Re: [dm-crypt] Encrypt all partitions with dm-crypt

[Arno Wagner <arno@wagner.name>]

On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 04:10:01PM +0400, Stayvoid wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I'd like to encrypt all partitions (or most of them) with plain dm-crypt.
> 
> Here is my partition scheme:
> 
> 1. /dev/sda1 ext3 (I want to install Parabola here.)
> 2. /dev/sda2 swap
> 3. /dev/sda3 ext3 gNewSense
> 
> I can't boot from CD or USB that's why I'm going to use the third partition.
> 
> I'd like to format the first two partitions and encrypt them with
> plain dm-crypt.
> After that I will install Parabola [1] on the first partition. Will this work?
> 
> I'm not sure because my bootloader (PMON) uses the first partition to
> store its conf file.

And there you have answered your question already: No. 
What you can do is create a small (e.g. 100MB) partition for the
bootloader that is not encrypted.

> And how will this work from user's perspective? Will I be prompted for
> a passphrase?

Why should you be? Unless your distribution has a mechanism
that does this (out of scope for cryptsetup), you need to
map and mount it manually. I have no idea what your particular
distro of choice can or cannot do here, but you need to lok
in its documentation to find out, not here. cryptsetup is just a
tool with similarities to "mount", not an integrated system
encryption solution.

> Should I use a more complicated scheme (with /boot)?
> 
> [1] Here is the installation guide:
> https://wiki.parabolagnulinux.org/MIPS_Installation
> 
> Thanks
> 
> P.S. I haven't decided what to do with the third partition yet. Maybe
> I'll erase and encrypt it later.

You need if for booting. Unless your distro has an initrd that
can mount encrypted volumes. See docu of your distro.

Arno
-- 
Arno Wagner,    Dr. sc. techn., Dipl. Inform.,   Email: arno@wagner.name 
GnuPG:  ID: 1E25338F  FP: 0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C  0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
----
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are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled 
with doubt and indecision. -- Bertrand Russell