I am looking for software to symmetric-encrypt large numbers of files on disk (terabytes' worth of data), and would appreciate some advice.
- It should be open source and no-cost (though, since I'm asking this question here, this goes without saying);
- I should be able to program scripts (shell, Python, Perl, or Ruby) to run this software without human intervention; this rules out tools that are designed for interactive use.
- It should be stable; I should be able to decrypt encrypted files that were encrypted several years earlier; (how much earlier? hard to say; let's say 10 years, as a rough ballpark)
In addition, the following would be nice:
- good documentation;
- good performance;
- bindings for a high-level language (preferably Python).
The only encryption tool I have used for encrypting files on my hard drive is gpg2, which I have used for small, interactive encryption tasks (half-dozen files, at most).
Therefore, my initial attempt was to use gpg2 for this new bulk-encryption task, but I found myself constantly fighting with it, and finally had to recognize that I was trying to use gpg2 for something it is not primarily designed for. (I am also a bit concerned with gpg2's future stability. AFAICT, It's design has varied significantly over the years, and as a result there's a lot of confusion on its use. That has been my experience, in any case.)
So I am back to square one.
I stress that I am interested only in symmetric encryption. The issues that asymmetric encryption addresses are not at all part of the problem I am dealing with, and therefore I don't want to have to deal with the complexities of asymmetric encryption.
What Debian packages would you recommend?
Many thanks in advance!
kj