Generate encrypted 7zip files

Using 7zip files as encrypted backups is a quick and dirty workaround for a proper backup solution.

First generate a strong password, e.g.: pwgen -1sB 128

Backup without compression

7z a -mx=0 -mhe=on -m0=Copy -p"$PASSWORD" TARGET.7z SOURCE_FOLDERS_*

• mx=0 and m0=Copy mean: just copy the files, do not compress them

• mhe=on means: also encrypt the 7z headers, so the password is also required for listing the file tree

Backup with compression

7z a -mx=3 -mhe=on -ms=on -p"$PASSWORD" TARGET.7z SOURCE_FOLDERS_*

• ms=on treats everything as a single file (find duplicates)

Check the archive file

7z l -slt -p"$PASSWORD" TARGET.7z

• 7zAES:19 means secure AES-256 encryption (plus some password hashing, see here).

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