pdf_decrypt_retrieve_attachments

Decrypt and extract embedded pdf attachments.

Credit

Based on https://piep.tech/posts/automatic-password-removal-in-paperless-ngx/

Setup

1. Create a Dictionary File

The first step in creating a pre-consumption script is to create a dictionary file. This file will contain a list of all the passwords that you want to try to remove from the PDF files. To create a dictionary file:

1. Open a text editor.

2. Enter each password on a new line.

3. Save the file as <paperless-ngx_root>/scripts/passwords.txt.

   123456
   123456789
   qwerty
   password
   12345
   qwerty123
   1q2w3e
   12345678
   

2. Write the Pre-Consumption Script

Next, you’ll need to write the pre-consumption script. This script will use the dictionary file to automatically remove the passwords and extract pdf attachments from the PDF files.

1. Open a text editor.
2. Copy pre-consumption.py script.
3. Save the file as <paperless-ngx_root>/scripts/pre-consumption.py.

3. Configure the pre-consumption script to be run

We need to configure the Python script to run, when a new files is processed by Paperless-ngx.

docker-compose.yml

1. Open your docker configuration file of Paperless-ngx. <paperless-ngx_root>/docker-compose.yml

2. ℹ️ See the example. Make sure that the script folder is available to the docker container.

   services.webserver.volumes:
       - <paperless-ngx_root>/scripts:/usr/src/paperless/scripts     
   

3. Make sure that the environment file is processed.

   services.env_file: docker-compose.env
   

docker-compose.env

1. Open your docker environment file of Paperless-ngx. <paperless-ngx_root>/docker-compose.env

2. ℹ️ See the example. Set the script path.

   PAPERLESS_PRE_CONSUME_SCRIPT=/usr/src/paperless/scripts/pre-consumption.py
   

4. Restart the Paperless-ngx docker container

docker-compose up -d

Check if environment variables were properly set.

docker exec -it paperless_webserver_1 printenv \
    | grep PAPERLESS_PRE_CONSUME_SCRIPT

Should yield.

PAPERLESS_PRE_CONSUME_SCRIPT=/usr/src/paperless/scripts/pre-consumption.py