howto: install (k)ubuntu with encrypted root and swap

Andreas Jellinghaus aj at leogic.com
Tue Jun 20 10:55:38 BST 2006


Hi,

I wrote an howto for installing (k)ubuntu with encrypted root and swap
partitions. Can anyone suggest a good place/wiki where I can put this?
Also I would like to write a spec for proposing that this can be done
with the default installer. Can someone recommend a place where I can
put such a spec?

The howto might look complicated, but essentialy we do all the step the
normal installer would do, except generating keys, setting up the crypt
layer, and configuring mkinitramfs to be able to decrypt the partitions
during boot.

The method used in this howto is neither luks nor cryptsetup for a good
reason:
 - cryptsetup uses a hashed password as key. thus you can't ever change
   the password on a partition which is bad.
 - luks uses some space at the beginning of the partition for metadata
   and stores passwords in it. the good part is that it can manage a number
   of passwords and the passwords can be changed, as they are independend
   from the key the kernel uses.

in this howto instead an rsa key is generated and the private key is
protected by a passphrase. that passphrase can be simply changed. the
real partition keys are random numbers and are stored encrypted with the
rsa key. this concept has the benefit that the rsa key could be as well
on a smart card. I have a working debian based initramfs doing this,
and will port it to ubuntu mkinitramfs mechanism later.

Encrypting valuable data is very important for many companies, and it feels
a lot better if the whole filesystem is encrypted, not only some partitions
(e.g. home - what if you start using some webserver, database etc.).
Of course a full encryption of root and swap has significant impact on
latency for reading/writing and increased cpu usage for that. But for
normal desktop it is not a big deal, but if you copy hundereds of MB of
data you will notice it.

Still I think it would be great ot have this option available in a default
installation of (k)ubunutu. Help to get this HOWTO cleanup up and put into
an appriopriate place in somw wiki as well as help with writing and
submitting a spec for the next ubuntu version is very much appreciated.

Thanks, Andreas

How to install Ubuntu encrypted 
=============================== 
 
1.) Boot from desktop CD 
    Download this text to the ubuntu system, so you can cut and paste. 
    Open in vi (not less, with less you get cut&paste problems on lone
    lines). 
 
2.) Start an xterm 
 
3.) Get a root shell  
        sudo bash 
 
4.) load dm-crypt 
        modprobe dm-crypt 
 
5.) Partition the system 
        cfdisk /dev/sda 
        # or /dev/hda 
    Create three partitions: 
        first partition: linux, 100mb, bootable (/boot) 
        second parition: linux, what you prefer (2GB?) (swap) 
        third partition: root, rest of the disk 
                (or leave space - however you prefer)
 
    Do not set the second partition to swap, as ubuntu will automatically 
    enable it and thus cause problems. 
 
    In this document we will assume: 
        /dev/sda1       /boot partition 
        /dev/sda2       swap partition 
        /dev/sda3       root partition 
 
6.) Create crypto keys in /tmp (tmpfs, never written anywhere) 
        cd /tmp 
        openssl genrsa -aes256 -out privkey.pem 2048 
        dd if=/dev/urandom of=swapkey bs=32 count=1 
        dd if=/dev/urandom of=rootkey bs=32 count=1 
        openssl rsautl -in swapkey -out swapkey.enc -inkey privkey.pem -encrypt 
        openssl rsautl -in rootkey -out rootkey.enc -inkey privkey.pem -encrypt 
        rm swapkey rootkey 
 
        SWAPKEY=`openssl rsautl -in swapkey.enc -decrypt -inkey privkey.pem \ 
                        | hexdump -e '"" 32/1 "%02x" "\n"'` 
        ROOTKEY=`openssl rsautl -in rootkey.enc -decrypt -inkey privkey.pem \ 
                        | hexdump -e '"" 32/1 "%02x" "\n"'` 
        echo 0 `blockdev --getsize /dev/sda2` crypt aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 \ 
                $SWAPKEY 0 /dev/sda2 0 |dmsetup create swap 
        echo 0 `blockdev --getsize /dev/sda3` crypt aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 \ 
                $ROOTKEY 0 /dev/sda3 0 |dmsetup create root 
 
7.) Create filesystems 
        mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda1             # /boot 
        mkswap /dev/mapper/swap         # swap 
        mkfs.ext3 /dev/mapper/root      # root 
 
8.) Mount filesystems 
        mount /dev/mapper/root /mnt 
        mkdir /mnt/boot 
        mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot 
 
9.) Download ar and debootstrap 
        cd /tmp 
        mkdir download 
        cd download 
        wget
http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/b/binutils/binutils_2.16.1cvs20060117-1ubuntu2.1_i386.deb 
        wget
http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/d/debootstrap/debootstrap_0.3.3.0ubuntu2_all.deb 
        dpkg -x binutils*deb x 
        dpkg -x debootstrap*deb x 
 
10.) install dapper on the crypto root 
        export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/tmp/download/x/usr/lib 
        export PATH=/tmp/download/x/usr/bin:$PATH 
        export DEBOOTSTRAP_DIR=/tmp/download/x/usr/lib/debootstrap 
        /tmp/download/x/usr/sbin/debootstrap dapper /mnt
http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ 
 
11.) create an fstab in the chroot 
        chroot /mnt 
        vi /etc/fstab 
/dev/sda1               /boot           ext3    defaults 
/dev/mapper/root        /               ext3    defaults 
/dev/mapper/swap        swap            swap    defaults 
none                    /proc           proc    defaults 
none                    /proc/bus/usb   usbfs   defaults 
none                    /sys            sysfs   defaults 
none                    /dev/shm        tmpfs   defaults 
none                    /dev/pts        devpts  defaults 
 
12.) create an apt config file in the chroot 
        chroot /mnt 
        vi /etc/apt/sources.list 
deb http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper main restricted 
deb http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper-updates main restricted
deb http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper-security main restricted

deb-src http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper main restricted
deb-src http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper-updates main restricted
deb-src http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper-security main restricted

 
13.) update packages, install dselect and kubuntu-destkop 
        chroot /mnt 
        apt-get update 
        apt-get upgrade 
        apt-get install grub linux-image-686 dmsetup bsdmainutils wipe 
        apt-get install kubuntu-desktop
 
13.) configure initramfs-tools for crypt root and swap 
        chroot /mnt 
        cd /etc/mkinitramfs 
        echo dm-crypt >> modules 
        echo aes >> modules 
        echo sha256 >> modules 
        vi hooks/cryptroot (copy till EOF) 
#!/bin/sh 
 
. /usr/share/initramfs-tools/hook-functions 
 
mkdir -p ${DESTDIR}/boot 
mkdir -p ${DESTDIR}/sbin 
mkdir -p ${DESTDIR}/usr/bin 
 
cp -p /boot/privkey.pem /boot/rootkey.enc /boot/swapkey.enc ${DESTDIR}/boot 
 
copy_exec /sbin/blockdev /sbin 
copy_exec /sbin/dmsetup /sbin 
copy_exec /usr/bin/openssl /usr/bin 
copy_exec /usr/bin/hexdump /usr/bin 
EOF 
 
        chmod +x hooks/cryptroot 
 
        vi scripts/local-top/cryptroot (copy till EOF) 
#!/bin/sh 
 
PREREQ="udev" 
 
# Output pre-requisites 
prereqs() 
{ 
        echo "$PREREQ" 
} 
 
case "$1" in 
    prereqs) 
        prereqs 
        exit 0 
        ;; 
esac 
 
modprobe aes 
modprobe sha256 
modprobe dm-crypt 
 
echo "Waiting for crypted root device..." 
 
slumber=1800 
while [ ${slumber} -gt 0 -a ! -e "/dev/sda3" ]; do 
        /bin/sleep 0.1 
        slumber=$(( ${slumber} - 1 )) 
done 
 
while test -z "$ROOTKEY" 
do 
        ROOTKEY=`openssl rsautl -in /boot/rootkey.enc -decrypt
-inkey /boot/privkey.pem < /dev/tty0 2>/dev/tty0 |hexdump -e '"" 32/1
"%02x" "\n"' ` 
done 
 
SECTORS=`blockdev --getsize /dev/sda3` 
 
echo 0 $SECTORS crypt aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 $ROOTKEY 0 /dev/sda3 0 \ 
        |dmsetup create root 
 
echo "Waiting for crypted swap device..." 
 
slumber=1800 
while [ ${slumber} -gt 0 -a ! -e "/dev/sda2" ]; do 
        /bin/sleep 0.1 
        slumber=$(( ${slumber} - 1 )) 
done 
 
while test -z "$SWAPKEY" 
do 
        SWAPKEY=`openssl rsautl -in /boot/swapkey.enc -decrypt
-inkey /boot/privkey.pem < /dev/tty0 2>/dev/tty0 |hexdump -e '"" 32/1
"%02x" "\n"' ` 
done 
 
SECTORS=`blockdev --getsize /dev/sda2` 
 
echo 0 $SECTORS crypt aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 $SWAPKEY 0 /dev/sda2 0 \ 
        |dmsetup create root 
 
EOF 
        chmod +x scripts/local-top/cryptroot 
 
14.) put the crypto keys in place and create a new initramfs 
        mv /tmp/privkey.pem /tmp/swapkey.enc /tmp/rootkey.enc /mnt/boot/ 
        chroot /mnt 
        update-initramfs -u 
 
15.) install grub 
        chroot /mnt 
        update-grub 
        apt-get install kubuntu-grub-splashimages 
 
        cd /boot/grub 
        cp /lib/grub/i386-pc/* . 
 
        grub 
        root (hd0,0) 
        setup (hd0) 
        quit 
 
16.) configure grub 
        vi /boot/grub/menu.lst 
        # add "acpi=off" 
        # change "root=/dev/mapper/root" 
        * splash (hd0,0)/grub/splashimages/kubuntugood.xpm.gz 
        * timeout 15 
        * default 0 
        (remove all the other crap) 
        (remove all "savedefault" lines) 
        (remove splash as you want a console to enter your password) 
 
16.) finish installation, reboot 
        umount /mnt/boot 
        fuser -k /mnt 
        umount /mnt 
        sync 
 
        ctrl-alt-del -> reboot 
 
Tools 
===== 
 
1.) change password on rsa key 
        su root 
        cd /boot 
        openssl rsa -in privkey.pem -out privkey.new.pem -aes256 
        wipe privkey.pem 
        mv privkey.new.pem privkey.pem 
        update-initramfs -u 
 
2.) replace rsa key 
        su root 
        cd /tmp 
        openssl rsautl -in /boot/rootkey.enc -inkey /boot/privkey.pem \ 
                -decrypt -out rootkey 
        openssl rsautl -in /boot/swapkey.enc -inkey /boot/privkey.pem \ 
                -decrypt -out swapkey 
        openssl genrsa -aes256 -out privkey.pem 2048 
        openssl rsautl -in swapkey -out swapkey.enc -inkey privkey.pem -encrypt 
        openssl rsautl -in rootkey -out rootkey.enc -inkey privkey.pem -encrypt 
        rm swapkey rootkey 
        mv swapkey.enc rootkey.enc privkey.pem /boot/ 
        update-initramfs -u 
 
3.) recover with bootcd 
        * boot kubuntu cd 
        * start xterm 
        sudo bash 
        mount /dev/sda1 /mnt 
        echo 0 `blockdev --getsize /dev/sda3` crypt aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 \ 
                `openssl rsautl -in /mnt/rootkey.enc -decrypt -inkey \ 
                /mnt/privkey.pem |hexdump -e '"" 32/1 "%02x" "\n"'` \ 
                        0 /dev/sda3 0 | dmsetup create root 
        umount /mnt/ 
        mount /dev/mapper/root /mnt 
        mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot 
 
        chroot /mnt 
        ... 
 
        update-initramfs -u 
 
        umount /mnt/boot 
        umount /mnt 
        sync 
 
        * ctrl-alt-del -> reboot 
 
Other changes 
============= 
 
1.) set root password 
        * boot  
        * switch to text console 
        * login as "root" (no password) 
        shadowconfig on 
        passwd root 
 
2.) create user 
        adduser user 
        vigr 
        # add user to dialout, fax, voice, cdrom, floppy, sudo, audio, 
                video, scanner, scard 
        fi




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