Encryption tool help

Help & Support
1

Hi

I use Picocrypt-NG but I discovered that it is vibecoded, which is huge no-go for me, especially in so sensitive task as encryption.

Can you please advice me good GUI (because I am a beginner) utils for Linux to encrypt files? And better without sudo, because I don’t feel comfortable allowing any app to have root rights on my distribution permanently.

I need exactly file encryption, so I can upload them to cloud (backup)

So… Any good ideas? I am complete newbie :disappointed_face:

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Weekly Forum Summary
2

Welcome to our Linux forums @wobbly_lemon

Have you seen https://github.com/FiloSottile/age/, usage is basically one line.

Or, for GUI: gocryptfs

Also check out:

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Welcome to the community, @wobbly_lemon :handshake:

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4

Welcome to our friendly forum @wobbly_lemon
I see one of our “Experts” is already helping you out on this topic so I’ll read about this with interest, since it is not one of my areas where my current experience level is strong. By the way, reading about technology, then trying things out has served me well for decades; I tend to be a generalist and there are more things that I don’t know than things that I know for certain, but participating in very good forums like this one helps me keep my aging brain functioning reasonably well!

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5

You might try ‘file roller’ .
It is actually an archiver (or ‘zipper’ if you like).
If you choose ‘7z’ as archive format, it will give you the possibility to encrypt it.

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6

May I explain some hopefully useful bits, please?

  • The purpose of sudo <a command> is to temporary and not permanently elevate command’s privileges for this one execution session only.
  • Your personal files usually reside in your /home/<username>/ directory and are ‘owned’ by you. That is, access to these files does not require privileges elevation.
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7

+1 for Cryptomator. It’s extremely simple to set up, very user-friendly, and I appreciate that it works cross-platform. I use it to encrypt certain folders on my Nextcloud instance.

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8

I use 7z for all my encryption. I use Peazip. I like engrampa but it has had problems with 7z.

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9

I too use Peazip (I’m on UM 24.04) but it’s my understanding that issue with Engrampa was fixed in Mate 1.28 but if I’m wrong someone please correct me.

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10

It may be fixed but it’s not working on my Ubuntu MATE 24.04.4 yet. I use engrampa for everything else. I am up to date on upgrades as of this morning. I must still have the older MATE desktop.

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11

That is right.
Engrampa is fixed in MATE 1.28.2 which comes with Ubuntu-MATE 26.04

Ubuntu MATE 24.04.4 still has MATE 1.26.2 and the broken Engrampa version.

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12

I also have Sparky 8 seven sisters update from Sparky 7 Orion belt and engrampa has always worked on that for 7z. It is also the MATE 1.26 desktop. Was it a Ubuntu Mate issue?

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13

Can’t say for certain, but it is definitely an Engrampa issue.
Best to compare the Engrampa versions.
On Ubuntu 24.04 → 1.26.2-4
On ubuntu 26.04 → 1.28.2-1

EDIT: for a convenient retreival of the version, use apt policy engrampa
EDIT2: I think I have to explain why it is for certain an engrampa issue:
Engrampa is a wrapper around the 7zip CLI command and I found out engrampa passes the wrong parameters to 7zip. Most likely because 7zip changed the options a bit.

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14

Thank you, @wobbly_lemon ! I learned the phrase “vibe coded” today! Your intuition is very good!

“The Force is strong in you!”

:slight_smile:

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