openssl enc -d -aes-256-cbc -in encrypted.tar.gz -out - | tar -xzf - Another method is to use tar and gpg (GNU Privacy Guard) to create a tar.gz file and encrypt it with a password.

To extract the file:

To decrypt the file:

tar -czf - directory/ | gpg -c -o encrypted.tar.gz This will prompt you to enter a password to encrypt the file.