GPG encryption and decryption of a folder using command line
If you don't want to tarball everything together and want to encrypt multiple files individually:
cd
into the folder
encrypt: $ls | gpg --multifile --encrypt
or $ls | gpg --encrypt-files -r <recipient>
decrypt: $ls | gpg --multifile --decrypt
or $ls | gpg --decrypt-files
gpgtar is another option as well. gpgtar encrypts or signs files into an archive. It is a gpg-ized tar using the same format as used by PGP's PGP Zip.
It installs along with gnupg on MacOS and Linux.
Encrypt Directory
gpgtar --encrypt --output <out_file_name> -r <recipient> <dir_name>
Decrypt Directory
gpgtar --decrypt <out_file_name>
gpgtar man page
Solution 1:
Use gpg-zip.
Encrypt the contents of directory mydocs for user Bob to file test1:
gpg-zip --encrypt --output test1 --gpg-args -r Bob mydocs
List the contents of archive test1:
gpg-zip --list-archive test1
This is an example directly from Encrypt or sign files into an archive. If you read that page in detail it will help you out a lot.
Solution 2:
Turn a directory into a file
If you want to encrypt a directory, you will need to convert it to a file first. Run the command:
tar czf myfiles.tar.gz mydirectory/
This gives you a new file 'myfiles.tar.gz' which you can then encrypt/decrypt. To turn a tarball back into a directory:
tar xzf myfiles.tar.gz
now you can use encrypt in the same way that you have above. So:
gpg --encrypt --recipient [email protected] ~/xxx/xxx.txt
This is taken directly from an example on berkeley encrypting, which is also a quick and useful read.
You can review the man page here: gnu gpg man