Decrypting Packages

Encrypting a file protects it from unwanted access. When an encrypted file arrives after transfer, you must decrypt it before you can use it.

Note: Decrypting files requires a passphrase — a sequence of text that the sender of the package used to encrypt the package. Before decrypting files, ensure that you have the necessary passphrase.

IBM Aspera Crypt works with Drive to decrypt downloaded files.

To decrypt files you have downloaded, do the following:

  1. Go to Activity > Transfers and select the encrypted package you want to decrypt.
  2. While Drive is running, click the Drive icon in the menu bar, and select Unlock Encrypted Files.

    The Aspera Crypt dialog appears.

  3. Select a package or browse to the encrypted content.

    When the encrypted content is loaded into Crypt, a status message appears at the bottom of the application, displaying the number of items ready for decryption.

  4. Type the passphrase into the field and click Decrypt.

    You can also choose to decrypt the content later.

  5. View the output in the Aspera Crypt viewing window.

    The decrypted contents appear in the same directory as the original encrypted contents.

    If the decrypted file (without the .aspera-env extension) already exists in the same folder, “(decrypted)” is added to the filename.

    If your Aspera Crypt viewing window has multiple decrypted items listed, you can use the View drop-down list to sort the items by latest, finished, or failed.

Automatic Decryption

As an alternative to the manual process above, you can set Drive to automatically decrypt the packages that it downloads.

Choose one of the following ways to set up automatic decryption:
  • When you create the Drive account for Faspex or Aspera on Cloud, select the option to Automatically unlock encrypted files on download.
  • Modify an existing account to enable this option. For instructions, see Modifying Your Package Download Settings.