Encrypt home directory? root + home + swap?

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canam101

Encrypt home directory? root + home + swap?

Post by canam101 »

I have truecrypt working to encrypt files which I put into an encrypted container. Is it possible to use truecrypt, or some other encryption utility, to encrypt my home directory or even the root + home + swap partitions?

The only reference I see to it in truecrypt's help file is for windows, but I am hoping it is possible with mint as well.

If it is possible, is there a straightforward set of instructions to do this? I could create a container file and put anything into it, but how do I boot up, and decrypt the container, and make it usable as an OS? It's answers to these nitty-gritty details that seem to be hard to find.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
DrHu

Re: Encrypt home directory? root + home + swap?

Post by DrHu »

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... sk#p111858

http://polishlinux.org/howtos/truecrypt-howto/
  • You really only need the /home directory (your data) encrypted
  • Swap is likely not even being used, as long as you have enough RAM (memory) for your normal application mix
    In a terminal, check
    • free -m
      total used free shared buffers cached
      Mem: 1002 502 500 0 20 260
      -/+ buffers/cache: 222 780
      Swap: 2376 0 2376
      --the swap used here is 0, and the full size 2376 is still available
    You can always run Mint's system monitor
    mint menu>Favorites>System Monitor>Resources TAB
  • You don't have to encrypt the OS (/ root)
    --unless the applications you have installed are secret
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