Configuration Encryption#

Package Manager supports the encryption of sensitive configuration options. For example, the Postgres.Password, Proxy.Password, and Manifest.Password settings all support plain text or encrypted values.

Generate an Encryption Key#

Although Package Manager automatically generates an encryption key if one does not exist, there are situations where you might need to create a key manually before starting the application. To generate an encryption key, run the following command in your terminal

Terminal

$ rspm encrypt generate
0616a5a7445f4c0b8b9f31a840f22a152f7621c5c9cc1febcb9f647183193c8e9f60...

This can be stored in the PACKAGEMANAGER_ENCRYPTION_KEY environment variable or written to disk at the Server.EncryptionKeyPath location.

Encrypt a setting#

To encrypt a sensitive configuration setting, use the rspm encrypt command. For example:

Terminal

$ rspm encrypt
<< Encryption: Enter the plain text value below.
<< Qu0lI/gridhu85sqChwFtP2wFkqCcWt9owBpxFjAhKFaU2ZraBB2LM62Ieo=

Note

Only settings that have the type of encrypted-string support encryption.

Key file#

The rspm encrypt command creates a key file called rstudio-pm.key at the specified Server.EncryptionKeyPath location or if left unspecified in the Server.DataDir. This key must not be deleted for the Package Manager server to properly read the configuration file. It also needs to be owned by the same account that runs the Package Manager server, in most cases this is the rstudio-pm account.

Tip

Check the file permissions by running ls -l /path/to/key/file. If the file is not owned by the same user that runs Package Manager, change it by running sudo chown [user-account] /path/to/key/file.

Note that the PACKAGEMANAGER_ENCRYPTION_KEY environment variable can be used to specify the encryption key to rspm encrypt in place of the key file, which may be preferable to managing the file directly in some cases.