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LUKS encryption

Installing and encrypting the drive

1. Install the required packages:

   apt-get update

   apt-get upgrade

   apt-get install cryptsetup

   Note: This will also install dmsetup and suggest dosfstools.

2. If using only part of the drive, repartition with cfdisk and then, in the commands below, use the partition instead of the drive.
3. Overwrite the drive with random data:

   dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/<drive>

   The method above takes some time. For a quicker but slightly less secure method, use:

   badblocks -c 10240 -s -w -t random -v /dev/<drive>

4. Create the encrypted partition:

   cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/<drive>

   Note: If the error "failed to setup dm-crypt key mapping" occurs, try:

   modprobe dm-crypt

   If this fails, a reboot should solve the error.

5. Map the encrypted partition:

   cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/<drive> <hddname>

   Note: <hddname> can be anything you like.

6. Create a file system on the encrypted partition:

   mkfs.ext3 /dev/mapper/<hddname>

7. Create a mount point:

   mkdir /mnt/<hddname>

8. Mount the partition:

   mount /dev/mapper/<hddname> /mnt/<hddname>

Using the encrypted partition (post installation)

Mounting:

cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/<drive> <hddname>

Enter LUKS passphrase when prompted

mount /dev/mapper/<hddname> /mnt/<hddname>

Disconnecting:

umount /mnt/<hddname>

cryptsetup luksClose /dev/mapper/<hddname>

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