watchDirectory Help > Plugins > Automatically ZIP/Compress files > Password Protect
Password Protect ZIP files
The ZIP file plugin supports password protected ZIP files, compatible with programs such as WinZip™.
Encryption Method
Three different methods are supported:
- Zip 2.0: This is the most compatible encryption method. Almost all popular Zip/Unzip programs support this method. If absolute compatibility is required you should select this method. Zip 2.0 Password Protection is not considered safe when used with highly confidential data.
- 128 bit AES: AES encryption is extremely secure, but only supported by modern Zip/Unzip programs. More bits (128 in this case) means stronger encryption.
- 256 bit AES: An even stronger encryption (more bits).
Password to use for Encryption
You can enter a password that will be used for all zip files, or you can let the ZIP file plugin generate random passwords for you.
Use this Password
If you want all ZIP files to have (basically) the same password, enter it here.
Append the first 3 letters of the zipfile name to this password
To make the password a bit more unique for each zipfile, select this option. This option will add the first 3 characters of the name of the zipfile to your password. So, if you have entered "My Secret Pass!" in the password field, and the zipfile "Goodmorning.zip" is created, the password for this zipfile will be "My Secret Pass!goo". Note that the 3 letters will always be lowercase.
Append the Day-Of-Month to this Password
This option will add 2 extra numbers to your password (01 - 31), depending on the day the zip file is created.
Note: This option is not available if you have selected the option "Add files to existing ZIP" on the main settings window.
The problem is that the ZIP file plugin can not recompress password protected files inside existing ZIP files.
Automatically Create a Random Password
Another possibility is to let the ZIP plugin automatically create random passwords for you. The password it will create will be 12 to 16 characters long, and consists of characters from this set:
qazwsxedcrfvtgbyhnujmklp
QAZWSXEDCRFVTGBYHNUJMKLP
-=@%*?98765432_(){}$
A typical example of a random password: 8tHFq?jdu-)Ku
When a zipfile is created, the plugin will write the time, filename and password to a ;-delimited file. The name and location of this file depends on what you enter
in the edit box:
| The password for C:\Test\Hello.zip is written to |
|
|---|---|
| If you leave the filename blank | C:\Test\Hello_password.csv |
| If you enter the directory C:\Passwords | C:\Passwords\Hello_password.csv |
| If you enter the file C:\Passwords.csv | C:\Passwords.csv |
Note: This option is not available if you have selected the option "Add files to existing ZIP" on the main settings window.
The problem is that the ZIP file plugin can not recompress password protected files inside existing ZIP files.