There are tutorials for setting up LUKS encryption on secondary drives in elementary OS, but is there a simpler way to do this with the existing graphical interface?
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The easiest way is to install gnome-disk-utility
sudo apt install gnome-disk-utility
which you can run as gnome-disks in the Terminal or as "Disks" from the Applications menu. Then simply select the drive and in the "Type" selector, choose the LUKS encryption option. It will prompt for a password (for the drive, not necessarily your login password) and you're good to go!
You'll be asked on your next reboot how you'd like to unlock/mount the drive in the future. If you'd like to compare the options, look here.
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This is great! So easy. But how do I then mount this disk at boot? I've just added an external backup drive and formatted it LUKS+ext4 exactly as you show here except I chose to "Remember forever". It appears that the password is saved in seahorse (Passwords and Keys). How do I put
sudo cryptsetup open /dev/sdh1 My_Bookin fstab and make it use this saved password? Can this be done? pam_mount perhaps?? – Jesse the Wind Wanderer Oct 22 '16 at 3:25 -
@JessetheWindWanderer Thanks! Most users, I imagine, will mount the disk by clicking its icon in the Files sidebar but mounting on login gets tricky, especially with LUKS and
fstab. (Nautilus has built-in automount options that aren't active in Files—that method would be preferable as GNOME is already storing the passphrase.) I looked and didn't find much luck with scripting at login, so I thinkpam-mountis indeed your best bet – wolf Oct 22 '16 at 7:42
