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CaptSaltyJack
Asked: 2013-08-01 14:43:08 +0800 CST

If encrypting the whole installation, do I need to encrypt my home too?

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I was just doing a fresh install and decided to enable LVM and full disk encryption. Now it's asking me to create an initial user and asking if I want my home folder encrypted. Is that kind of redundant? Can I leave that option unchecked?

13.04

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    If you want anyone who has the ability to decrypt your LVM to be able to see the contents of your home folder, then you don't need to encrypt your home folder.

    If you want there to be people who have the ability to decrypt your LVM but not access your personal files (this might apply to other users of your computer), then you should consider encrypting your home folder as well.

    By the way, depending on your needs, you might also decide to encrypt your home folder but not have an encrypted LVM (or other sort of whole-disk encryption).

    There is a special case in which encrypting an LVM and encrypting a home folder are typically equivalent in terms of security--if you have a separate LVM for your home folder, and it is not decrypted until you log in. However, that's very rare (and I'm not aware of a compelling reason to do that).

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