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CRYPTSETUP(8)		     Maintenance Commands		 CRYPTSETUP(8)

NAME
       cryptsetup  -  setup cryptographic volumes for dm-crypt (including LUKS
       extension)

SYNOPSIS
       cryptsetup <options> <action> <action args>

DESCRIPTION
       cryptsetup is used to conveniently setup dm-crypt managed device-mapper
       mappings. For basic dm-crypt mappings, there are five operations.

ACTIONS
       These strings are valid for <action>, followed by their <action args>:

       create <name> <device>

	      creates  a  mapping  with	 <name>	 backed	 by  device  <device>.
	      <options> can be [--hash, --cipher, --verify-passphrase,	--key-
	      file, --key-size, --offset, --skip, --readonly]

       remove <name>

	      removes an existing mapping <name>. No options.

       status <name>

	      reports the status for the mapping <name>. No options.

       resize <name>

	      resizes an active mapping <name>.

	      If  --size (in sectors) is not specified, the size of the under‐
	      lying block device is used.

LUKS EXTENSION
       LUKS, Linux Unified Key Setup, is a standard for hard disk  encryption.
       It  standardizes	 a partition header, as well as the format of the bulk
       data. LUKS can manage multiple passwords, that can  be  revoked	effec‐
       tively and that are protected against dictionary attacks with PBKDF2.

       These are valid LUKS actions:

       luksFormat <device> [<key file>]

	      initializes  a  LUKS  partition and sets the initial key, either
	      via prompting or via <key file>.	<options>  can	be  [--cipher,
	      --verify-passphrase, --key-size, --key-slot].

       luksOpen <device> <name>

	      opens  the  LUKS partition <device> and sets up a mapping <name>
	      after successful	verification  of  the  supplied	 key  material
	      (either	via   key  file	 by  --key-file,  or  via  prompting).
	      <options> can be [--key-file, --readonly].

       luksClose <name>

	      identical to remove.

       luksSuspend <name>

	      suspends active device (all IO operations are frozen) and	 wipes
	      encryption  key  from  kernel. Kernel version 2.6.19 or later is
	      required.

	      After that operation you have to	use  luksResume	 to  reinstate
	      encryption key (and resume device) or luksClose to remove mapped
	      device.

	      WARNING: never try to suspend device  where  is  the  cryptsetup
	      binary itself.

       luksResume <name>

	      Resumes suspended device and reinstates encryption key. You will
	      need provide passphrase identical	 to  luksOpen  command	(using
	      prompting or key file).

       luksAddKey <device> [<new key file>]

	      add  a  new  key	file/passphrase. An existing passphrase or key
	      file (via --key-file) must be supplied. The key  file  with  the
	      new material is supplied as a positional argument. <options> can
	      be [--key-file, --key-slot].

       luksRemoveKey <device> [<key file>]

	      remove supplied key or key file from LUKS device

       luksKillSlot <device> <key slot number>

	      wipe key with number <key slot> from LUKS	 device.  A  remaining
	      passphrase  or  key  file	 (via  --key-file)  must  be supplied.
	      <options> can be [--key-file].

       luksDelKey <device> <key slot number>

	      identical to luksKillSlot, but deprecated action name.

       luksUUID <device>

	      print UUID, if <device> has a LUKS header. No options.

       isLuks <device>

	      returns true, if <device> is a LUKS partition. Otherwise, false.
	      No options.

       luksDump <device>

	      dumps the header information of a LUKS partition. No options.

       luksHeaderBackup <device> --header-backup-file <file>

	      Stores binary backup of LUKS header and keyslot areas.

	      WARNING:	Please	note  that  with  this	backup	file  (and old
	      passphrase  knowledge)  you  can	decrypt	 data  even   if   old
	      passphrase was wiped from real device.

	      Also note that anti-forensic splitter is not used during manipu‐
	      lation with backup file.

       luksHeaderRestore <device> --header-backup-file <file>

	      Restores binary backup of LUKS header  and  keyslot  areas  from
	      specified file.

	      WARNING:	All  the  keyslot  areas  are overwritten, only active
	      keyslots form backup file are available after issuing this  com‐
	      mand.

	      This  command  allows  restoring header if device do not contain
	      LUKS header or if the master key size and data  offset  in  LUKS
	      header on device match the backup file.

       For  more  information  about LUKS, see http://code.google.com/p/crypt‐
       setup/wiki/Specification

OPTIONS
       --hash, -h
	      For create action specifies hash to use for password hashing.

	      For luksFormat action specifies hash  used  in  LUKS  key	 setup
	      scheme and volume key digest.

	      WARNING:	setting hash other than sha1 causes LUKS device incom‐
	      patible with older version of cryptsetup.

	      The hash string is passed to libgcrypt, so all  hashes  accepted
	      by  gcrypt  are  supported.   Default is set during compilation,
	      compatible values with old version of cryptsetup are "ripemd160"
	      for create action and "sha1" for luksFormat.

	      Use cryptsetup --help to show defaults.

       --cipher, -c
	      set cipher specification string.

	      Default  mode  is	 configurable  during compilation, you can see
	      compiled-in default using cryptsetup --help.   If	 not  changed,
	      the  default  is	for plain dm-crypt and LUKS mappings "aes-cbc-
	      essiv:sha256".

	      For pre-2.6.10 kernels, use "aes-plain" as they don't understand
	      the  new	cipher	spec  strings.	To  use	 ESSIV,	 use "aes-cbc-
	      essiv:sha256".

	      For XTS mode, kernel version 2.6.24 or more recent is  required.
	      Use "aes-xts-plain" cipher specification and set key size to 256
	      (or 512) bits (see -s option).

       --verify-passphrase, -y
	      query for passwords twice. Useful when creating a (regular) map‐
	      ping for the first time, or when running luksFormat.

       --key-file, -d
	      use  file	 as  key material. With LUKS, key material supplied in
	      key files via -d are always used for  existing  passphrases.  If
	      you  want	 to  set  a  new key via a key file, you have to use a
	      positional arg to luksFormat or luksAddKey.

	      If the key file is "-", stdin will be used.  This	 is  different
	      from  how cryptsetup usually reads from stdin. See section NOTES
	      ON PASSWORD PROCESSING for more information.

       --master-key-file
	      Use pre-generated master key stored in file. For	luksFormat  it
	      allows LUKS header reformatting with the same master key (if all
	      other parameters are the same existing  encrypted	 data  remains
	      intact).

	      For  luksAddKey it allows adding new passphrase with only master
	      key knowledge.

       --key-slot, -S
	      For LUKS operations that add key material, this  options	allows
	      to  you specify which key slot is selected for the new key. This
	      option can be used for luksFormat and luksAddKey.

       --key-size, -s
	      set key size in bits.

	      Has to be a multiple of 8 bits. The key size is limited  by  the
	      used  cipher.  See  output of /proc/crypto for more information.
	      Can be used for create or luksFormat,  all  other	 LUKS  actions
	      will  use key-size specified by the LUKS header.	Default is set
	      during compilation, if not changed it is 256 bits.

	      Use cryptsetup --help to show defaults.

	      For luksOpen this option specifies number of bits read from  the
	      key-file (default is exhaustive read from key-file).

       --size, -b
	      force the size of the underlying device in sectors.  This option
	      is only relevant for create and resize action.

       --offset, -o
	      start offset in the backend device.  This option is  only	 rele‐
	      vant for create action.

       --skip, -p
	      how many sectors of the encrypted data to skip at the beginning.
	      This is different from the --offset options with respect	to  IV
	      calculations.  Using  --offset  will shift the IV calculation by
	      the same negative amount. Hence, if --offset n, sector n will be
	      the  first  sector  on the mapping with IV 0. Using --skip would
	      have resulted in sector n being the first sector also, but  with
	      IV n.  This option is only relevant for create action.

       --readonly
	      set up a read-only mapping.

       --iter-time, -i
	      The  number  of  milliseconds to spend with PBKDF2 password pro‐
	      cessing. This option is only relevant to the LUKS operations  as
	      luksFormat or luksAddKey.

       --batch-mode, -q
	      Do  not ask for confirmation. Use with care! This option is only
	      relevant for luksFormat, luksAddKey, luksRemoveKey or  luksKill‐
	      Slot.

       --timeout, -t
	      The  number  of  seconds	to wait before timeout. This option is
	      relevant every time a password is asked, like create,  luksOpen,
	      luksFormat  or  luksAddKey. It has no effect if used in conjunc‐
	      tion with --key-file.

       --tries, -T
	      How often the input of the passphrase  shall  be	retried.  This
	      option  is relevant every time a password is asked, like create,
	      luksOpen, luksFormat or luksAddKey. The default is 3 tries.

       --align-payload=value
	      Align payload at a boundary  of  value  512-byte	sectors.  This
	      option  is  relevant for luksFormat.  If your block device lives
	      on a RAID, it is useful to align the filesystem at  full	stripe
	      boundaries so it can take advantage of the RAID's geometry.  See
	      for instance the sunit and swidth options in the mkfs.xfs manual
	      page.  By	 default,  the payload is aligned at an 8 sector (4096
	      byte) boundary.

       --version
	      Show the version.

NOTES ON PASSWORD PROCESSING
       From a file descriptor or a terminal: Password processing  is  new-line
       sensitive, meaning the reading will stop after encountering \n. It will
       process the read material (without newline) with the  default  hash  or
       the  hash given by --hash. After hashing, it will be cropped to the key
       size given by -s.

       From stdin: Reading will continue until EOF (so using e.g.  /dev/random
       as stdin will not work), with the trailing newline stripped. After that
       the read data will be hashed with the default hash or the hash given by
       --hash  and  the	 result will be cropped to the keysize given by -s. If
       "plain" is used as an argument to the hash option, the input data  will
       not  be	hashed.	  Instead, it will be zero padded (if shorter than the
       keysize) or truncated (if longer than the keysize) and used directly as
       the key. No warning will be given if the amount of data read from stdin
       is less than the keysize.

       From a key file: It will be cropped to the size given by -s.  If	 there
       is insufficient key material in the key file, cryptsetup will quit with
       an error.

       If --key-file=- is used for reading the key  from  stdin,  no  trailing
       newline	is  stripped  from  the input. Without that option, cryptsetup
       strips trailing newlines from stdin input.

NOTES ON PASSWORD PROCESSING FOR LUKS
       LUKS uses PBKDF2 to protect against dictionary attacks (see RFC 2898).

       LUKS will always do an exhaustive password reading. Hence, password can
       not  be	read from /dev/random, /dev/zero or any other stream that does
       not terminate.

       LUKS saves the processing options when a password is set to the respec‐
       tive  key  slot.	  Therefore, no options can be given to luksOpen.  For
       any password creation action (luksAddKey, or luksFormat), the user  may
       specify	how  much  the	time  the  password processing should consume.
       Increasing the time will lead to a more secure password, but also  will
       take  luksOpen longer to complete. The default setting of one second is
       sufficient for good security.

INCOHERENT BEHAVIOUR FOR INVALID PASSWORDS/KEYS
       LUKS checks for a valid password or key when an encrypted partition  is
       unlocked.  Thus the luksOpen action fails with invalid password or key,
       contrary to the plain dm-crypt create action.

       Please also be sure that you are using the same keyboard	 and  language
       setting as during device format.

NOTES ON SUPPORTED CIPHERS, MODES, HASHES AND KEY SIZES
       The  available  combinations  of	 ciphers,  modes, hashes and key sizes
       depend on kernel support. See /proc/crypto  for	a  list	 of  available
       options.	 You  might  need  to load additional kernel crypto modules in
       order to get more options.

       For --hash option all algorithms supported by gcrypt library are avail‐
       able.

NOTES ON PASSWORDS
       Mathematics  can't  be  bribed. Make sure you keep your passwords safe.
       There are a few nice tricks for constructing a fallback, when  suddenly
       out  of	(or  after being) blue, your brain refuses to cooperate. These
       fallbacks are possible with LUKS, as it's only possible	with  LUKS  to
       have multiple passwords.

AUTHORS
       cryptsetup is written by Christophe Saout <christophe@saout.de>
       LUKS  extensions,  and  man  page  by Clemens Fruhwirth <clemens@endor‐
       phin.org>

COMPATABILITY WITH OLD SUSE TWOFISH PARTITIONS
       To read images created with SuSE Linux 9.2's  loop_fish2	 use  --cipher
       twofish-cbc-null	 -s  256 -h sha512, for images created with even older
       SuSE Linux use --cipher twofish-cbc-null -s 192 -h ripemd160:20

DEPRECATED ACTIONS
       reload <name> <device>

	      modifies an active mapping <name>. Same options as  for  create.
	      WARNING:	Do not use this for LUKS devices, as the semantics are
	      identical to the create action, which are	 totally  incompatible
	      with the LUKS key setup.

	      This  action is deprected because it proved to be rarely useful.
	      It is uncommon to change the underlying device, key,  or	offset
	      on  the  fly. In case, you really want to do this, you certainly
	      know what you are doing and then you  are	 probably  better  off
	      with  the swiss knive tool for device mapper, namely dmsetup. It
	      provides you with the same functionality, see dmsetup reload.

       luksDelKey <device> <key slot number>

	      identical to luksKillSlot,  but  deprecated  action  name.  This
	      option  was  renamed,  as	 we introduced luksRemoveKey, a softer
	      method for disabling password slots. To make a clear distinction
	      that luksDelKey was more brutal than luksRemoveKey

       --non-exclusive

	      This  option  is ignored. Non-exclusive access to the same block
	      device can cause data corruption thus this  mode	is  no	longer
	      supported by cryptsetup.

REPORTING BUGS
       Report bugs to <dm-crypt@saout.de>.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright © 2004 Christophe Saout
       Copyright © 2004-2006 Clemens Fruhwirth
       Copyright © 2009 Red Hat, Inc.

       This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is
       NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR	 A  PARTICULAR
       PURPOSE.

SEE ALSO
       dm-crypt website, http://www.saout.de/misc/dm-crypt/

       LUKS website, http://code.google.com/p/cryptsetup/

       dm-crypt TWiki, http://www.saout.de/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php

cryptsetup			  March 2005			 CRYPTSETUP(8)
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