[Gllug] Encrypted Partition query

[Matthew King]

Dylan <dylan at dylan.me.uk> writes:

> Hi All,
>
> I have an encrypted partition on my laptop (for obvious reasons) but find that 
> I am often rebooting because I miss the passphrase prompt at boot.
>
> Does anyone know if it's viable to have the passphrase on a USB stick, in such 
> a way that if the stuck is inserted at boot the key is picked up from there, 
> and only if the stick is not present then the user is prompted for the 
> passphrase?

Provided you understand the security risks (namely that your laptop is
protected by a physical device rather than a magic number only in your
head) I can't imagine there being any problems with it. You may be on
your own as far as implementing though.

Have you considered that it might be easier if only /home (or $HOME) was
encrypted and mounted only as you log in, as has been mentioned. I
imagine that would be far easier to do than trying to debug the boot
process (especially if you wind up knackering /...)

Matthew

-- 
I must take issue with the term "a mere child", for it has been my
invariable experience that the company of a mere child is infinitely
preferable to that of a mere adult.
                                           --  Fran Lebowitz

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