All courses
Resource hub
Featured resource
Forrester Wave Report 2025
Pluralsight named a Leader in the Forrester Wave™

Our tech skill development platform earned the highest scores possible across 11 criteria.

Learn more
Hamburger Icon
  • Labs icon Lab
  • Cloud
  • Security
Google Cloud Platform icon
Labs

Create and Mount an Encrypted Block Device Using dm-crypt

In this lab you will create an encrypted block device using `dm-crypt` and LUKS. Then you will open the encrypted device and create a filesystem on it. You are working as a System Administrator at a large financial institution and have been tasked with enabling whole-disk encryption on a portable drive. The portable drive is attached as `/dev/loop0` to the user's workstation, which is running the CentOS Linux 7.7 operating system.

Get started Contact sales
Google Cloud Platform icon
Labs

Path Info

Level
Clock icon Intermediate
Duration
Clock icon 15m
Published
Clock icon Jan 31, 2020

Contact sales

By filling out this form and clicking submit, you acknowledge our privacy policy.

Table of Contents

  1. Challenge

    Create an Encrypted Volume on the Target Device

    Create an encrypted volume on the target device:

    $ sudo cryptsetup luksFormat /loopbackfile.img

  2. Challenge

    Open the Encrypted Volume

    Open the encrypted volume:

    $ sudo cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/loop0 encvol
$ ls /dev/mapper/ -l

  3. Challenge

    Create a Filesystem on the Encrypted Volume

    Create a filesystem on the encrypted volume:

    $ sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/encvol
$ sudo mount /dev/mapper/encvol /mnt/

  4. Challenge

    Unmount the Filesystem and Close the Encrypted Volume

    Unmount the filesystem and close the encrypted volume:

    $ sudo umount /mnt/
$ sudo cryptsetup luksClose encvol

  5. Challenge

    Create a Keyfile and Add It to the Encrypted Volume

    Create a keyfile and add it to the encrypted volume:

    $ sudo dd if=/dev/urandom of=/root/lukskey bs=4096 count=1
$ sudo chmod 600 /root/lukskey
$ sudo cryptsetup luksAddKey /dev/loop0 /root/lukskey

  6. Challenge

    Open the Encrypted Volume Using the Keyfile and Mount the Filesystem

    Open the encrypted volume using the keyfile and mount the filesystem:

    sudo cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/loop0 encvol --key-file /root/lukskey
sudo mount /dev/mapper/encvol /mnt/
Pluralsight Skills - Labs - Pluralsight
Author
Pluralsight Skills

Pluralsight Skills gives leaders confidence they have the skills needed to execute technology strategy. Technology teams can benchmark expertise across roles, speed up release cycles and build reliable, secure products. By leveraging our expert content, skill assessments and one-of-a-kind analytics, keep up with the pace of change, put the right people on the right projects and boost productivity. It's the most effective path to developing tech skills at scale.

What's a lab?

Hands-on Labs are real environments created by industry experts to help you learn. These environments help you gain knowledge and experience, practice without compromising your system, test without risk, destroy without fear, and let you learn from your mistakes. Hands-on Labs: practice your skills before delivering in the real world.

Provided environment for hands-on practice

We will provide the credentials and environment necessary for you to practice right within your browser.

Guided walkthrough

Follow along with the author’s guided walkthrough and build something new in your provided environment!

Did you know?

On average, you retain 75% more of your learning if you get time for practice.
Ready to get started?
View individual plans View team plans