ARMOR

Authenticated Range-readable Managed Object Repository

ARMOR is an S3-compatible proxy. It encrypts objects before storing them in Backblaze B2 and serves reads through a Cloudflare domain. Clients use ARMOR credentials and an S3 endpoint; ARMOR holds the B2 credentials and master encryption key (MEK). Its source tests cover a scoped set of S3 operations, including single-PUT writes, reads, listing, and documented multipart cases.

Install

Install Docker with the Compose plugin, then clone this repository for its compose.yaml and .env.example:

git clone https://github.com/jedarden/ARMOR.git
cd ARMOR

Select an image tag that has been published. The release-status register is the evidence boundary: on its 2026-10-16 status date the newest tags with published images are 0.1.1993 and 0.1.1994, and the register records what each publication does and does not prove. The checkout's VERSION and Compose default can be ahead of published images, so confirm there before trusting them. For the commands below, set the tag once:

export ARMOR_VERSION=0.1.1994
docker pull ghcr.io/jedarden/armor:"$ARMOR_VERSION"

The published image targets linux/amd64. On Apple Silicon, set DOCKER_DEFAULT_PLATFORM=linux/amd64 before pulling or starting Compose. To build from source instead, use Go as specified by go.mod and make build; AGENTS.md has the build and test commands.

60-second demo

This profile stores data in a temporary filesystem and uses fixed demo credentials. It needs no B2 or Cloudflare account.

docker compose --profile demo up -d armor-demo
docker compose --profile demo ps
docker run --rm --network container:$(docker compose --profile demo ps -q armor-demo) \
  -e AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=armor -e AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=armor-demo-secret \
  -e AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1 amazon/aws-cli:2.29.0 \
  --endpoint-url http://127.0.0.1:9000 s3 ls
docker compose --profile demo down

The demo exposes port 9000 and sets a fixed demo admin token. Its temporary MEK is lost when the container stops, so this Compose profile is for disposable data. Run go run ./cmd/armor demo -dir ./armor-demo-data for the CLI demo. It prints generated dashboard credentials, an admin token, the dashboard URL, and S3 credentials. The command saves its MEK in a mode-600 file under that directory and reuses it after restarts. Its structured startup logs are JSON; the ready-to-paste AWS CLI configuration is printed as a plain text block.

Production

These steps run one B2-backed instance with its S3 API on port 9000 and its admin API bound to host loopback on port 9001. Keep the chosen image tag in your shell or set ARMOR_VERSION in .env.

1. Prepare B2. Create a bucket and an application key with access to it. Record the bucket name, region, application key ID, and application key. ARMOR uses the B2 S3 API for writes. For Cloudflare reads, configure the bucket for public ciphertext downloads as described in the Cloudflare setup guide.

2. Prepare Cloudflare. Create a proxied CNAME to the bucket's B2 download hostname and set up the read path in the Cloudflare setup guide. Record the Cloudflare hostname without https://. Set it as ARMOR_CF_DOMAIN. If you leave that variable empty, ARMOR reads directly from B2 and B2 egress charges apply.

3. Create the environment file and keys. The following generates a random 32-byte MEK and a separate admin bearer token directly into the ignored .env file; it prints neither value. Back up the MEK securely before writing objects. Losing it makes existing objects unreadable.

   umask 077
   cp -n .env.example .env
   python3 - <<'PY'
   from pathlib import Path
   import secrets
   
   path = Path('.env')
   values = path.read_text()
   for name in ('ARMOR_MEK', 'ARMOR_ADMIN_TOKEN'):
       values = values.replace(f'{name}=\n', f'{name}={secrets.token_hex(32)}\n', 1)
   path.write_text(values)
   PY

4. Fill in the B2 and client credentials in .env. Set ARMOR_B2_REGION, ARMOR_B2_ACCESS_KEY_ID, ARMOR_B2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, ARMOR_BUCKET, ARMOR_CF_DOMAIN, ARMOR_AUTH_ACCESS_KEY, and ARMOR_AUTH_SECRET_KEY. Use distinct ARMOR client credentials; they are separate from the B2 application key. Required configuration lists the minimum, and the configuration reference explains every setting. Set ARMOR_VERSION there if the shell export above will not persist.

5. Start and verify. Compose passes the MEK and admin token from .env to the server. armor check loads that same environment and probes the bucket, Cloudflare path, and MEK/canary state. An empty new bucket can produce warnings until the canary exists; investigate any FAIL result.

   docker compose --profile production up -d armor-production
   docker compose --profile production exec -T armor-production /armor check
   curl --fail http://127.0.0.1:9001/version

Keep .env out of version control. The admin token enables key management and format migration; follow the linked runbooks before using either operation.

Required configuration

Variable	What to provide
ARMOR_B2_REGION	The bucket's B2 region, for example us-east-005
ARMOR_B2_ACCESS_KEY_ID, ARMOR_B2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	The bucket-scoped B2 application key
ARMOR_BUCKET	The B2 bucket name
ARMOR_CF_DOMAIN	The Cloudflare read hostname; leave empty only if direct B2 reads are intended
ARMOR_MEK	A stable 32-byte key encoded as 64 hex characters
ARMOR_AUTH_ACCESS_KEY, ARMOR_AUTH_SECRET_KEY	Credentials that S3 clients use with ARMOR
ARMOR_ADMIN_TOKEN	A separate bearer token for admin operations

Clients

Point an S3 client at http://<armor-host>:9000 and use the ARMOR client credentials from .env. Use path-style addressing. The connection guide gives AWS CLI, rclone, boto3, DuckDB, litestream, and barman examples. armor client-config --for aws-cli --endpoint http://<armor-host>:9000 --bucket <bucket> prints the client settings for a specific endpoint; see the CLI reference.

Operations

The documentation index links the operator guides. Start with key rotation, format migration, disaster recovery, and the release process. Keep the MEK and B2 credentials available to recovery tooling, and verify restores with the intended image and object population.

Legacy v1 objects have the counter defect recorded in ADR-005; the v2/v3 confidentiality guarantee applies to them only after migration. Follow the migration reference before running armor migrate --target v3, then audit with armor verify or the continuous restore verifier.

Subcommands

armor help lists serve, demo, check, client-config, decrypt, verify, migrate, and version. The CLI reference documents flags, exit codes, credentials, and safe use.

Admin API

The admin listener exposes health, version, and metrics endpoints. Token-gated routes cover key management, migration, and other operations. See the HTTP API reference for the route and authorization contract.

Status and limitations

The repository tests a defined S3 operation and client matrix. Publication proof, deployment verification, active regressions, and limits on range performance, multipart/DR checks, and named-key reads are tracked in the release-status register. Use that register for the exact image and deployment boundary before a production rollout.