What is sett?

sett stands for “Secure Encryption and Transfer Tool” and is a python-based wrapper around GnuPG and SFTP that automates the packaging, encryption, and transfer of data.

sett is available both as a GUI program sett-gui, and in command line sett. Most functionality of sett is available in both the GUI and the command line.

sett is developed as part of the BioMedIT project. It is licensed under the GPLv3 (GNU General Public License) and the source code is available from its public GitLab repo

BioMedIT

When using sett to transfer data into the SPHN BioMedIT network, a number of additional constraints apply. These specific instructions are highlighted throughout this documentation in BioMedIT labeled boxes, just like this one.

Important

IMPORTANT NOTICE - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

Starting with version 4.4.0, sett has been updated to no longer use GnuPG as encryption backend by default.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

  • If you are a new sett user with no PGP key (the cryptographic key used for data encryption, decryption and signing), you can ignore this message.

  • If you were already using earlier sett versions, you will need to migrate the PGP key(s) you are using with sett to the new certificate store. Please refer to the instructions given in the section Migrating keys from the GnuPG keyring to the sett certificate store.

WHAT ELSE CHANGES FOR YOU AS A USER:

  • After you migrated your key(s) to the new sett certificate store, nothing else changes - simply keep using sett as you did before.

MORE DETAILS ABOUT THIS CHANGE

  • Starting with version 4.4.0, sett no longer uses GnuPG as its default cryptographic backend. Instead, it now uses an embedded cryptographic library named sequoia<https://sequoia-pgp.org> and its own keystore.

  • As a result, the Open PGP keys located in your GnuPG keyring are no longer automatically detected by sett, and they must therefore be migrated to the new sett certificate store.

  • It remains possible to switch back to using GnuPG as cryptographic backend by enabling the legacy_mode option in the in the configuration file or “Use GnuPG legacy mode” in the settings tab of sett-gui.