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## 5 Caching Passphrases

Typing passphrases is a troublesome task if you frequently open and close the same file. GnuPG and EasyPG Assistant provide mechanisms to remember your passphrases. However, the configuration is a bit confusing since it depends on your GnuPG installationSee GnuPG version compatibility, encryption method (symmetric or public key), and whether or not you want to use gpg-agent. Here are some questions:

1. Do you use GnuPG version 2.1 or 2.0 instead of GnuPG version 1.4?
2. Do you use symmetric encryption rather than public key encryption?
3. Do you want to use gpg-agent?

Here are configurations depending on your answers:

1 | 2 | 3 | Configuration
Yes | Yes | Yes | Set up gpg-agent.
Yes | Yes | No | You can’t, without gpg-agent.
Yes | No | Yes | Set up gpg-agent.
Yes | No | No | You can’t, without gpg-agent.
No | Yes | Yes | Set up elisp passphrase cache.
No | Yes | No | Set up elisp passphrase cache.
No | No | Yes | Set up gpg-agent.
No | No | No | You can’t, without gpg-agent.

To set up gpg-agent, follow the instruction in GnuPG manual. see (gnupg)Invoking GPG-AGENT.

To set up elisp passphrase cache, set `epa-file-cache-passphrase-for-symmetric-encryption`. See Encrypting/decrypting gpg files.