Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2020 21:53:06 -0400
From: Alvaro Herrera <alvherre@2ndquadrant.com>
To: Tim Cross <theophilusx@gmail.com>
Cc: pgsql-admin@lists.postgresql.org
Subject: Re: scram-sha-256 encrypted password in pgpass
Message-ID: <20200623015306.GA12369@alvherre.pgsql>
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On 2020-Jun-23, Tim Cross wrote:

> If you need to use a password in a command line scenario (i.e. with a
> script), then one way to get around the issue of not storing plain text
> passwords is to use GPG. The basic model is
> 
> - Create a GPG key and store it in a secure place, such as a keystore
> - Use that GPG key to encrypt your password in a file e.g. my-secret.gpg
> - In your script, you can have something like
> 
> PWD = `gpg -q --for-your-eyes-only --no-tty -d ~/.secure/my-secret.gpg`

Perhaps the way to implement this is to have .pgpass be a named pipe,
and you have a program that produces lines from encrypted input after
requesting a passphrase from the user -- perhaps using gpg underneath.
I have vague recollections of this being discussed in the past.

For example, see this thread from 2013
https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/CAAZKuFaJUfdDFp1_vGHbDfYRu0Sj6mSOVvKRp87aCQ53ov6iwA@mail.gmail.com

-- 
Álvaro Herrera                https://www.2ndQuadrant.com/
PostgreSQL Development, 24x7 Support, Remote DBA, Training & Services