Arch Linux Full-Disk Encryption Installation Guide
This guide provides instructions for an Arch Linux installation featuring full-disk encryption via LVM on LUKS and an encrypted boot partition (GRUB) for UEFI systems.
Following the main installation are further instructions to harden against Evil Maid attacks via UEFI Secure Boot custom key enrollment and self-signed kernel and bootloader.
Preface
You will find most of this information pulled from the Arch Wiki and other resources linked thereof.
Note: The system was installed on an NVMe SSD, substitute /dev/nvme0nX
with /dev/sdX
or your device as needed.
Pre-installation
Connect to the internet
Plug in your Ethernet and go, or for wireless consult the all-knowing Arch Wiki.
Update the system clock
timedatectl set-ntp true
Preparing the disk
Create EFI System and Linux LUKS partitions
Create a 1MiB BIOS boot partition at start just in case it is ever needed in the future
Number | Start (sector) | End (sector) | Size | Code | Name |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2048 | 4095 | 1024.0 KiB | EF02 | BIOS boot partition |
2 | 4096 | 1130495 | 550.0 MiB | EF00 | EFI System |
3 | 1130496 | 976773134 | 465.2 GiB | 8309 | Linux LUKS |
gdisk /dev/nvme0n1
o
n
[Enter]
0
+1M
ef02
n
[Enter]
[Enter]
+550M
ef00
n
[Enter]
[Enter]
[Enter]
8309
w
Create the LUKS1 encrypted container on the Linux LUKS partition (GRUB does not support LUKS2 as of May 2019)
cryptsetup luksFormat --type luks1 --use-random -S 1 -s 512 -h sha512 -i 5000 /dev/nvme0n1p3
Open the container (decrypt it and make available at /dev/mapper/cryptlvm)
cryptsetup open /dev/nvme0n1p3 cryptlvm
Preparing the logical volumes
Create physical volume on top of the opened LUKS container
pvcreate /dev/mapper/cryptlvm
Create the volume group and add physical volume to it
vgcreate vg /dev/mapper/cryptlvm
Create logical volumes on the volume group for swap, root, and home
lvcreate -L 8G vg -n swap
lvcreate -L 32G vg -n root
lvcreate -l 100%FREE vg -n home
The size of the swap and root partitions are a matter of personal preference.
Format filesystems on each logical volume
mkfs.ext4 /dev/vg/root
mkfs.ext4 /dev/vg/home
mkswap /dev/vg/swap
Mount filesystems
mount /dev/vg/root /mnt
mkdir /mnt/home
mount /dev/vg/home /mnt/home
swapon /dev/vg/swap
Preparing the EFI partition
Create FAT32 filesystem on the EFI system partition
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/nvme0n1p2
Create mountpoint for EFI system partition at /efi for compatibility with grub-install and mount it
mkdir /mnt/efi
mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt/efi
Installation
Install necessary packages
pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware mkinitcpio lvm2 vi dhcpcd wpa_supplicant
Configure the system
Generate an fstab file
genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
relatime
option to noatime
(optional) Change /mnt/etc/fstab
# /dev/mapper/vg-root
UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx / ext4 rw,noatime 0 1
# /dev/mapper/vg-home
UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx / ext4 rw,noatime 0 1
Reduces writes to disk when reading from a file, but may cause issues with programs that rely on file access time
Enter new system chroot
arch-chroot /mnt
At this point you should have the following partitions and logical volumes:
lsblk
NAME | MAJ:MIN | RM | SIZE | RO | TYPE | MOUNTPOINT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
nvme0n1 | 259:0 | 0 | 465.8G | 0 | disk | |
├─nvme0n1p1 | 259:4 | 0 | 1M | 0 | part | |
├─nvme0n1p2 | 259:5 | 0 | 550M | 0 | part | /efi |
├─nvme0n1p3 | 259:6 | 0 | 465.2G | 0 | part | |
..└─cryptlvm | 254:0 | 0 | 465.2G | 0 | crypt | |
....├─vg-swap | 254:1 | 0 | 8G | 0 | lvm | [SWAP] |
....├─vg-root | 254:2 | 0 | 32G | 0 | lvm | / |
....└─vg-home | 254:3 | 0 | 425.2G | 0 | lvm | /home |
Time zone
Set the time zone
Replace America/Los_Angeles
with your respective timezone found in /usr/share/zoneinfo
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/Los_Angeles /etc/localtime
hwclock
to generate /etc/adjtime
Run Assumes hardware clock is set to UTC
hwclock --systohc
Localization
en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
in /etc/locale.gen
and generate locale
Uncomment locale-gen
locale.conf
and set the LANG
variable
Create /etc/locale.conf
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
Network configuration
Create the hostname file
/etc/hostname
myhostname
This is a unique name for identifying your machine on a network.
Add matching entries to hosts
/etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost
127.0.1.1 myhostname.localdomain myhostname
Initramfs
keyboard
, encrypt
, and lvm2
hooks to /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
Add the Note: ordering matters.
HOOKS=(base udev autodetect keyboard modconf block encrypt lvm2 filesystems fsck)
Recreate the initramfs image
mkinitcpio -p linux
Root password
Set the root password
passwd
Boot loader
Install GRUB
pacman -S grub
Configure GRUB to allow booting from /boot on a LUKS1 encrypted partition
/etc/default/grub
GRUB_ENABLE_CRYPTODISK=y
encrypt
hook
Set kernel parameter to unlock the LVM physical volume at boot using UUID is the partition containing the LUKS container
blkid
/dev/nvme0n1p3: UUID="xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" TYPE="crypto_LUKS" PARTLABEL="Linux LUKS" PARTUUID="xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
/etc/default/grub
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="... cryptdevice=UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:cryptlvm root=/dev/vg/root ..."
Install GRUB to the mounted ESP for UEFI booting
pacman -S efibootmgr
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/efi
Enable microcode updates
grub-mkconfig will automatically detect microcode updates and configure appropriately
pacman -S intel-ucode
Use intel-ucode for Intel CPUs and amd-ucode for AMD CPUs.
Generate GRUB's configuration file
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
(recommended) Embed a keyfile in initramfs
This is done to avoid having to enter the encryption passphrase twice (once for GRUB, once for initramfs.)
Create a keyfile and add it as LUKS key
mkdir /root/secrets && chmod 700 /root/secrets
head -c 64 /dev/urandom > /root/secrets/crypto_keyfile.bin && chmod 600 /root/secrets/crypto_keyfile.bin
cryptsetup -v luksAddKey -i 1 /dev/nvme0n1p3 /root/secrets/crypto_keyfile.bin
Add the keyfile to the initramfs image
/etc/mkinitcpio.conf
FILES=(/root/secrets/crypto_keyfile.bin)
Recreate the initramfs image
mkinitcpio -p linux
encrypt
hook
Set kernel parameters to unlock the LUKS partition with the keyfile using /etc/default/grub
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="... cryptkey=rootfs:/root/secrets/crypto_keyfile.bin"
Regenerate GRUB's configuration file
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
/boot
permissions
Restrict chmod 700 /boot
The installation is now complete. Exit the chroot and reboot.
exit
reboot
Post-installation
Your system should now be fully installed, bootable, and fully encrypted.
If you embedded the keyfile in the initramfs image, it should only require your encryption passphrase once to unlock to the system.
For the standard Arch Linux post-installation steps, RTFM.
(recommended) Hardening against Evil Maid attacks
With an encrypted boot partition, nobody can see or modify your kernel image or initramfs, but you would be still vulnerable to Evil Maid attacks.
One possible solution is to use UEFI Secure Boot. Get rid of preloaded Secure Boot keys (you really don't want to trust Microsoft and OEM), enroll your own Secure Boot keys and sign the GRUB boot loader with your keys. Evil Maid would be unable to boot modified boot loader (not signed by your keys) and the attack is prevented.
Creating keys
The following steps should be performed as the root
user, with accompanying files stored in the /root
directory.
efitools
Install pacman -S efitools
Create a GUID for owner identification
uuidgen --random > GUID.txt
Platform key
CN is a Common Name, which can be written as anything.
openssl req -newkey rsa:4096 -nodes -keyout PK.key -new -x509 -sha256 -days 3650 -subj "/CN=my Platform Key/" -out PK.crt
openssl x509 -outform DER -in PK.crt -out PK.cer
cert-to-efi-sig-list -g "$(< GUID.txt)" PK.crt PK.esl
sign-efi-sig-list -g "$(< GUID.txt)" -k PK.key -c PK.crt PK PK.esl PK.auth
Sign an empty file to allow removing Platform Key when in "User Mode"
sign-efi-sig-list -g "$(< GUID.txt)" -c PK.crt -k PK.key PK /dev/null rm_PK.auth
Key Exchange Key
openssl req -newkey rsa:4096 -nodes -keyout KEK.key -new -x509 -sha256 -days 3650 -subj "/CN=my Key Exchange Key/" -out KEK.crt
openssl x509 -outform DER -in KEK.crt -out KEK.cer
cert-to-efi-sig-list -g "$(< GUID.txt)" KEK.crt KEK.esl
sign-efi-sig-list -g "$(< GUID.txt)" -k PK.key -c PK.crt KEK KEK.esl KEK.auth
Signature Database key
openssl req -newkey rsa:4096 -nodes -keyout db.key -new -x509 -sha256 -days 3650 -subj "/CN=my Signature Database key/" -out db.crt
openssl x509 -outform DER -in db.crt -out db.cer
cert-to-efi-sig-list -g "$(< GUID.txt)" db.crt db.esl
sign-efi-sig-list -g "$(< GUID.txt)" -k KEK.key -c KEK.crt db db.esl db.auth
Signing bootloader and kernel
When Secure Boot is active (i.e. in "User Mode") you will only be able to launch signed binaries, so you need to sign your kernel and boot loader.
Install sbsigntools
pacman -S sbsigntools
sbsign --key db.key --cert db.crt --output /boot/vmlinuz-linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux
sbsign --key db.key --cert db.crt --output /efi/EFI/arch/grubx64.efi /efi/EFI/arch/grubx64.efi
Automatically sign bootloader and kernel on install and updates
It is necessary to sign GRUB with your UEFI Secure Boot keys every time the system is updated via pacman
. This can be accomplished with a pacman hook.
Create the hooks directory
mkdir -p /etc/pacman.d/hooks
Create hooks for both the linux
and grub
packages
/etc/pacman.d/hooks/99-secureboot-linux.hook
[Trigger]
Operation = Install
Operation = Upgrade
Type = Package
Target = linux
[Action]
Description = Signing Kernel for SecureBoot
When = PostTransaction
Exec = /usr/bin/find /boot/ -maxdepth 1 -name 'vmlinuz-*' -exec /usr/bin/sh -c 'if ! /usr/bin/sbverify --list {} 2>/dev/null | /usr/bin/grep -q "signature certificates"; then /usr/bin/sbsign --key /root/db.key --cert /root/db.crt --output {} {}; fi' \ ;
Depends = sbsigntools
Depends = findutils
Depends = grep
/etc/pacman.d/hooks/98-secureboot-grub.hook
[Trigger]
Operation = Install
Operation = Upgrade
Type = Package
Target = grub
[Action]
Description = Signing GRUB for SecureBoot
When = PostTransaction
Exec = /usr/bin/find /efi/ -name 'grubx64*' -exec /usr/bin/sh -c 'if ! /usr/bin/sbverify --list {} 2>/dev/null | /usr/bin/grep -q "signature certificates"; then /usr/bin/sbsign --key /root/db.key --cert /root/db.crt --output {} {}; fi' \ ;
Depends = sbsigntools
Depends = findutils
Depends = grep
Enroll keys in firmware
*.cer
, *.esl
, *.auth
to the EFI system partition
Copy all cp /root/*.cer /root/*.esl /root/*.auth /efi/
Boot into UEFI firmware setup utility (frequently but incorrectly referred to as "BIOS")
systemctl reboot --firmware
Firmwares have various different interfaces, see Replacing Keys Using Your Firmware's Setup Utility if the following instructions are unclear or unsuccessful.
Windows UEFI mode
Set OS Type to Find the Secure Boot options and set OS Type to Windows UEFI mode
(yes, even if we're not on Windows.) This may be necessary for Secure Boot to function.
Clear preloaded Secure Boot keys
Using Key Management, clear all preloaded Secure Boot keys (Microsoft and OEM).
By clearing all Secure Boot keys, you will enter into Setup Mode (so you can enroll your own Secure Boot keys).
Set or append the new keys
The keys must be set in the following order:
db => KEK => PK
This is due to some systems exiting setup mode as soon as a PK
is entered.
Do not load the factory defaults, instead navigate the available filesystems in search of the files previously copied to the EFI System partition.
Choose any of the formats. The firmware should prompt you to enter the type (Note: type names may differ slightly.)
*.cer is a Public Key Certificate
*.esl is a UEFI Secure Variable
*.auth is an Authenticated Variable
Certain firmware (such as my own) require you use the *.auth files. Try various ones until they work.
Set UEFI supervisor (administrator) password
You must also set your UEFI firmware supervisor (administrator) password in the Security settings, so nobody can simply boot into UEFI setup utility and turn off Secure Boot.
You should never use the same UEFI firmware supervisor password as your encryption password, because on some old laptops, the supervisor password could be recovered as plaintext from the EEPROM chip.
Exit and save changes
Once you've loaded all three keys and set your supervisor password, hit F10 to exit and save your changes.
If everything was done properly, your boot loader should appear on reboot.
Check if Secure Boot was enabled
od -An -t u1 /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/SecureBoot-XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
The characters denoted by XXXX differ from machine to machine. To help with this, you can use tab completion or list the EFI variables.
If Secure Boot is enabled, this command returns 1 as the final integer in a list of five, for example:
6 0 0 0 1
If Secure Boot was enabled and your UEFI supervisor password set, you may now consider yourself protected against Evil Maid attacks.
Thank you so much for the guide. I was testing this in a Vbox virtual machine. I'd like to add few of my experiences.
Boot speed
My computer was fast however the boot GRUB decryption was very slow and took 40-45 seconds. Then I searched a bit and did these changes, which lowered it to 10-15 seconds:
cryptsetup luksFormat --type luks1 -s 512 -h sha512 /dev/sda3
. According to wiki default options has--use-urandom
(I'm guessing less secure but faster?),--iter-time 2000
(again, the same) and-S 0
for the key slot instead of 1.haveged
servicerandom.trust_cpu=on
to kernel parametersAutomating some commands
Some of the commands could be automated via bash.
Locale:
cp /etc/locale.gen /etc/locale.gen.ori sed -i '/#en_US.UTF-8/s/^#//g' /etc/locale.gen locale-gen
Changes to mkinitcpio:
Changes to grub: