--- title: How to provide your passwords eleventyNavigation: key: 🔒 Provide your passwords parent: How-to guides order: 2 --- ## Providing passwords and secrets to borgmatic If you want to use a Borg repository passphrase or database passwords with borgmatic, you can set them directly in your borgmatic configuration file, treating those secrets like any other option value. For instance, you can specify your Borg passhprase with: ```yaml encryption_passphrase: yourpassphrase ``` But if you'd rather store them outside of borgmatic, whether for convenience or security reasons, read on. ### Delegating to another application borgmatic supports calling another application such as a password manager to obtain the Borg passphrase to a repository. For example, to ask the [Pass](https://www.passwordstore.org/) password manager to provide the passphrase: ```yaml encryption_passcommand: pass path/to/borg-passphrase ``` New in version 1.9.9 Instead of letting Borg run the passcommand—potentially multiple times since borgmatic runs Borg multiple times—borgmatic now runs the passcommand itself and passes the resulting passphrase securely to Borg via an anonymous pipe. This means you should only ever get prompted for your password manager's passphrase at most once per borgmatic run. ### systemd service credentials borgmatic supports reading encrypted [systemd credentials](https://systemd.io/CREDENTIALS/). To use this feature, start by saving your password as an encrypted credential to `/etc/credstore.encrypted/borgmatic.pw`, e.g., ```bash systemd-ask-password -n | systemd-creds encrypt - /etc/credstore.encrypted/borgmatic.pw ``` Then use the following in your configuration file: ```yaml encryption_passphrase: "{credential systemd borgmatic.pw}" ``` Prior to version 1.9.10 You can accomplish the same thing with this configuration: ```yaml encryption_passcommand: cat ${CREDENTIALS_DIRECTORY}/borgmatic.pw ``` Note that the name `borgmatic.pw` is hardcoded in the systemd service file. The `{credential ...}` syntax works for several different options in a borgmatic configuration file besides just `encryption_passphrase`. For instance, the username, password, and API token options within database and monitoring hooks support `{credential ...}`: ```yaml postgresql_databases: - name: invoices username: postgres password: "{credential systemd borgmatic_db1}" ``` For specifics about which options are supported, see the [configuration reference](https://torsion.org/borgmatic/docs/reference/configuration/). To use these credentials, you'll need to modify the borgmatic systemd service file to support loading multiple credentials (assuming you need to load more than one or anything not named `borgmatic.pw`). Start by saving each encrypted credentials to `/etc/credstore.encrypted/borgmatic/`. E.g., ```bash mkdir /etc/credstore.encrypted/borgmatic systemd-ask-password -n | systemd-creds encrypt --name=borgmatic_backupserver1 - /etc/credstore.encrypted/borgmatic/backupserver1 systemd-ask-password -n | systemd-creds encrypt --name=borgmatic_pw2 - /etc/credstore.encrypted/borgmatic/pw2 ... ``` Ensure that the file names, (e.g. `backupserver1`) match the corresponding part of the `--name` option *after* the underscore (_), and that the part *before* the underscore matches the directory name (e.g. `borgmatic`). Then, uncomment the appropriate line in the systemd service file: ``` systemctl edit borgmatic.service ... # Load multiple encrypted credentials. LoadCredentialEncrypted=borgmatic:/etc/credstore.encrypted/borgmatic/ ``` Finally, use something like the following in your borgmatic configuration file for each option value you'd like to load from systemd: ```yaml encryption_passphrase: "{credential systemd borgmatic_backupserver1}" ``` Prior to version 1.9.10 Use the following instead, but only for the `encryption_passcommand` option and not other options: ```yaml encryption_passcommand: cat ${CREDENTIALS_DIRECTORY}/borgmatic_backupserver1 ``` Adjust `borgmatic_backupserver1` according to the name of the credential and the directory set in the service file. Be aware that when using this systemd `{credential ...}` feature, you may no longer be able to run certain borgmatic actions outside of the systemd service, as the credentials are only available from within the context of that service. So for instance, `borgmatic list` necessarily relies on the `encryption_passphrase` in order to access the Borg repository, but `list` shouldn't need to load any credentials for your database or monitoring hooks. The one exception is `borgmatic config validate`, which doesn't actually load any credentials and should continue working anywhere. ### Container secrets New in version 1.9.11 When running inside a container, borgmatic can read [Docker secrets](https://docs.docker.com/compose/how-tos/use-secrets/) and [Podman secrets](https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/new-podman-secrets-command). Creating those secrets and passing them into your borgmatic container is outside the scope of this documentation, but here's a simple example of that with [Docker Compose](https://docs.docker.com/compose/): ```yaml services: borgmatic: # Use the actual image name of your borgmatic container here. image: borgmatic:latest secrets: - borgmatic_passphrase secrets: borgmatic_passphrase: file: /etc/borgmatic/passphrase.txt ``` This assumes there's a file on the host at `/etc/borgmatic/passphrase.txt` containing your passphrase. Docker or Podman mounts the contents of that file into a secret named `borgmatic_passphrase` in the borgmatic container at `/run/secrets/`. Once your container secret is in place, you can consume it within your borgmatic configuration file: ```yaml encryption_passphrase: "{credential container borgmatic_passphrase}" ``` This reads the secret securely from a file mounted at `/run/secrets/borgmatic_passphrase` within the borgmatic container. The `{credential ...}` syntax works for several different options in a borgmatic configuration file besides just `encryption_passphrase`. For instance, the username, password, and API token options within database and monitoring hooks support `{credential ...}`: ```yaml postgresql_databases: - name: invoices username: postgres password: "{credential container borgmatic_db1}" ``` For specifics about which options are supported, see the [configuration reference](https://torsion.org/borgmatic/docs/reference/configuration/). You can also optionally override the `/run/secrets` directory that borgmatic reads secrets from inside a container: ```yaml container: secrets_directory: /path/to/secrets ``` But you should only need to do this for development or testing purposes. ### KeePassXC passwords New in version 1.9.11 borgmatic supports reading passwords from the [KeePassXC](https://keepassxc.org/) password manager. To use this feature, start by creating an entry in your KeePassXC database, putting your password into the "Password" field of that entry and making sure it's saved. Then, you can consume that password in your borgmatic configuration file. For instance, if the entry's title is "borgmatic" and your KeePassXC database is located at `/etc/keys.kdbx`, do this: ```yaml encryption_passphrase: "{credential keepassxc /etc/keys.kdbx borgmatic}" ``` But if the entry's title is multiple words like `borg pw`, you'll need to quote it: ```yaml encryption_passphrase: "{credential keepassxc /etc/keys.kdbx 'borg pw'}" ``` With this in place, borgmatic runs the `keepassxc-cli` command to retrieve the passphrase on demand. But note that `keepassxc-cli` will prompt for its own passphrase in order to unlock its database, so be prepared to enter it when running borgmatic. The `{credential ...}` syntax works for several different options in a borgmatic configuration file besides just `encryption_passphrase`. For instance, the username, password, and API token options within database and monitoring hooks support `{credential ...}`: ```yaml postgresql_databases: - name: invoices username: postgres password: "{credential keepassxc /etc/keys.kdbx database}" ``` For specifics about which options are supported, see the [configuration reference](https://torsion.org/borgmatic/docs/reference/configuration/). You can also optionally override the `keepassxc-cli` command that borgmatic calls to load passwords: ```yaml keepassxc: keepassxc_cli_command: /usr/local/bin/keepassxc-cli ``` ### File-based credentials New in version 1.9.11 borgmatic supports reading credentials from arbitrary file paths. To use this feature, start by writing your credential into a file that borgmatic has permission to read. Take care not to include anything in the file other than your credential. (borgmatic is smart enough to strip off a trailing newline though.) You can consume that credential file in your borgmatic configuration. For instance, if your credential file is at `/credentials/borgmatic.txt`, do this: ```yaml encryption_passphrase: "{credential file /credentials/borgmatic.txt}" ``` With this in place, borgmatic reads the credential from the file path. The `{credential ...}` syntax works for several different options in a borgmatic configuration file besides just `encryption_passphrase`. For instance, the username, password, and API token options within database and monitoring hooks support `{credential ...}`: ```yaml postgresql_databases: - name: invoices username: postgres password: "{credential file /credentials/database.txt}" ``` For specifics about which options are supported, see the [configuration reference](https://torsion.org/borgmatic/docs/reference/configuration/). ### Environment variable interpolation New in version 1.6.4 borgmatic supports interpolating arbitrary environment variables directly into option values in your configuration file. That means you can instruct borgmatic to pull your repository passphrase, your database passwords, or any other option values from environment variables. Be aware though that environment variables may be less secure than some of the other approaches above for getting credentials into borgmatic. That's because environment variables may be visible from within child processes and/or OS-level process metadata. Here's an example of using an environment variable from borgmatic's configuration file: ```yaml encryption_passphrase: ${YOUR_PASSPHRASE} ``` Prior to version 1.8.0 Put this option in the `storage:` section of your configuration. This uses the `YOUR_PASSPHRASE` environment variable as your encryption passphrase. Note that the `{` `}` brackets are required. `$YOUR_PASSPHRASE` by itself will not work. In the case of `encryption_passphrase` in particular, an alternate approach is to use Borg's `BORG_PASSPHRASE` environment variable, which doesn't even require setting an explicit `encryption_passphrase` value in borgmatic's configuration file. For [database configuration](https://torsion.org/borgmatic/docs/how-to/backup-your-databases/), the same approach applies. For example: ```yaml postgresql_databases: - name: users password: ${YOUR_DATABASE_PASSWORD} ``` Prior to version 1.8.0 Put this option in the `hooks:` section of your configuration. This uses the `YOUR_DATABASE_PASSWORD` environment variable as your database password. #### Interpolation defaults If you'd like to set a default for your environment variables, you can do so with the following syntax: ```yaml encryption_passphrase: ${YOUR_PASSPHRASE:-defaultpass} ``` Here, "`defaultpass`" is the default passphrase if the `YOUR_PASSPHRASE` environment variable is not set. Without a default, if the environment variable doesn't exist, borgmatic will error. #### Disabling interpolation To disable this environment variable interpolation feature entirely, you can pass the `--no-environment-interpolation` flag on the command-line. Or if you'd like to disable interpolation within a single option value, you can escape it with a backslash. For instance, if your password is literally `${A}@!`: ```yaml encryption_passphrase: \${A}@! ``` ## Related features Another way to override particular options within a borgmatic configuration file is to use a [configuration override](https://torsion.org/borgmatic/docs/how-to/make-per-application-backups/#configuration-overrides) on the command-line. But please be aware of the security implications of specifying secrets on the command-line. Additionally, borgmatic action hooks support their own [variable interpolation](https://torsion.org/borgmatic/docs/how-to/add-preparation-and-cleanup-steps-to-backups/#variable-interpolation), although in that case it's for particular borgmatic runtime values rather than (only) environment variables.