Name

       nix key generate-secret - generate a secret key for signing store paths

Synopsis

       nix key generate-secret [option…]

Examples

       •  Generate a new secret key:

       # nix key generate-secret --key-name cache.example.org-1 > ./secret-key

              We can then use this key to sign the closure of the Hello package:

       # nix build nixpkgs#hello
       # nix store sign --key-file ./secret-key --recursive ./result

              Finally, we can verify the store paths using the corresponding public key:

       # nix store verify --trusted-public-keys $(nix key convert-secret-to-public < ./secret-key) ./result

Description

       This command generates a new Ed25519 secret key for signing store paths and prints it on standard output.
       Use  nix  key  convert-secret-to-public  to  get  the corresponding public key for verifying signed store
       paths.

       The mandatory argument --key-name specifies a key name (such as cache.example.org-1). It is used to  look
       up keys on the client when it verifies signatures. It can be anything, but it’s suggested to use the host
       name  of  your  cache  (e.g.   cache.example.org)  with  a  suffix  denoting the number of the key (to be
       incremented every time you need to revoke a key).

Format

       Both secret and public keys are represented as the key name followed by a base-64 encoding of the Ed25519
       key data, e.g.

       cache.example.org-0:E7lAO+MsPwTFfPXsdPtW8GKui/5ho4KQHVcAGnX+Tti1V4dUxoVoqLyWJ4YESuZJwQ67GVIksDt47og+tPVUZw==

Options

       •  --key-name name

          Identifier of the key (e.g. cache.example.org-1).

   Logging-related options
       •  --debug

          Set the logging verbosity level to ‘debug’.

       •  --log-format format

          Set the format of log output; one of raw, internal-json, bar or bar-with-logs.

       •  --print-build-logs / -L

          Print full build logs on standard error.

       •  --quiet

          Decrease the logging verbosity level.

       •  --verbose / -v

          Increase the logging verbosity level.

   Miscellaneous global options
       •  --help

          Show usage information.

       •  --offline

          Disable substituters and consider all previously downloaded files up-to-date.

       •  --option name value

          Set the Nix configuration setting name to value (overriding nix.conf).

       •  --refresh

          Consider all previously downloaded files out-of-date.

       •  --version

          Show version information.

          Note

          See man nix.conf for overriding configuration settings with command line flags.

                                                                                     nix3-key-generate-secret(1)