PSafe Manual

PSafe is a free Unix command-line utility for storing passwords that you are afraid you might forget. The passwords are stored in an encrypted file accessible via a master password chosen by you.

For installation instructions, go here.

Also be sure you are aware of the important security considerations before using this software.

Command Syntax

The most common way to use psafe is to start it up (by simply typing 'psafe') and then type commands into the PSafe command prompt. You may also enter a command on the startup command-line if you only want to do a single operation.

commands
add
Add a new password entry.
change
Change an existing password entry.
del
Remove a password entry.
extra
add/change an extra field.
show/view
See the password for a particular entry.
search
Find entries matching a pattern (including matches in extra fields).
list
List the names of all entries or just those matching a pattern.
import
Add entries from a PSafe file.
export
Copy entries into a PSafe file.

When you add the first entry, you will be asked to choose a master password. At that time, you may also enter a password hint, but be careful not to give away the password if you do!

It is easy to make backups of your psafe database. Simply copy ~/.psafe/db or use the export command. If you export without choosing an export password, the exported data will be stored in plain text. This might be useful if, for example, you want to see the whole contents of the file or feed it into another program or encrypt it with a different tool.

The PSafe command prompt supports wildcards, tab completion, and command history. You may configure the command-editing behavior using the readline configuration file, inputrc.

Startup Command Line Options

--login_file=F
Read master password from a file. The file is removed unless you also use --keep_login_file.
--db=F
Use an alternate database file. If a bare filename is given (no path), then the file is assumed to exist in the ~/.psafe directory.