nitrocli(1) — Linux manual page

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | COMMANDS | ENVIRONMENT | 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 and the Nitrokey Storage.  It can be used to access the
       encrypted volume, the one-time password generator, and the password
       safe.

OPTIONS top

       -m, --model pro|storage
              Restrict connections to the given device model.  If this
              option is not set, nitrocli will connect to any connected
              Nitrokey Pro or Nitrokey Storage device.

       -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 device 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 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
              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.

              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).

       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.

   One-time passwords
       The Nitrokey Pro and the Nitrokey Storage 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.

              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 hex.

              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 numlock,
       capslock and scrollock 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 configuration.

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

              With the --numlock, --capslock and --scrollock options, the
              respective bindings can be set.  slot is the number of the
              HOTP slot to bind the key to.  If --no-numlock, --no-capslock
              or --no-scrollock 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 and the Nitrokey Storage provide a password safe
       (PWS) with 20 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 set slot name login password
              Set the content of a PWS slot.  slot is the number of the slot
              to write.  name, login, and password represent the data to
              write to the slot.

       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).

ENVIRONMENT top

       The program honors a set of environment variables that can be used to
       suppress interactive PIN entry through pinentry(1). 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).

       NITROCLI_NO_CACHE
              If this variable is present in the environment, do not cache
              any inquired secrets using gpg-agent(1) but ask for them each
              time they are needed.  Note that this variable 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.

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 --algorithm hotp
           $ nitrocli otp set 1 test-foobar 666F6F626172 --algorithm hotp
           $ nitrocli otp set 0 test-rfc6238
       3132333435363738393031323334353637383930 --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 --format base32 --algorithm hotp
           $ nitrocli otp set 1 test-foobar mzxw6ytboi====== --format base32
       --algorithm hotp
           $ nitrocli otp set 0 test-rfc6238
       gezdgnbvgy3tqojqgezdgnbvgy3tqojq --format base32 --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 set 0 example.org john.doe passw0rd

       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 2020-08-13.  (At that
       time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in the repos‐
       itory was 2020-04-19.)  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

                                 2020-01-29                      NITROCLI(1)