nitrocli(1) — Linux manual page

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | COMMANDS | CONFIG FILE | ENVIRONMENT | EXTENSIONS | FILES | EXAMPLES | COLOPHON

NITROCLI(1)              General Commands Manual             NITROCLI(1)

NAME         top

       nitrocli - access Nitrokey devices

SYNOPSIS         top

       nitrocli command [arguments]

DESCRIPTION         top

       nitrocli provides access to Nitrokey devices.  It supports the
       Nitrokey Pro, the Nitrokey Storage, and the Librem Key.  It can
       be used to access the encrypted volume, the one-time password
       generator, and the password safe.

   Device selection
       Per default, nitrocli connects to any attached Nitrokey device.
       You can use the --model, --serial-number and --usb-path options
       to select the device to connect to.  nitrocli fails if more than
       one attached Nitrokey device matches this filter or if multiple
       Nitrokey devices are attached and none of the filter options is
       set.  Use the list command to list all attached devices with
       their USB path, model, and serial number (if available).

OPTIONS         top

       -m, --model librem|pro|storage
              Restrict connections to the given device model, see the
              Device selection section.

       --serial-number serial-number
              Restrict connections to the given serial number, see the
              Device selection section.  serial-number must be a hex
              string with an optional 0x prefix.  This option can be set
              multiple times to allow any of the given serial numbers.
              Nitrokey Storage devices never match this restriction as
              they do not expose their serial number in the USB device
              descriptor.

       --usb-path usb-path
              Restrict connections to the given USB path, see the Device
              selection section.

       --no-cache
              If this option is set, nitrocli will not cache any
              inquired secrets using gpg-agent(1) but ask for them each
              time they are needed.  Note that this option does not
              cause any cached secrets to be cleared.  If a secret is
              already in the cache it will be ignored, but left
              otherwise untouched.  Use the pin clear command to clear
              secrets from the cache.

       -v, --verbose
              Enable additional logging and control its verbosity.
              Logging enabled through this option will appear on the
              standard error stream. This option can be supplied
              multiple times. A single occurrence will show additional
              warnings.  Commands sent to the device will be shown when
              supplied three times and full device communication is
              available with four occurrences. Supplying this option
              five times enables the highest verbosity.

       -V, --version
              Print the nitrocli version and exit.

COMMANDS         top

   General
       nitrocli list [-n|--no-connect]
              List all attached Nitrokey devices.  This command prints a
              list of the USB path, the model and the serial number of
              all attached Nitrokey devices.  To access the serial
              number of a Nitrokey Storage device, nitrocli has to
              connect to it.  To omit the serial number of Nitrokey
              Storage devices instead of connecting to them, set the
              --no-connect option.

       nitrocli status
              Print the status of the connected Nitrokey device,
              including the stick serial number, the firmware version,
              and the PIN retry count. If the device is a Nitrokey
              Storage, also print storage related information including
              the SD card serial number, the SD card usage during this
              power cycle, the encryption status, and the status of the
              volumes.

       nitrocli lock
              Lock the Nitrokey.  This command locks the password safe
              (see the Password safe section). On the Nitrokey Storage,
              it will also close any active encrypted or hidden volumes
              (see the Storage section).

       nitrocli reset [--only-aes-key]
              Perform a factory reset on the Nitrokey.  This command
              performs a factory reset on the OpenPGP smart card, clears
              the flash storage and builds a new AES key.  The user PIN
              is reset to 123456, the admin PIN to 12345678.

              If the --only-aes-key option is set, the command does not
              perform a full factory reset but only creates a new AES
              key.  The AES key is for example used to encrypt the
              password safe.

              This command requires the admin PIN.  To avoid accidental
              calls of this command, the user has to enter the PIN even
              if it has been cached.

   Storage
       The Nitrokey Storage comes with a storage area. This area is
       comprised of an unencrypted region and an encrypted one of fixed
       sizes, each made available to the user in the form of block
       devices. The encrypted region can optionally further be overlayed
       with up to four hidden volumes. Because of this overlay (which is
       required to achieve plausible deniability of the existence of
       hidden volumes), the burden of ensuring that data on the
       encrypted volume does not overlap with data on one of the hidden
       volumes is on the user.

       nitrocli unencrypted set mode
              Change the read-write mode of the volume.  mode is the
              type of the mode to change to: read-write to make the
              volume readable and writable or read-only to make it only
              readable.  This command requires the admin PIN.

              Note that this command requires firmware version 0.51 or
              higher. Earlier versions are not supported.

       nitrocli encrypted open
              Open the encrypted volume on the Nitrokey Storage.  The
              user PIN that is required to open the volume is queried
              using pinentry(1) and cached by gpg-agent(1).

       nitrocli encrypted close
              Close the encrypted volume on the Nitrokey Storage.

       nitrocli hidden create slot start end
              Create a new hidden volume inside the encrypted volume.
              slot must indicate one of the four available slots. start
              and end represent, respectively, the start and end
              position of the hidden volume inside the encrypted volume,
              as a percentage of the encrypted volume's size.  This
              command requires a password which is later used to look up
              the hidden volume to open. Unlike a PIN, this password is
              not cached by gpg-agent(1).

              As a guide line for creating new hidden volumes, the
              status command provides a range of the SD card that has
              not been written to during this power cycle.

       nitrocli hidden open
              Open a hidden volume. The volume to open is determined
              based on the password entered, which must have a minimum
              of six characters. Only one hidden volume can be active at
              any point in time and previously opened volumes will be
              automatically closed. Similarly, the encrypted volume will
              be closed if it was open.

       nitrocli hidden close
              Close a hidden volume.

       nitrocli fill [-a|--attach
              Fills the SD card with random data, overwriting all
              existing data.  This operation takes about one hour to
              finish for a 16 GiB SD card.  It cannot be canceled, even
              if the nitrocli process is terminated before it finishes.

              This command requires the admin PIN.  To avoid accidental
              calls of this command, the user has to enter the PIN even
              if it has been cached.

              If the --attach option is set, this command will not start
              a new fill operation.  Instead it checks whether a fill
              operation is currently running on the device and shows its
              progress.

   One-time passwords
       The Nitrokey Pro, the Nitrokey Storage, and the Librem Key
       support the generation of one-time passwords using the HOTP
       algorithm according to RFC 4226 or the TOTP algorithm according
       to RFC 6238.  The required data – a name and the secret – is
       stored in slots.  Currently, the Nitrokey devices provide three
       HOTP slots and 15 TOTP slots.  The slots are numbered per
       algorithm starting at zero.

       The TOTP algorithm is a modified version of the HOTP algorithm
       that also uses the current time.  Therefore, the Nitrokey clock
       must be synchronized with the clock of the application that
       requests the one-time password.

       nitrocli otp get slot [-a|--algorithm algorithm] [-t|--time time]
              Generate a one-time password.  slot is the number of the
              slot to generate the password from.  algorithm is the OTP
              algorithm to use.  Possible values are hotp for the HOTP
              algorithm according to RFC 4226 and totp for the TOTP
              algorithm according to RFC 6238 (default).  Per default,
              this commands sets the Nitrokey's time to the system time
              if the TOTP algorithm is selected.  If --time is set, it
              is set to time instead, which must be a Unix timestamp
              (i.e., the number of seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00
              UTC).  This command might require the user PIN (see the
              Configuration section).

       nitrocli otp set slot name secret|- [-a|--algorithm algorithm]
       [-d|--digits digits] [-c|--counter counter] [-t|--time-window
       time-window] [-f|--format ascii|base32|hex]
              Configure a one-time password slot.  slot is the number of
              the slot to configure.  name is the name of the slot (may
              not be empty).  secret is the secret value to store in
              that slot.  If secret is set to -, the secret is read from
              the standard input.

              The --format option specifies the format of the secret.
              If it is set to ascii, each character of the given secret
              is interpreted as the ASCII code of one byte.  If it is
              set to base32, the secret is interpreted as a base32
              string according to RFC 4648.  If it is set to hex, every
              two characters are interpreted as the hexadecimal value of
              one byte.  The default value is base32.

              algorithm is the OTP algorithm to use.  Possible values
              are hotp for the HOTP algorithm according to RFC 4226 and
              totp for the TOTP algorithm according to RFC 6238
              (default).  digits is the number of digits the one-time
              password should have.  Allowed values are 6 and 8
              (default: 6).  counter is the initial counter if the HOTP
              algorithm is used (default: 0).  time-window is the time
              window used with TOTP in seconds (default: 30).

       nitrocli otp clear slot [-a|--algorithm algorithm]
              Delete the name and the secret stored in a one-time
              password slot.  slot is the number of the slot to clear.
              algorithm is the OTP algorithm to use.  Possible values
              are hotp for the HOTP algorithm according to RFC 4226 and
              totp for the TOTP algorithm according to RFC 6238
              (default).

       nitrocli otp status [-a|--all]
              List all OTP slots.  If --all is not set, empty slots are
              ignored.

   Configuration
       Nitrokey devices have four configuration settings:  the Num Lock,
       Caps Lock and Scroll Lock keys can be mapped to an HOTP slot, and
       OTP generation can be set to require the user PIN.

       nitrocli config get
              Print the current Nitrokey configuration.

       nitrocli config set [[-n|--num-lock slot] | [-N|--no-num-lock]]
       [[-c|--caps-lock slot] | [-C|--no-caps-lock]] [[-s|--scroll-lock
       slot] | [-S|--no-scroll-lock]] [[-o|--otp-pin] |
       [-O|--no-otp-pin]]
              Update the Nitrokey configuration.  This command requires
              the admin PIN.

              With the --num-lock, --caps-lock and --scroll-lock
              options, the respective bindings can be set.  slot is the
              number of the HOTP slot to bind the key to.  If --no-num-
              lock, --no-caps-lock or --no-scroll-lock is set, the
              respective binding is disabled.  The two corresponding
              options are mutually exclusive.

              If --otp-pin is set, the user PIN will be required to
              generate one-time passwords using the otp get command.  If
              --no-otp-pin is set, OTP generation can be performed
              without PIN.  These two options are mutually exclusive.

   Password safe
       The Nitrokey Pro, the Nitrokey Storage, and the Librem Key
       provide a password safe (PWS) with 16 slots.  In each of these
       slots you can store a name, a login, and a password.  The PWS is
       not encrypted, but it is protected with the user PIN by the
       firmware.  Once the PWS is unlocked by one of the commands listed
       below, it can be accessed without authentication.  You can use
       the lock command to lock the password safe.

       nitrocli pws get slot [-n|--name] [-l|--login] [-p|--password]
       [-q|--quiet]
              Print the content of one PWS slot.  slot is the number of
              the slot.  Per default, this command prints the name, the
              login and the password (in that order).  If one or more of
              the options --name, --login, and --password are set, only
              the selected fields are printed.  The order of the fields
              never changes.

              The fields are printed together with a label.  Use the
              --quiet option to suppress the labels and to only output
              the values stored in the PWS slot.

       nitrocli pws add [-s|--slot slot] name login password|-
              Add a new PWS slot.  If the --slot option is set, this
              command writes the data to the given slot and fails if the
              slot is already programmed.  If the --slot option is not
              set, this command locates the first free PWS slot and sets
              its content to the given values.  It fails if all PWS
              slots are programmed.

              If password is set to -, the password is read from the
              standard input.

       nitrocli pws update slot [-n|--name name] [-l|--login login]
       [-p|--password password|-]
              Update the content of a programmed PWS slot.  slot is the
              number of the slot to write.  This command only sets the
              data given with the --name, --login, and --password
              options and does not overwrite the other fields of the
              slot.

              If password is set to -, the password is read from the
              standard input.

       nitrocli pws clear slot
              Delete the data stored in a PWS slot.  slot is the number
              of the slot clear.

       nitrocli pws status [-a|--all]
              List all PWS slots.  If --all is not set, empty slots are
              ignored.

   PINs
       Nitrokey devices have two PINs: the user PIN and the admin PIN.
       The user PIN must have at least six, the admin PIN at least eight
       characters. The user PIN is required for commands such as otp get
       (depending on the configuration) and for all pws commands.  The
       admin PIN is usually required to change the device configuration.

       Each PIN has a retry counter that is decreased with every wrong
       PIN entry and reset if the PIN was entered correctly.  The
       initial retry counter is three.  If the retry counter for the
       user PIN is zero, you can use the pin unblock command to unblock
       and reset the user PIN.  If the retry counter for the admin PIN
       is zero, you have to perform a factory reset using the reset
       command or gpg(1).  Use the status command to check the retry
       counters.

       nitrocli pin clear
              Clear the PINs cached by the other commands. Note that
              cached PINs are associated with the device they belong to
              and the clear command will only clear the PIN for the
              currently used device, not all others.

       nitrocli pin set type
              Change a PIN.  type is the type of the PIN that will be
              changed:  admin to change the admin PIN or user to change
              the user PIN.  This command only works if the retry
              counter for the PIN type is at least one.  (Use the status
              command to check the retry counters.)

       nitrocli pin unblock
              Unblock and reset the user PIN.  This command requires the
              admin PIN.  The admin PIN cannot be unblocked.  This
              operation is equivalent to the unblock PIN option provided
              by gpg(1) (using the --change-pin option).

   Extensions
       In addition to the above built-in commands, nitrocli supports
       user-provided functionality in the form of extensions. An
       extension can be any executable file whose filename starts with
       "nitrocli-" and that is discoverable through lookup via the PATH
       environment variable. Those executables can be invoked as regular
       subcommands (without the need of the prefix; e.g., an extension
       with the name "nitrocli-otp-cache" could be invoked as "nitrocli
       otp-cache").

       More information on how to write extensions can be found in the
       Extensions section below.

CONFIG FILE         top

       nitrocli tries to read the configuration file at
       ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/nitrocli/config.toml (or
       ${HOME}/nitrocli/config.toml if the XDG_CONFIG_HOME environment
       variable is not set).  It is used to set default values for the
       options listed below.

       You can also set the environment variable NITROCLI_KEY to
       overwrite the configuration for key (see the Environment
       section).  Note that command-line arguments overwrite both the
       configuration file and the environment variables.

       The following values can be set in the configuration file:

       model  Restrict connections to the given device model (string,
              default: not set, see --model).

       serial_numbers
              Restrict connections to the given serial numbers (list of
              strings, default: empty, see --serial-number).

       usb_path
              Restrict connections to the given USB path (string,
              default: not set, see --usb-path).

       no_cache
              If set to true, do not cache any inquired secrets
              (boolean, default: false, see --no-cache).

       verbosity
              Set the log level (integer, default: 0, see --verbose).

       The configuration file must use the TOML format, for example:
           model = "pro"
           serial_numbers = ["0xf00baa", "deadbeef"]
           usb_path = "0001:0006:02"
           no_cache = false
           verbosity = 0

ENVIRONMENT         top

       The program honors two sets of environment variables, all
       prefixed by "NITROCLI_".

   Configuration
       The first set controls basic configuration of the program. These
       variables mirror the respective command line options and
       configuration file settings. They are:

       NITROCLI_MODEL
              Restrict connections to the given device model (string,
              default: not set, see --model).

       NITROCLI_SERIAL_NUMBERS
              Restrict connections to the given list of serial numbers
              (comma-separated list of strings, default: empty, see
              --serial-number).

       NITROCLI_USB_PATH
              Restrict connections to the given USB path (string,
              default: not set, see --usb-path).

       NITROCLI_NO_CACHE
              If set to true, do not cache any inquired secrets
              (boolean, default: false, see --no-cache).

       NITROCLI_VERBOSITY
              Set the log level (integer, default: 0, see --verbose).

   Password & PIN entry
       The second set can be used to provide password & PIN data to the
       program to suppress interactive entry through pinentry(1) for
       operations that otherwise would ask for it. The following
       variables are recognized:

       NITROCLI_ADMIN_PIN
              The admin PIN to use.

       NITROCLI_USER_PIN
              The user PIN to use.

       NITROCLI_NEW_ADMIN_PIN
              The new admin PIN to set. This variable is only used by
              the pin set command for the admin type.

       NITROCLI_NEW_USER_PIN
              The new user PIN to set. This variable is only used by the
              pin set command for the user type.

       NITROCLI_PASSWORD
              A password used by commands that require one (e.g., hidden
              open).

EXTENSIONS         top

       nitrocli supports user-provided extensions that are executable
       files whose filename starts with "nitrocli-" and that are
       discoverable through lookup via the PATH environment variable.

       The program conveys basic configuration information to any
       extension being started this way. Specifically, it will set each
       environment variable as described in the Configuration subsection
       of the Environment section above, if the corresponding nitrocli
       program configuration was set. In addition, the following
       variables will be set:

       NITROCLI_BINARY
              The absolute path to the nitrocli binary through which the
              extension was invoked. This path may be used to
              recursively invoke nitrocli to implement certain
              functionality.

       NITROCLI_RESOLVED_USB_PATH
              The USB path of the device that nitrocli would connect to
              based on the --model, --serial-number, and --usb-path
              options.  If there is no matching Nitrokey device, or if
              multiple devices match the options, the environment
              variable is not set.

       All other variables present in the environment will be passed
       through to the extension verbatim.

       Newer versions of the program reserve the right to set additional
       environment variables inside the "NITROCLI_" namespace. As such,
       extensions are advised to not define custom variables with this
       prefix. However, "NITROCLI_EXT_" is provided specifically for
       this purpose. To further avoid conflicts between extensions, it
       is recommended that this prefix be followed by the extension's
       name (uppercased).

       Extensions may optionally read or write persistent data of
       various forms.  Similar to the main program, extensions should
       follow the XDG Base Directory Specification as a guideline where
       to store such data. More specifically, the following conventions
       should be followed:

       For configuration data, ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/extension/ is the
       preferred directory, where extension is the full extension name,
       including the "nitrocli-" prefix. The recommended configuration
       format is TOML. If only a single configuration file is used,
       config.toml is the recommended name.

       Similarly, regular data should reside in
       ${XDG_DATA_HOME}/extension/ and cached data be stored in
       ${XDG_CACHE_HOME}/extension/.

FILES         top

       ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/nitrocli/config.toml

       ${HOME}/nitrocli/config.toml
              User configuration file, see the Config file section.

EXAMPLES         top

   Storage
       Create a hidden volume in the first available slot, starting at
       half the size of the encrypted volume (i.e., 50%) and stretching
       all the way to its end (100%):
           $ nitrocli hidden create 0 50 100

   One-time passwords
       Configure a one-time password slot with a hexadecimal secret
       representation:
           $ nitrocli otp set 0 test-rfc4226
       3132333435363738393031323334353637383930 --format hex --algorithm
       hotp
           $ nitrocli otp set 1 test-foobar 666F6F626172 --format hex
       --algorithm hotp
           $ nitrocli otp set 0 test-rfc6238
       3132333435363738393031323334353637383930 --format hex --algorithm
       totp --digits 8

       Configure a one-time password slot with an ASCII secret
       representation:
           $ nitrocli otp set 0 test-rfc4226 12345678901234567890
       --format ascii --algorithm hotp
           $ nitrocli otp set 1 test-foobar foobar --format ascii
       --algorithm hotp
           $ nitrocli otp set 0 test-rfc6238 12345678901234567890
       --format ascii --algorithm totp --digits 8

       Configure a one-time password slot with a base32 secret
       representation:
           $ nitrocli otp set 0 test-rfc4226
       gezdgnbvgy3tqojqgezdgnbvgy3tqojq --algorithm hotp
           $ nitrocli otp set 1 test-foobar mzxw6ytboi====== --algorithm
       hotp
           $ nitrocli otp set 0 test-rfc6238
       gezdgnbvgy3tqojqgezdgnbvgy3tqojq --algorithm totp --digits 8

       Generate a one-time password:
           $ nitrocli otp get 0 --algorithm hotp
           755224
           $ nitrocli otp get 0 --algorithm totp --time 1234567890
           89005924

       Clear a one-time password slot:
           $ nitrocli otp clear 0 --algorithm hotp

   Configuration
       Query the configuration:
           $ nitrocli config get
           Config:
             numlock binding:          not set
             capslock binding:         not set
             scrollock binding:        not set
             require user PIN for OTP: true

       Change the configuration:
           $ nitrocli config set --otp-pin

   Password safe
       Configure a PWS slot:
           $ nitrocli pws add example.org john.doe passw0rd
           Added PWS slot 0

       Get the data from a slot:
           $ nitrocli pws get 0
           name:     example.org
           login:    john.doe
           password: passw0rd

       Copy the password to the clipboard (requires xclip(1)).
           $ nitrocli pws get 0 --password --quiet | xclip -in

       Query the PWS slots:
           $  nitrocli pws status
           slot name
           0    example.org

COLOPHON         top

       This page is part of the nitrocli (a command-line tool for
       interacting with Nitrokey devices) project.  Information about
       the project can be found at 
       ⟨https://github.com/d-e-s-o/nitrocli/tree/master⟩.  If you have a
       bug report for this manual page, see
       ⟨https://github.com/d-e-s-o/nitrocli/issues⟩.  This page was
       obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
       ⟨https://github.com/d-e-s-o/nitrocli.git⟩ on 2024-06-14.  (At
       that time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in
       the repository was 2024-01-18.)  If you discover any rendering
       problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there
       is a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
       corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
       (which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
       man-pages@man7.org

                               2021-04-24                    NITROCLI(1)