ethkey

README

ethkey

Generate Ethereum keys using mnemonics or hex seed

disclaimer

The use of this tool does not guarantee security or usability for any particular purpose. Please review the code and use at your own risk.

installation

This step assumes you have Go compiler toolchain installed on your system.

go install github.com/kubetrail/ethkey@latest

Add autocompletion for bash to your .bashrc

source <(ethkey completion bash)

generate keys

Ethereum keys can be generated using mnemonic. bip39 can be used for generating new mnemonics:

bip39 gen

patient board palm abandon right sort find blood grace sweet vote load action bag trash calm burden glow phrase shoot frog vacant elegant tourist

ethkey gen

Enter mnemonic: patient board palm abandon right sort find blood grace sweet vote load action bag trash calm burden glow phrase shoot frog vacant elegant tourist
seed: 83302d7a03b461c84f9c8b80ddc2b5c9f46323b567b8aa9b92c82d2b710abd4a6662b8140ec61b4a993bf7e9d673606efa13c30427f1f746326991b57c53d287
prvHex: 12bea0236685f934e39e27bef1793966800f882912c099b4c584a8fbfd28b6e1
pubHex: 1cdc6ce2a8113342dae3b3c76f298b5aeeb901f3fa9043332ff4e79dd55b893ca1ffa1982934eb537ad49ff40fa9b644b0f7093785cffd7439c5afb2163bc540
addr: 0x33009656efD3e4eA8763B72B020C2327Dee0B2db
keyType: ecdsa

Alternatively, pass mnemonic as CLI args

Please note that passing mnemonic as CLI arg poses a risk of it getting captured in command history and thereby stored on the disk, which is a security risk.

ethkey gen patient board palm abandon right sort find blood grace sweet vote load action bag trash calm burden glow phrase shoot frog vacant elegant tourist

The default chain derivation path is m/44'/60'/0'/0/0, were 60' stands for hardened Ethereum chain address and 44' stands for hardened purpose, implying BIP-44 spec.

Keys can be additionally protected using a passphrase:

ethkey gen --use-passphrase

Enter mnemonic: patient board palm abandon right sort find blood grace sweet vote load action bag trash calm burden glow phrase shoot frog vacant elegant tourist
Enter secret passphrase: 
Enter secret passphrase again: 
seed: e393f67697aecc395a187f44439113a7ad8368407c6268b9d1f7cef15f8b01d45d1ba2973515482d3851fe671c8d43c8a3fc2aac7e8320b74ac0edc80d615ca0
prvHex: 2978a24a1ad0e918aa55d9ef6925b7066dd9ceb2b0f843c25bea10c83df97ba5
pubHex: 3bbd51b50b45322bad358a381acfb8db8511525e5384f688130f51c1568c40d5135806a697733438051c3bc26788658a0f6c061cceb5b41bf63af6a8ac6d8412
addr: 0xfa6AEd1c3F820ed5820a75Dd05527d2BDEC5C93B
keyType: ecdsa

The chain derivation path can be changed

ethkey gen --derivation-path="m/44'/501'/0'/0/0" patient board palm abandon right sort find blood grace sweet vote load action bag trash calm burden glow phrase shoot frog vacant elegant tourist

seed: 83302d7a03b461c84f9c8b80ddc2b5c9f46323b567b8aa9b92c82d2b710abd4a6662b8140ec61b4a993bf7e9d673606efa13c30427f1f746326991b57c53d287
prvHex: dd0808b874693a136384b0f4cf923b6caf59a5068bb8bfeb1e38420b86f22f6f
pubHex: 08a21dcae87a5d574aa5bd2e94968de960aa92190f2c09de7b73c00b1363b653414ee299f9e396b74aae8e964ce3cf313de6d5734236788aec927329f096070c
addr: 0x810d963eC3C2DfD299E089C42cc7d07089FA5eD2
keyType: ecdsa

Mnemonic is validated and expected to comply to BIP-39 standard. Furthermore, a mnemonic in a language different from English is first translated to English such that the underlying entropy is preserved.

bip39 translate --to-language=Japanese patient board palm abandon right sort find blood grace sweet vote load action bag trash calm burden glow phrase shoot frog vacant elegant tourist

てぶくろ うりきれ てすり あいこくしん ねむい ひりつ こんしゅう うやまう しねん ほうそう らいう そんぞく あつい いわば むかい おおよそ おいこす しちりん でんち はんい さとる やめる けらい みのがす

Now using the Japenese mnemonic will result in same keys as those generated using it's English mnemonic equivalent:

ethkey gen --mnemonic-language=Japanese てぶくろ うりきれ てすり あいこくしん ねむい ひりつ こんしゅう うやまう しねん ほうそう らいう そんぞく あつい いわば むかい おおよそ おいこす しちりん でんち はんい さとる やめる けらい みのがす

seed: 83302d7a03b461c84f9c8b80ddc2b5c9f46323b567b8aa9b92c82d2b710abd4a6662b8140ec61b4a993bf7e9d673606efa13c30427f1f746326991b57c53d287
prvHex: 12bea0236685f934e39e27bef1793966800f882912c099b4c584a8fbfd28b6e1
pubHex: 1cdc6ce2a8113342dae3b3c76f298b5aeeb901f3fa9043332ff4e79dd55b893ca1ffa1982934eb537ad49ff40fa9b644b0f7093785cffd7439c5afb2163bc540
addr: 0x33009656efD3e4eA8763B72B020C2327Dee0B2db
keyType: ecdsa

However, an arbitrary mnemonic can be used by switching off validation

ethkey gen --skip-mnemonic-validation this is an invalid mnemonic

seed: bb06e6570ed0b71ac71e4feefeb3a7e2e4cf04ba80a065408150800f86583add8d7ba2ed117444a00f95ca8966ea2e7ff5c8a84b0f5b35a43388d76f0eca043f
prvHex: fc30faae343aba4a5151a56881e9c4ff332563fa8eedda661a7681db4ea604bb
pubHex: ba4db1e7af2dab716f15fc2bab039826d82ff17d1e40bbf8ba292fda8658e913ab72173f8e5a8d22d032bf77db7a86f0e43b6af2ddc93aa976882cab64051120
addr: 0xc1541003D25C206873F5c28Ea684E1072026FC9A
keyType: ecdsa

It is a good practice to use valid mnemonics and also enter them via STDIN to avoid getting them captured in command history

decode keys

Given a private key or public key hex string other info can be derived

ethkey gen jungle pudding situate maple pattern demand unaware float welcome patrol birth chief

seed: f85f7dbed5f799fedb12410db708221becd930c21b9364db3426e4fdeb0b537fb188e94e7c12fa3e21c2d796e3a318c435927b013af1483b7ce06a6d282bdbd8
prvHex: 60164407f30a87fae4da0f538b8573b3cfbaa7e96878d848c30df5b5aad617a3
pubHex: 97ad62d8f9f1364d1ab9fb6507124e13ca60ae20ae6704af065eb60c8373355c93639280e5bf99346f31381541299ae255531c8e714e1b36ce07aa4c34e3d94a
addr: 0x10DC542608b5AC7b906800F5773489aEfEeAf9Fe
keyType: ecdsa

These keys can be validated:

ethkey decode 60164407f30a87fae4da0f538b8573b3cfbaa7e96878d848c30df5b5aad617a3

prvHex: 60164407f30a87fae4da0f538b8573b3cfbaa7e96878d848c30df5b5aad617a3
pubHex: 97ad62d8f9f1364d1ab9fb6507124e13ca60ae20ae6704af065eb60c8373355c93639280e5bf99346f31381541299ae255531c8e714e1b36ce07aa4c34e3d94a
addr: 0x10DC542608b5AC7b906800F5773489aEfEeAf9Fe
keyType: ecdsa

ethkey validate 97ad62d8f9f1364d1ab9fb6507124e13ca60ae20ae6704af065eb60c8373355c93639280e5bf99346f31381541299ae255531c8e714e1b36ce07aa4c34e3d94a

pubHex: 97ad62d8f9f1364d1ab9fb6507124e13ca60ae20ae6704af065eb60c8373355c93639280e5bf99346f31381541299ae255531c8e714e1b36ce07aa4c34e3d94a
addr: 0x10DC542608b5AC7b906800F5773489aEfEeAf9Fe
keyType: ecdsa

generate hash

Hash can be generated for an input

ethkey hash this arbitrary input \
  --output-format=yaml

hash: 9PW5sgZmMnaBYgJxUQASyDQoeKoxPcgBLvCJEHVEFqb5

sign hash

Hash generated in previous step can be signed using private key

ethkey sign \
  --key=70f18df4c72c80a4c0bd47c6ec1b61dd4251c9a77104150c891f8d27a96beb73 \
  --hash=9PW5sgZmMnaBYgJxUQASyDQoeKoxPcgBLvCJEHVEFqb5 \
  --output-format=yaml

sign: GTpQzCsxorDxhWykp4CJPdimV5VKQ9Jqm1xsJsusYGFCuDKHVjVG5dCeVZG8Qu27AfTYUShewRiT5tERohQUMhbTu

verify signature

ethkey verify \
  --key=0x0dD73dE2AC23E6f4928D582aa6510144790DA88e \
  --hash=9PW5sgZmMnaBYgJxUQASyDQoeKoxPcgBLvCJEHVEFqb5 \
  --sign=GTpQzCsxorDxhWykp4CJPdimV5VKQ9Jqm1xsJsusYGFCuDKHVjVG5dCeVZG8Qu27AfTYUShewRiT5tERohQUMhbTu \
  --output-format=yaml

verified: true

references

• goerli faucet

Documentation

Overview

Copyright © 2022 kubetrail.io authors

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.