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Created: June 6, 2006 Complexity: intermediate Author: fomit Minimum version: 5.7 Karma: 13/8 Imported from: Tip#1251

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Install base64 (http://www.fourmilab.ch/webtools/base64/) and aespipe (http://www.fourmilab.ch/webtools/base64/)

Create a second config file named ~/.cvimrc containing:

set secure
set viminfo=
set noswapfile
set nobackup
set nowritebackup
set history=0
set noshelltemp

function Scramble()
  %!base64 -e | aespipe -e aes256 -T | base64 -e
endfunction

function Unscramble()
  %!base64 -d | aespipe -e aes256 -d | base64 -d
endfunction

map <silent> <F7> :call Scramble()<Esc>
map <silent> <F8> :call Unscramble()<Esc>

Create a shell script named cvim (copy it to /usr/bin) containing:

#!/bin/sh
vim -S $HOME/.cvimrc "$@"

Make the new script executable (do this as root, or use ~/bin/ instead of /usr/bin):

$ chmod 750 /usr/bin/cvim

Now you can edit a file with:

$ cvim new_textfile

Type in whatever you like. Press F7 key and type password twice. Then the contents of the file will be encrypted.

To decrypt, press F8 and type password again.

Never save the file while you can see the plain text. Before saving (:w) you should encrypt it first, otherwise there will be traces of the plaintext file on your hard disk.

[edit] Comments

aespipe can be found at http://loop-aes.sourceforge.net

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For less secure encryption, see Vim's built-in encryption feature :help encryption.

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How about gpg:

$ seq 1 3 > file
$ gpg --cipher-algo aes256 --symmetric file
...
$ gpg --cipher-algo aes256 --decrypt < file.gpg
gpg: AES256 encrypted data
gpg: encrypted with 1 passphrase
1
2
3

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How about VimTip1032.

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I still prefer script#661.

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Use the following (-a does to and from base64 conversion).

openssl aes-256-cbc [-d] -a -in file.txt -out file.aes

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I edited the commands to "set noshelltemp" because otherwise Vim uses a temporary file to copy the text to the standard input of aespipe.

I also edited some of the text above to properly use a <pre> block, and got rid of some superfluous stuff and incorrect comments.

Also note that I prefer:

function Scramble()
  %!gpg -q --cipher-algo aes256 --symmetric --armor 2>/dev/null
endfunction

function Unscramble()
  %!gpg -q --cipher-algo aes256 --decrypt --armor 2>/dev/null
endfunction

which works just fine, and uses a single command (which is almost certainly installed already).

Also, use of an alias for cvim might be more suitable than use of a shell script, since the arguments all come at the end of the line anyways. This won't require installing a script as root either; it's probably better for a user that wants to do this to just add the alias to their .bashrc/.bash_profile.

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