How to use Emacs to recognize and automatically open GPG encrypted file in ASCII armored format

emacsgpgmime-types

gpg -ca passwords.txt create encrypted ASCII file passwords.txt.asc. Emacs open the file as a normal text file:

-----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.19 (GNU/Linux)

jA0EAwMCkIp3+bQkLWJgyTQYLGVN8EUEG0BE42sEj/8PrnSzgviSiENxtK+/2n73
WXD7EtndVS/MX4lFJ96h8VozChUA
=zSwh
-----END PGP MESSAGE-----

How do I make Emacs auto-decrypt and encrypt the file when I open and save it?

Best Answer

Everything should work fine with the default configuration, but you can check your configuration.

First, you need to be sure that EasyPG Assistant is installed.

M-xlocate-libraryRETepaRET should return something like:

Library is file /usr/local/share/emacs/24.2.50/lisp/epa.elc

If not, then you've to install it. (or upgrade to Emacs23 or Emacs24)

  1. http://emacswiki.org/emacs/EasyPG
  2. http://epg.sourceforge.jp/

Then, check the value of the variable auto-mode-alist with C-hvauto-mode-alistRET and search for epa.

If you cannot find it, add this snippet to your .emacs.

(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.gpg\\(~\\|\\.~[0-9]+~\\)?\\'" nil epa-file))
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