[solved] dmcrypt with a usb key (no fs)

[vokiel]

I'm basically trying to replicate this scenario: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19713918/how-to-load-luks-passphrase-from-usb-falling-back-to-keyboard

- Unpartitioned usb key with no fs
- Some randomly generated key copied at some offset with some length
- Use this at boot time to unlock the home partition.

Not sure if the crypttab setup can be done in dmcrypt or if it's sane at all.

Any insights welcome, thank you.

[tberger2]

My server has an unencrypted system partition. Decryption of home or other partions can done a) manually or b) by inserting a prepared usb device using an udev rule which starts a decryption script. Once decrypted the server provides a nfs share distributing a key file. This key file is needed to decrypt e.g. my notebook computer which is fully encrypted. Decryption is accomplished by a custom initramfs (UEFI boot).

This is the most usefull way for me.

--- edit ---
Don't forget: Using such an usb device is a comfort feature, definitely NOT a security feature!

[vokiel]

In /etc/conf.d/dmcrypt