How to Add an Encryption Key
SnapShooter is a cloud backup and recovery solution. Use SnapShooter to back up servers, volumes, databases, and applications from DigitalOcean and other cloud providers.
You can use encryption keys to secure your files before SnapShooter stores them. You must generate a public and private key pair on your local machine, then add the public key to SnapShooter. This ensures that only you, the private key holder, have access to your encrypted backups.
Create an Encryption Key
To create a key on macOS, use the Terminal app to access your Mac’s command line, then create a directory to store your keys. This example uses a directory called snapshooter in your home directory:
mkdir ~/snapshooter
Use the cd command to move into the snapshooter directory:
cd ~/snapshooter
Run the openssl command to generate a 4096-bit private key:
openssl genrsa -aes256 -out snapshooter.pem 4096
The command prompts you to set a passphrase. Enter a strong passphrase and press Enter. Enter the passphrase a second time to verify, if prompted to do so. You cannot access your backups without both the private key and this passphrase, so keep them safe.
Next, generate the public key using openssl and your private key:
openssl rsa -in snapshooter.pem -outform PEM -pubout -out snapshooter.pub
Enter the private key’s passphrase when prompted.
You now have a private key snapshooter.pem, and a public key snapshooter.pub. Copy the public key to your clipboard using pbcopy:
cat snapshoot.pub | pbcopy
Use this public key to paste into the SnapShooter dashboard. See the next section for more details.
To create a key on Linux, use a local terminal application or SSH connection to access your machine’s command line, then create a directory to store your keys. This example uses a directory called snapshooter in your home directory:
mkdir ~/snapshooter
Use the cd command to move into the snapshooter directory:
cd ~/snapshooter
Run the openssl command to generate a 4096-bit private key:
openssl genrsa -aes256 -out snapshooter.pem 4096
The command prompts you to set a passphrase. Enter a strong passphrase and press Enter. Enter the passphrase a second time to verify, if prompted to do so. You cannot access your backups without both the private key and this passphrase, so keep them safe.
Next, generate the public key using openssl and your private key:
openssl rsa -in snapshooter.pem -outform PEM -pubout -out snapshooter.pub
Enter the private key’s passphrase when prompted.
You now have a private key, snapshooter.pem, and a public key, snapshooter.pub. Display the public key using cat:
cat snapshooter.pub
Copy the resulting text to your clipboard, then paste it into the SnapShooter dashboard. See the next section for more details.
To create a key on Windows, you need to download and install OpenSSL.
Install OpenSSL
In a web browser, open the OpenSSL download page. Scroll to the list of downloads and choose the latest OpenSSL version to download to your computer.
Double click the downloaded file to start the installation and proceed through the installation steps. You can choose the default settings throughout unless you have reason to customize the installation.
Click on the final Install button to complete the installation.
Generate Keys
After you install OpenSSL, you need to generate public and private keys.
On your Windows Desktop, search for OpenSSL:
Click the Win64 OpenSSL Command Prompt result to open the OpenSSL command prompt:
Run the openssl command to generate a 4096-bit private key:
openssl genrsa -aes256 -out snapshooter.pem 4096
The command prompts you to set a passphrase. Enter a strong passphrase and press Enter. Enter the passphrase a second time to verify, if prompted to do so. You cannot access your backups without both the private key and this passphrase, so keep them safe.
Generate the public key using openssl and your private key:
openssl rsa -in snapshooter.pem -outform PEM -pubout -out snapshooter.pub
Enter the private key’s passphrase when prompted. You now have a private key snapshooter.pem, and a public key snapshooter.pub.
Open your generated snapshooter.pub file using a text editor like Notepad and copy the contents to your clipboard. Use this public key to paste into the SnapShooter dashboard. See the next section for more details.
Add Encryption Keys to SnapShooter
To add your public key to SnapShooter, open the SnapShooter new encryption key page.
Enter a name for your key under Key Name, then paste your key into the Public Key Content text area.
Click Save Key to save your key.