Just discovered ScramDisk, and now I have an easy to use GUI front-end for my Truecrypt-volumes. I like ScramDisk a lot more than the Forcefield GUI, and it seems to be a lot more stable.
ScramDisk is easy to use and install. It lets you mount and create Truecrypt-volumes, but has also got its own encryption options.
It's a really nice package. Check it out.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Truecrypt
I have used the Truecrypt for several years under WinXP. It is probably the best tool for encrypting (virtual) disk volumes out there. It is also open source, which is a must when it comes to encryption tools and security related software.
The WinXP-version of Truecrypt has a nice and easy to use GUI for creating and mounting volumes. No GUI is supported by Truecrypt for the Linux platform, however.
Below, I will cover how to make and mount a Truecrypt volume formated to the Ext3-file-system in Ubuntu 7.04. The installation of Truecrypt is quite straight forward and is covered in the documentation on their website.
After you have downloaded and installed Truecrypt, you need to prepare a partition that is going to host your encrypted volume. In my case, I just used Gparted (sudo aptitude install gparted) to make a new 10GB partition on one of my harddrives. You may also use external drives, USB-sticks or whatever.
Prepare a mount-point (an empty folder) where you want your Truecrypt volume. I have mine at /home/adder1972/Truecrypt.
The partition made by Gparted was named /dev/hda9. Ubuntu tends to automount everything. Make sure the volume is not mounted by entering
sudo umount /dev/hda9 (substitute for your volume name)
Now, we create an encrypted volume on our partition
sudo truecrypt -c /dev/hda9
Please refer to the documentation if you need an explanation for the options presented. The defaults should be OK for now, except you should choose "Filesystem: None" instead of "Filesystem:FAT". You don't need a key-file for now either. You will be asked to enter a password. Let us assume your mouse is connected directly to the computer; move it around randomly when asked. Otherwise, you will be asked to type 320 randomly chosen characters.
When finished, truecrypt-mount your partition
sudo truecrypt /dev/hda9
Now type
sudo truecrypt -l
The output will be something like this
/dev/mapper/truecrypt0 /dev/hda9
We want to use the Ext3-file system. We format the Truecrypt volume by
sudo /sbin/mkfs.ext3 /dev/mapper/truecrypt0
And then unmount
truecrypt -d
The volume is now prepared and ready to be mounted in your home folder
truecrypt /dev/hda9 /home/adder1972/Truecrypt
(Note that I don't use sudo here). To set the correct permissions
sudo chown adder1972:users /home/adder1972/Truecrypt
(substitute adder1972 with whatever is correct in your system).
Now, the volume is mounted and ready. When you need to use it after you have powered up your computer, rebooted or unmounted, you mount it using
truecrypt /dev/hda9 /home/adder1972/Truecrypt
and unmount it
truecrypt -d
(No sudo here)
This post is based on a forum entry at the Truecrypt forums and my own experiences
The WinXP-version of Truecrypt has a nice and easy to use GUI for creating and mounting volumes. No GUI is supported by Truecrypt for the Linux platform, however.
Below, I will cover how to make and mount a Truecrypt volume formated to the Ext3-file-system in Ubuntu 7.04. The installation of Truecrypt is quite straight forward and is covered in the documentation on their website.
After you have downloaded and installed Truecrypt, you need to prepare a partition that is going to host your encrypted volume. In my case, I just used Gparted (sudo aptitude install gparted) to make a new 10GB partition on one of my harddrives. You may also use external drives, USB-sticks or whatever.
Prepare a mount-point (an empty folder) where you want your Truecrypt volume. I have mine at /home/adder1972/Truecrypt.
The partition made by Gparted was named /dev/hda9. Ubuntu tends to automount everything. Make sure the volume is not mounted by entering
sudo umount /dev/hda9 (substitute for your volume name)
Now, we create an encrypted volume on our partition
sudo truecrypt -c /dev/hda9
Please refer to the documentation if you need an explanation for the options presented. The defaults should be OK for now, except you should choose "Filesystem: None" instead of "Filesystem:FAT". You don't need a key-file for now either. You will be asked to enter a password. Let us assume your mouse is connected directly to the computer; move it around randomly when asked. Otherwise, you will be asked to type 320 randomly chosen characters.
When finished, truecrypt-mount your partition
sudo truecrypt /dev/hda9
Now type
sudo truecrypt -l
The output will be something like this
/dev/mapper/truecrypt0 /dev/hda9
We want to use the Ext3-file system. We format the Truecrypt volume by
sudo /sbin/mkfs.ext3 /dev/mapper/truecrypt0
And then unmount
truecrypt -d
The volume is now prepared and ready to be mounted in your home folder
truecrypt /dev/hda9 /home/adder1972/Truecrypt
(Note that I don't use sudo here). To set the correct permissions
sudo chown adder1972:users /home/adder1972/Truecrypt
(substitute adder1972 with whatever is correct in your system).
Now, the volume is mounted and ready. When you need to use it after you have powered up your computer, rebooted or unmounted, you mount it using
truecrypt /dev/hda9 /home/adder1972/Truecrypt
and unmount it
truecrypt -d
(No sudo here)
This post is based on a forum entry at the Truecrypt forums and my own experiences
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