# Geli encrypted FreeBSD 8.0 on a USB stick



## MrIdentical (Jul 11, 2010)

Hi hi!

I'm working on a project at the moment, namely an install of Freebsd on an 8gb USB stick, however I want most (if not all) of the data to be encrypted. Originally I was going to encrypt the whole thing but I don't want to have to supply a boot cd or another usb stick to access it, which seems redundant!

If I were to encrypt most, but not all, of the partitions (say, /usr, /etc, /var, /home and /bin, but not /boot) would I be able to boot from the stick and enter the passkey without having to use another bootable medium?


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## graudeejs (Jul 12, 2010)

you can boot from stick, if you have /boot unencrypted...... rest can be encrypted... that includes /

So yes, this is quite simple and very possible, you just need separate unencrypted partition/slice/label (depending on your partition scheme) for /boot

geli(8)


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## MrIdentical (Jul 12, 2010)

thanks a heap killasmurf! Will give this a shot


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