Encrypt a disk

Sometimes in your Linux life, you want to carry your data on a disk, but well encrypted so no one else can steal and read it. This article describes how to format and encrypt a disk. It uses SUSE Linux 11.1 as example, but it should work same or similar with any distribution.

Encrypt it

• Start the disk partitioner

yast2 disk

• Select a partition you want to format or a disk where you want to add an encrypted partition
• Choose Format partition and "encrypt file system"
• If you get an information that you need to install "pam_mount", allow this
• choose "next"
• enter a password for your system => next => finish

Test it

# cryptsetup -v luksOpen /dev/sdd1 blah
Enter LUKS passphrase:                                        
key slot 0 unlocked.                                          
Command successful.

# mount /dev/mapper/blah /mnt/test

See also

• security
• http://en.opensuse.org/Encrypted_Root_File_System