Install TrueCrypt

Installing TrueCrypt

This article was originally written by Cheeseboy, and with minor modifications by Asad.

TrueCrypt lets you create virtual containers to store sensitive files.

- Download the source http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads2 into a directory created for it's purpose (in my case truecrypt)

- gunzip and then untar the thing:

niklas@b3:~/truecrypt$ tar xf TrueCrypt\ 7.0a\ Source.tar

- Move into the source directory:

niklas@b3:~/truecrypt$ cd truecrypt-7.0a-source/

- Install the stuff it needs:

niklas@b3:~/truecrypt/truecrypt-7.0a-source$ sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config libfuse-dev libwxbase2.8-dev wx2.8-headers wx-common wget

- Get the pkcs11 headers it doesn't find even if you follow the instructions in the Readme:

niklas@b3:~/truecrypt/truecrypt-7.0a-source$ wget ftp://ftp.rsasecurity.com/pub/pkcs/pkcs-11/v2-20/*.h

- Compile the program

niklas@b3:~/truecrypt/truecrypt-7.0a-source$ time make NOGUI=1
...
Linking truecrypt
real   16m36.116s
user   15m37.980s
sys   0m28.410s

- Install the program

make install

- Check that the program is working

cd Main
./truecrypt --test
cp truecrypt /usr/bin/

- Check the Truecrypt manual for how to mount and create volumes. For example you can mount volumes into /home/storage folder if you want to have public data stored encrypted in a container.
From the manual:

IMPORTANT:

If you want to use TrueCrypt, you must follow the security requirements and security precautions listed in chapter 'Security Requirements and Precautions' 
in the TrueCrypt documentation (file 'TrueCrypt User Guide.pdf').

Examples:

Create a new volume:
truecrypt -t -c

Mount a volume:
truecrypt volume.tc /media/truecrypt1

Mount a volume as read-only, using keyfiles:
truecrypt -m ro -k keyfile1,keyfile2 volume.tc

Mount a volume without mounting its filesystem:
truecrypt --filesystem=none volume.tc

Mount a volume prompting only for its password:
truecrypt -t -k "" --protect-hidden=no volume.tc /media/truecrypt1

Dismount a volume:
truecrypt -d volume.tc