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https://github.com/xeals/signal-back
Decrypt Signal encrypted backups outside the app
https://github.com/xeals/signal-back
backup encryption signal
Last synced: 3 months ago
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Decrypt Signal encrypted backups outside the app
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/xeals/signal-back
- Owner: xeals
- License: apache-2.0
- Created: 2018-04-02T10:56:40.000Z (over 6 years ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2019-10-28T13:48:56.000Z (about 5 years ago)
- Last Synced: 2024-06-28T20:50:16.315Z (5 months ago)
- Topics: backup, encryption, signal
- Language: Go
- Size: 150 KB
- Stars: 678
- Watchers: 41
- Forks: 66
- Open Issues: 51
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- License: LICENSE
- Code of conduct: CODE-OF-CONDUCT.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# signal-back
[](https://travis-ci.org/xeals/signal-back)
In version 4.17.5, the Signal Android app introduced encrypted backups. While these are undoubtedly a security benefit over unencrypted backups, they do present an issue in being read into other systems or simply by their owner.
`signal-back` is intended to use the same decryption process as the Signal app uses when importing its backups, to make them readable without being used by the app.
# Usage
Either [build from source](#building-from-source) or download a [pre-built binary](https://github.com/xeals/signal-back/releases) and put the executable somewhere you can find it.
```
Usage: signal-back COMMAND [OPTION...] BACKUPFILE
--help, -h show help
--log FILE, -l FILE write logging output to FILE
--password PASS, -p PASS use PASS as password for backup file
--pwdfile FILE, -P FILE read password from FILE
--version, -v print the version
Commands:
format Read and format the backup file
analyse Information about the backup file
extract Retrieve attachments from the backup
check Verify that a backup is readable
help Shows a list of commands or help for one command
```
Current export formats are:
- XML: Targeted to be compatible with [SMS Backup & Restore](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riteshsahu.SMSBackupRestore)
- CSV
- Go structure representation ("raw")
# Password
The password you need to decrypt the content of the Signal backup file was shown to you by Signal when you enabled local backups [similar to this screenshot](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/8427572/36796616-d9560ee6-1c9d-11e8-8440-99e7f5f2ee03.JPG). It consists of six groups of five digits.
You can enter the password in the interactive dialog such as `12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345` or you can write it in a text file and pass it to signal-back using `-P password.txt`.
# Example usage
Download whichever binary suits your system from the [releases page](https://github.com/xeals/signal-back/releases); Windows, Mac OS (`darwin`), or Linux, and 32-bit (`386`) or 64-bit (`amd64`). Checksums are provided to verify file integrity.
Find where you downloaded the file and open an interactive shell (Command Prompt, Terminal.app, gnome-terminal, etc.). Make sure your `signal-XXX.backup` file is in the same folder.
## Decrypting
If you're on Windows:
```sh
signal-back_windows_amd64.exe format -f XML -o backup.xml signal-XXX.backup
```
If you're on MacOS or Linux (where e.g., `OS` is `darwin` and `ARCH` is `amd64`):
```sh
chmod +x signal-back_OS_ARCH
./signal-back_OS_ARCH format -f XML -o backup.xml signal-XXX.backup
```
Enter your 30-digit password at the prompt (with or without spaces, doesn't matter). Note that your password will not be echoed back to you for security purposes.
You can then copy `backup.xml` to your phone and restore it using SMS Backup & Restore.
## Extracting media
You can pull out all your attachment files from the backup such as images, videos, and PDFs.
If you're on Windows:
```sh
signal-back_windows_amd64.exe extract -o output signal-XXX.backup
```
If you're on MacOS or Linux (where e.g., `OS` is `darwin` and `ARCH` is `amd64`):
```sh
chmod +x signal-back_OS_ARCH
./signal-back_OS_ARCH extract -o output signal-XXX.backup
```
Everything will be in the `output` folder where you ran the command. Note that some files may have a `.unknown` extension; this is because `signal-back` might not be able to determine what these files are. However, they should still be completely valid files of some sort.
# Building from source
Building requires [Go](https://golang.org) and [dep](https://github.com/golang/dep). If you don't have one (or both) of these tools, instructions should be easy to find. After you've initialised everything:
```
$ git clone https://github.com/xeals/signal-back $GOPATH/src/github.com/xeals/signal-back
$ cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/xeals/signal-back
$ dep ensure
$ go build .
```
You can also just use `go get github.com/xeals/signal-back`, but I provide no guarantees on dependency compatibility.
# Todo list
- [ ] Code cleanup
- [ ] make code legible for other people
- [x] Actual command line-ness
- [x] Formatting ideas and options
- [ ] User-friendliness in errors and stuff
# License
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 ([LICENSE](LICENSE)
or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0).
## Contribution
Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted
for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be
licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.