this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2025
19 points (95.2% liked)

Linux

52228 readers
729 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

So, I've decided that I want to reinstall Arch on my laptop, but this time separate /home from root, and encrypt it using LUKS.

I made a backup of my current, unencrypted home directory (I didn't separate them initially) using:

sudo rsync -aXS --exclude='/*/.gvfs' /home/. /mnt/home/.

Once I wipe Arch and reinstall it, encrypting /home, would I be able to transfer my unencrypted files to the encrypted /home partition, and have them become encrypted?

top 4 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] partizan@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago

You dont need to wipe anything, just shrink the filesystem from a live system.

Then create a new partition, which you encrypt and mount...

[–] jesse@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

I typically try to not be logged in as the user whose home directory is being copied when I do this just to avoid any collisions. Otherwise this looks right.

[–] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 16 points 4 days ago

Yep.

Once an encrypted storage volume is mounted and in use, you just transfer stuff into and out of it like normal.

There's nothing unusual about the files themselves.

[–] Quazatron@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

That's pretty much it.