A Python CLI application for generating RSA public and private key pairs using the cryptography library

Features • Installation • Usage • Configuration • Development • License

Features

Encryption Helper is a robust Python package designed to simplify the process of creating RSA key pairs. It leverages the cryptography library to offer:

• Generation of 2048-bit RSA key pairs
• Automatic saving of keys in PEM format
• Logging of key generation for debugging purposes
• Simple CLI interface for ease of use

Installation

This package requires Python 3.8 or later and uses cryptography for cryptographic operations.

Using Poetry (recommended)

Ensure you have Poetry installed, then follow these steps:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/hsbc/encryption-helper-python.git
cd encryption-helper-python

# Install dependencies (including cryptography)
poetry install

Using pip

If you prefer to use pip:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/hsbc/encryption-helper-python.git
cd encryption-helper-python

# Create a virtual environment (optional but recommended)
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows use `venv\Scripts\activate`

# Install the package and its dependencies (including cryptography)
pip install .

Usage

With Poetry

To generate an RSA key pair using Poetry:

poetry run encryption-helper

With standard Python

If you installed the package using pip:

# If you're using a virtual environment, make sure it's activated
encryption-helper

Or run the module directly:

python -m encryption_helper

These commands will:

• Use cryptography to generate a 2048-bit RSA key pair
• Save the private key to keys/pem/private-key.pem
• Save the public key to keys/pem/public-key.pem
• Display both keys in the console
• Log the key generation process

Configuration

The key generation process uses cryptography with the following specifications:

• Standard: PKCS#1
• Type: RSA
• Size: 2048 bits

To modify these settings, you'll need to edit the generate_rsa_key() function in encryption_helper/main.py. Refer to the cryptography documentation for more advanced configurations.

Development

With Poetry

To set up the development environment using Poetry:

# Create a virtual environment and install dependencies
poetry install

# Activate the virtual environment
poetry shell

# Run tests
pytest tests/

# Generate documentation
pydoc -w encryption_helper

With standard Python

If you're not using Poetry:

# Create a virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows use `venv\Scripts\activate`

# Install development dependencies
pip install .[dev]

# Run tests
pytest tests/

# Generate documentation
pydoc -w encryption_helper

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.