
$ ls -la /var/lib/hass/secrets.yaml
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 40 Jul 19 22:36 /var/lib/hass/secrets.yaml -> /run/secrets/home-assistant-secrets.yaml
```

## Setting a user's password

sops-nix has to run after NixOS creates users (in order to specify what users own a secret.)
This means that it's not possible to set `users.users.<name>.passwordFile` to any secrets managed by sops-nix.
To work around this issue, it's possible to set `neededForUsers = true` in a secret.
This will cause the secret to be decrypted to `/run/secrets-for-users` instead of `/run/secrets` before NixOS creates users.
As users are not created yet, it's not possible to set an owner for these secrets.

```nix
{ config, ... }: {
  sops.secrets.my-password.neededForUsers = true;

  users.users.mic92 = {
    isNormalUser = true;
    passwordFile = config.sops.secrets.my-password.path;
  };
}
```

## Different file formats

At the moment we support the following file formats: YAML, JSON, and binary.

NOTE: At the moment we do not support nested data structures that
sops support. This might change in the future.

We support the following YAML:

```yaml
key: 1
```

but not:

```yaml
nested: 
  key: 1
```

nix-sops allows to specify multiple sops files in different file formats:

```nix
{
  imports = [ <sops-nix/modules/sops> ];
  # The default sops file used for all secrets can be controlled using `sops.defaultSopsFile`
  sops.defaultSopsFile = ./secrets.yaml;
  # If you use something different from YAML, you can also specify it here:
  #sops.defaultSopsFormat = "YAML";
  sops.secrets.github_token = {
    # The sops file can be also overwritten per secret...
    sopsFile = ./other-secrets.json;
    # ... as well as the format
    format = "json";
  };
}
```

### YAML

Open a new file with sops ending in `.yaml`:

```console
$ sops secrets.yaml
```

Than put in the following content:

```yaml
github_token: 4a6c73f74928a9c4c4bc47379256b72e598e2bd3
# multi-line strings in YAML start with an |
ssh_key: |
  -----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----
  b3BlbnNzaC1rZXktdjEAAAAABG5vbmUAAAAEbm9uZQAAAAAAAAABAAAAMwAAAAtzc2gtZW
  QyNTUxOQAAACDENhLwQI4v/Ecv65iCMZ7aZAL+Sdc0Cqyjkd012XwJzQAAAJht4at6beGr
  egAAAAtzc2gtZWQyNTUxOQAAACDENhLwQI4v/Ecv65iCMZ7aZAL+Sdc0Cqyjkd012XwJzQ
  AAAEBizgX7v+VMZeiCtWRjpl95dxqBWUkbrPsUSYF3DGV0rsQ2EvBAji/8Ry/rmIIxntpk
  Av5J1zQKrKOR3TXZfAnNAAAAE2pvZXJnQHR1cmluZ21hY2hpbmUBAg==
  -----END OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----
```

You can include it like this in your `configuration.nix`:

```nix
{
  sops.defaultSopsFile = ./secrets.yaml;
  # YAML is the default 
  #sops.defaultSopsFormat = "YAML";
  sops.secrets.github_token = {
    format = "YAML";
    # can be also set per secret
    sopsFile = ./secrets.yaml;
  };
}
```

### JSON

Open a new file with sops ending in `.json`:

```console
$ sops secrets.json
```

Than put in the following content:

``` json
{
  "github_token": "4a6c73f74928a9c4c4bc47379256b72e598e2bd3",
  "ssh_key": "-----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----\\nb3BlbnNzaC1rZXktdjEAAAAABG5vbmUAAAAEbm9uZQAAAAAAAAABAAAAMwAAAAtzc2gtZW\\nQyNTUxOQAAACDENhLwQI4v/Ecv65iCMZ7aZAL+Sdc0Cqyjkd012XwJzQAAAJht4at6beGr\\negAAAAtzc2gtZWQyNTUxOQAAACDENhLwQI4v/Ecv65iCMZ7aZAL+Sdc0Cqyjkd012XwJzQ\\nAAAEBizgX7v+VMZeiCtWRjpl95dxqBWUkbrPsUSYF3DGV0rsQ2EvBAji/8Ry/rmIIxntpk\\nAv5J1zQKrKOR3TXZfAnNAAAAE2pvZXJnQHR1cmluZ21hY2hpbmUBAg==\\n-----END OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----\\n"
}
```

You can include it like this in your `configuration.nix`:

```nix
{
  sops.defaultSopsFile = ./secrets.json;
  # YAML is the default 
  sops.defaultSopsFormat = "json";
  sops.secrets.github_token = {
    format = "json";
    # can be also set per secret
    sopsFile = ./secrets.json;
  };
}
```

### Binary

Unlike the other two formats for binaries one file correspond to one secret.
This format allows to encrypt an arbitrary binary format that can't be put into
JSON/YAML files.

To encrypt an binary file use the following command:

``` console
$ sops -e /tmp/krb5.keytab > krb5.keytab
$ head krb5.keytab
{
        "data": "ENC[AES256_GCM,data:bIsPHrjrl9wxvKMcQzaAbS3RXCI2h8spw2Ee+KYUTsuousUBU6OMIdyY0wqrX3eh/1BUtl8H9EZciCTW29JfEJKfi3ackGufBH+0wp6vLg7r,iv:TlKiOmQUeH3+NEdDUMImg1XuXg/Tv9L6TmPQrraPlCQ=,tag:dVeVvRM567NszsXKK9pZvg==,type:str]",
        "sops": {
                "kms": null,
                "gcp_kms": null,
                "azure_kv": null,
                "lastmodified": "2020-07-06T06:21:06Z",
                "mac": "ENC[AES256_GCM,data:ISjUzaw/5mNiwypmUrOk2DAZnlkbnhURHmTTYA3705NmRsSyUh1PyQvCuwglmaHscwl4GrsnIz4rglvwx1zYa+UUwanR0+VeBqntHwzSNiWhh7qMAQwdUXmdCNiOyeGy6jcSDsXUeQmyIWH6yibr7hhzoQFkZEB7Wbvcw6Sossk=,iv:UilxNvfHN6WkEvfY8ZIJCWijSSpLk7fqSCWh6n8+7lk=,tag:HUTgyL01qfVTCNWCTBfqXw==,type:str]",
                "pgp": [
                        {
                        
```

It can be decrypted again like this:

``` console
$ sops -d krb5.keytab > /tmp/krb5.keytab
```

This is how it can be included in your `configuration.nix`:

```nix
{
  sops.secrets.krb5-keytab = {
    format = "binary";
    sopsFile = ./krb5.keytab;
  };
}
```

## Use with GPG instead of SSH keys

If you prefer having a separate GPG key, sops-nix also comes with a helper tool, `sops-init-gpg-key`:

```console
$ nix-shell -p sops-init-gpg-key
$ sops-init-gpg-key --hostname server01 --gpghome /tmp/newkey
You can use the following command to save it to a file:
cat > server01.asc <<EOF
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
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=uvIf
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
EOF
fingerprint: E4CA86768F176AEB6C01554153AF8D7F149613B1
```

In this case, you must upload the GPG key directory `/tmp/newkey` onto the server.
If you uploaded it to `/var/lib/sops` than your sops configuration will look like this:

```nix
{
  # Make sure that `/var/lib/sops` is owned by root and is not world-readable/writable
  sops.gnupg.home = "/var/lib/sops";
  # disable importing host ssh keys
  sops.gnupg.sshKeyPaths = [];
}
```

However be aware that this will also run GnuPG on your server including the
GnuPG daemon. [GnuPG is in general not great software](https://latacora.micro.blog/2019/07/16/the-pgp-problem.html) and might break in
hilarious ways. If you experience problems, you are on your own. If you want a
more stable and predictable solution go with SSH keys or one of the KMS services.


## Share secrets between different users

Secrets can be shared between different users by creating different files
pointing to the same sops key but with different permissions. In the following
example the `drone` secret is exposed as `/run/secrets/drone-server` for
`drone-server` and as `/run/secrets/drone-agent` for `drone-agent`

```nix
{
  sops.secrets.drone-server = {
    owner = config.systemd.services.drone-server.serviceConfig.User;
    key = "drone";
  };
  sops.secrets.drone-agent = {
    owner = config.systemd.services.drone-agent.serviceConfig.User;
    key = "drone";
  };
}
```

## Migrate from pass/krops

If you have used [pass](https://www.passwordstore.org) before i.e. in
[krops](https://github.com/krebs/krops) than you can use the following one-liner
to convert all your secrets to a YAML structure:

```console
$ for i in *.gpg; do echo "$(basename $i .gpg): |\n$(pass $(dirname $i)/$(basename $i .gpg)| sed 's/^/  /')"; done
```

Copy the output to the editor you have opened with sops.

## Real-world examples

My [personal configuration](https://github.com/Mic92/dotfiles/tree/master/nixos) makes extensive usage of sops-nix.
Each host has a [secrets](https://github.com/Mic92/dotfiles/tree/master/nixos/eve/secrets) directory containing secrets for the host.

## Known limitations

### Initrd secrets

sops-nix does not fully support initrd secrets.
This is because `nixos-rebuild switch` installs
the bootloader before running sops-nix's activation hook.  
As a workaround, it is possible to run `nixos-rebuild test`
before `nixos-rebuild switch` to provision initrd secrets
before actually using them in the initrd.
In the future, we hope to extend NixOS to allow keys to be
provisioned in the bootloader install phase.