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    Installation with Whole Disk Encryption

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software
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    • johnpozJ
      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
      last edited by

      @harika1258 said in Installation with Whole Disk Encryption:

      I want to encrypt partitions with ZFS without entering passphrase every time when os is booting

      Then there is ZERO point to the encryption in the first place... What is it protecting??? The whole problem of FDE on something like a router is that it needs intervention for boot..

      If there is no passphrase, then when it boots the encryption is just unlocked. Like a zipfile without a password on it - anyone can open it. You put a password on the zip file and you have to know the password to unlock it.

      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
      Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
      SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

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        harika1258 @johnpoz
        last edited by harika1258

        @johnpoz
        if someone has physical access to appliance who can move the appliance 's hard drive to another system (computer with Windows os) to view and does everything.
        I want to protect it in this case.
        although I want, when pfsense is booting, we don't need any passphrase.
        just want to protect files in attaching to machine who running windows OS ;-)

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        • johnpozJ
          johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
          last edited by

          @harika1258 said in Installation with Whole Disk Encryption:

          just want to protect files in attaching to machine who running windows OS

          So your wanting to protect it from idiot users? Why would I move the HDD to another system when I would just get the info off the thing while I have physical access to it??

          I really think you need to do some research on what FDE actually protects you from..

          So your scenario your wanting to protect against.. Windows not going to read a zfs anyway ;) Be it encrypted or not. And what appliance are you using exactly... Mine doesn't even have a HDD they could take out...

          An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
          If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
          Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
          SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

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            harika1258 @johnpoz
            last edited by

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            • H
              harika1258 @johnpoz
              last edited by harika1258

              @johnpoz 0_1529990347180_Untitled.png
              As you know, in windows OS, by UFS Explorer you can see partition that is set up with ZFS.
              I use Nexcom Appliance ....

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              • GertjanG
                Gertjan
                last edited by

                Your adding normally non-existing issues : a system that runs virtual appliances shouldn't be made accessible by ordinary users, except for the services they offer remotely.
                Only an 'admin' should access such a systems directly.

                No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                Edit : and where are the logs ??

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                • L
                  launchpadmcquak
                  last edited by launchpadmcquak

                  I'm not quite sure I understand arguing against FDE with the justification "it's just a firewall" when this simple firewall has a robust package management system which features an impressive catalog of packages.

                  I personally use pfSense as a firewall, a dynamic DNS client to NoIP (which requires credentials), and a tinc (keys!) server to tie other pfSense boxes together. I see people leveraging pfSense for much heavier workloads so I definitely see the argument for FDE.

                  I also see that FDE is a PITA because, at boot, you have to either be physically present to enter credentials, share said credentials with somebody who's present, or expose IPMI (if you have it) to gain virtual KVM access to it.

                  Would it be possible to see something like dracut-crypt-ssh make its way into the feature list? I use it on everything as a backup for when tang/clevis isn't working in a predominantly CentOS-based environment. It would be quite handy to have pfSense have a similar functionality whereby it boots dropbear on a specific port, protected with a preconfigured keypair, that goes away once pfSense is fully booted. Just my $.02.

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                  • KOMK
                    KOM
                    last edited by

                    FDE is a PITA that is only useful if you're in an environment where there is a significant risk that someone will steal your disk so they can mount it elsewhere and look for prizes. Most people are not in that environment, and even if they were, there is usually nothing on the firewall that would be of any use to an attacker. Your mileage may vary, of course. Nobody else should have physical access to the box except you or other IT admins. Certainly not users.

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                      Epimpin @johnpoz
                      last edited by

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                      • V
                        vkeel87
                        last edited by vkeel87

                        sorry to revive old post but I would like to reply for a specific use case no one brought up. As a journalist I need a higher level of security when accessing specific content. I use pfSense as a VPN gateway configure with FDE and zero-logging. It's a lot easier than having to setup vpn after every reboot on my boot-only USB OS.

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