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borg-key-export-related-secrets(1) borg backup tool borg-key-export-related-secrets(1)

Name

borg-key-export-related-secrets - Export secrets for creating related repositories

SYNOPSIS

borg [common options] key export-related-secrets [options] [REPOSITORY] [PATH]

DESCRIPTION

This command exports the deduplication secrets (id_key and chunk_seed) of a repository. These secrets can be used to initialize a related repository.

Related repositories share the same deduplication metadata but have their own independent encryption keys. This is useful for:

1.
Creating independent backup targets that still benefit from being "compatible" for future archive transfers.
2.
Preparing for a migration to Borg 2.0, where archives can be transferred between related repositories using borg transfer.

The exported secrets are stored in a JSON file. This file contains sensitive information and should be deleted immediately after usage.

Examples:

# Export secrets from an existing repository
$ borg key export-related-secrets /path/to/repo1 secrets.json
# Initialize a new related repository using these secrets
$ borg init --import-related-secrets=secrets.json --encryption=repokey /path/to/repo2
$ rm secrets.json


Important:

When initializing a related repository using borg init --import-related-secrets, the new repository must use the same ID hash algorithm (either both HMAC-SHA256 or both BLAKE2) as the original repository.
  • HMAC-SHA256: repokey, keyfile, authenticated
  • BLAKE2: repokey-blake2, keyfile-blake2, authenticated-blake2



Warning:

Please note that future Borg 2.0 versions might remove support for BLAKE2 in new repositories (see #8867).


OPTIONS

See borg-common(1) for common options of Borg commands.

arguments

REPOSITORY

where to store the secrets

SEE ALSO

borg-common(1)

Author

The Borg Collective

2026-07-18