Arch Linux Disk Encryption - ryzendew/Linux-Tips-and-Tricks GitHub Wiki

Arch Linux Disk Encryption Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to disk encryption on Arch Linux, including LUKS encryption, encrypted swap, and encrypted installation.

Table of Contents

  1. LUKS Encryption
  2. Encrypting Partitions
  3. Encrypted Swap
  4. Mounting Encrypted Disks
  5. Troubleshooting

LUKS Encryption

Install cryptsetup

Install tools:

# Install cryptsetup
sudo pacman -S cryptsetup

# Check version
cryptsetup --version

Encrypting Partitions

Encrypt Partition

Create encrypted partition:

# Encrypt partition
sudo cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/sda2

# Enter passphrase when prompted

Open Encrypted Partition

Open encrypted device:

# Open encrypted partition
sudo cryptsetup open /dev/sda2 cryptroot

# Format
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/cryptroot

# Mount
sudo mount /dev/mapper/cryptroot /mnt

Encrypted Swap

Encrypt Swap

Create encrypted swap:

# Create swap
sudo cryptsetup -d /dev/urandom open --type plain /dev/sda3 swap

# Format
sudo mkswap /dev/mapper/swap

# Enable
sudo swapon /dev/mapper/swap

Auto-Enable Encrypted Swap

Add to fstab:

# Edit fstab
sudo vim /etc/fstab

Add:

/dev/mapper/swap none swap sw 0 0

Mounting Encrypted Disks

Manual Mount

Mount encrypted disk:

# Open
sudo cryptsetup open /dev/sda2 cryptroot

# Mount
sudo mount /dev/mapper/cryptroot /mnt/data

Auto-Mount

Configure auto-mount:

# Edit crypttab
sudo vim /etc/crypttab

Add:

cryptroot /dev/sda2 none luks

Update initramfs:

sudo mkinitcpio -P

Troubleshooting

Forgot Password

Recovery:

# Use keyfile
sudo cryptsetup luksAddKey /dev/sda2 /path/to/keyfile

Disk Not Opening

Check device:

# List devices
lsblk

# Check LUKS header
sudo cryptsetup luksDump /dev/sda2

Summary

This guide covered LUKS encryption, encrypted partitions, swap, and mounting.

Next Steps

This guide is based on the ArchWiki. For the most up-to-date information, always refer to the official ArchWiki.