cryptsetup-luksFormat(8) — Linux manual page

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CRYPTSETUP-LUKSFORMAT(8)  Maintenance Commands  CRYPTSETUP-LUKSFORMAT(8)

NAME         top

       cryptsetup-luksFormat - initialize a LUKS partition and set the
       initial passphrase

SYNOPSIS         top

       cryptsetup luksFormat [<options>] <device> [<key file>]

DESCRIPTION         top

       Initializes a LUKS partition and sets the initial passphrase (for
       key-slot 0), either via prompting or via <key file>. Note that if
       the second argument is present, then the passphrase is taken from
       the file given there, without the need to use the --key-file
       option. Also note that for both forms of reading the passphrase
       from a file you can give '-' as file name, which results in the
       passphrase being read from stdin and the safety-question being
       skipped.

       You cannot call luksFormat on a device or filesystem that is
       mapped or in use, e.g., mounted filesystem, used in LVM, active
       RAID member, etc. The device or filesystem has to be un-mounted
       in order to call luksFormat.

       To use specific version of LUKS format, use --type luks1 or type
       luks2.

       To use OPAL hardware encryption on a self-encrypting drive, use
       --hw-opal or --hw-opal-only. Note that some OPAL drives can
       require a PSID reset (with possible deletion of data) before
       using the LUKS format with OPAL options. See
       --hw-opal-factory-reset option in cryptsetup erase command.

       <options> can be [--hash, --cipher, --verify-passphrase,
       --key-size, --key-slot, --key-file (takes precedence over
       optional second argument), --keyfile-offset, --keyfile-size,
       --use-random, --use-urandom, --uuid, --volume-key-file,
       --iter-time, --header, --pbkdf-force-iterations,
       --force-password, --disable-locks, --timeout, --type, --offset,
       --align-payload (deprecated)].

       For LUKS2, additional <options> can be [--integrity,
       --integrity-no-wipe, --sector-size, --label, --subsystem,
       --pbkdf, --pbkdf-memory, --pbkdf-parallel, --disable-locks,
       --disable-keyring, --luks2-metadata-size, --luks2-keyslots-size,
       --keyslot-cipher, --keyslot-key-size, --integrity-legacy-padding,
       --hw-opal, --hw-opal-only].

       WARNING: Doing a luksFormat on an existing LUKS container will
       make all data in the old container permanently irretrievable
       unless you have a header backup.

OPTIONS         top

       --align-payload <number of 512 byte sectors>
           Align payload at a boundary of value 512-byte sectors.

           If not specified, cryptsetup tries to use the topology info
           provided by the kernel for the underlying device to get the
           optimal alignment. If not available (or the calculated value
           is a multiple of the default) data is by default aligned to a
           1MiB boundary (i.e. 2048 512-byte sectors).

           For a detached LUKS header, this option specifies the offset
           on the data device. See also the --header option.

           WARNING: This option is DEPRECATED and has often unexpected
           impact to the data offset and keyslot area size (for LUKS2)
           due to the complex rounding. For fixed data device offset use
           --offset option instead.

       --batch-mode, -q
           Suppresses all confirmation questions. Use with care!

           If the --verify-passphrase option is not specified, this
           option also switches off the passphrase verification.

       --cipher, -c <cipher-spec>
           Set the cipher specification string.

           cryptsetup --help shows the compiled-in defaults.

           If a hash is part of the cipher specification, then it is
           used as part of the IV generation. For example, ESSIV needs a
           hash function, while "plain64" does not and hence none is
           specified.

           For XTS mode you can optionally set a key size of 512 bits
           with the -s option. Key size for XTS mode is twice that for
           other modes for the same security level.

       --debug or --debug-json
           Run in debug mode with full diagnostic logs. Debug output
           lines are always prefixed by #.

           If --debug-json is used, additional LUKS2 JSON data
           structures are printed.

       --disable-blkid
           Disable use of blkid library for checking and wiping on-disk
           signatures.

       --disable-keyring
           Do not load volume key in kernel keyring and store it
           directly in the dm-crypt target instead. This option is
           supported only for the LUKS2 type.

       --disable-locks
           Disable lock protection for metadata on disk. This option is
           valid only for LUKS2 and ignored for other formats.

           WARNING: Do not use this option unless you run cryptsetup in
           a restricted environment where locking is impossible to
           perform (where /run directory cannot be used).

       --force-password
           Do not use password quality checking for new LUKS passwords.

           This option is ignored if cryptsetup is built without
           password quality checking support.

           For more info about password quality check, see the manual
           page for pwquality.conf(5) and passwdqc.conf(5).

       --hash, -h <hash-spec>
           Specifies the hash used in the LUKS key setup scheme and
           volume key digest. The specified hash is used for PBKDF2 and
           AF splitter.

           The hash algorithm must provide at least 160 bits of output.
           Do not use a non-crypto hash like xxhash as this breaks
           security. Use cryptsetup --help to show the defaults.

       --header <device or file storing the LUKS header>
           Use a detached (separated) metadata device or file where the
           LUKS header is stored. This option allows one to store
           ciphertext and LUKS header on different devices.

           With a file name as the argument to --header, the file will
           be automatically created if it does not exist. See the
           cryptsetup FAQ for header size calculation.

           The --align-payload option is taken as absolute sector
           alignment on ciphertext device and can be zero.

       --help, -?
           Show help text and default parameters.

       --hw-opal
           Format LUKS2 device with dm-crypt encryption stacked on top
           HW based encryption configured on SED OPAL locking range.
           This option enables both SW and HW based data encryption.

       --hw-opal-only
           Format LUKS2 device with HW based encryption configured on
           SED OPAL locking range only. LUKS2 format only manages
           locking range unlock key. This option enables HW based data
           encryption managed by SED OPAL drive only.

           NOTE: Please note that with OPAL-only (--hw-opal-only)
           encryption, the configured OPAL administrator PIN
           (passphrase) allows unlocking all configured locking ranges
           without LUKS keyslot decryption (without knowledge of LUKS
           passphrase). Because of many observed problems with
           compatibility, cryptsetup currently DOES NOT use OPAL
           single-user mode, which would allow such decoupling of OPAL
           admin PIN access.

       --integrity <integrity algorithm>
           Specify integrity algorithm to be used for authenticated disk
           encryption in LUKS2.

           WARNING: This extension is EXPERIMENTAL and requires
           dm-integrity kernel target (available since kernel version
           4.12). For native AEAD modes, also enable "User-space
           interface for AEAD cipher algorithms" in "Cryptographic API"
           section (CONFIG_CRYPTO_USER_API_AEAD .config option).

           For more info, see AUTHENTICATED DISK ENCRYPTION section in
           cryptsetup(8).

       --integrity-legacy-padding
           Use inefficient legacy padding.

           WARNING: Do not use this option until you need compatibility
           with specific old kernel.

       --integrity-no-wipe
           Skip wiping of device authentication (integrity) tags. If you
           skip this step, sectors will report invalid integrity tag
           until an application write to the sector.

           NOTE: Even some writes to the device can fail if the write is
           not aligned to page size and page-cache initiates read of a
           sector with invalid integrity tag.

       --iter-time, -i <number of milliseconds>
           The number of milliseconds to spend with PBKDF passphrase
           processing. Specifying 0 as parameter selects the compiled-in
           default.

       --key-description <text>
           Set key description in keyring that will be used for
           passphrase retrieval.

       --key-file, -d name
           Read the passphrase from file.

           If the name given is "-", then the passphrase will be read
           from stdin. In this case, reading will not stop at newline
           characters.

           See section NOTES ON PASSPHRASE PROCESSING in cryptsetup(8)
           for more information.

       --keyfile-offset value
           Skip value bytes at the beginning of the key file.

       --keyfile-size, -l value
           Read a maximum of value bytes from the key file. The default
           is to read the whole file up to the compiled-in maximum that
           can be queried with --help. Supplying more data than the
           compiled-in maximum aborts the operation.

           This option is useful to cut trailing newlines, for example.
           If --keyfile-offset is also given, the size count starts
           after the offset.

       --key-size, -s bits
           Sets key size in bits. The argument has to be a multiple of
           8. The possible key-sizes are limited by the cipher and mode
           used.

           See /proc/crypto for more information. Note that key-size in
           /proc/crypto is stated in bytes.

           This option can be used for open --type plain or luksFormat.
           All other LUKS actions will use the key-size specified in the
           LUKS header. Use cryptsetup --help to show the compiled-in
           defaults.

       --key-slot, -S <0-N>
           For LUKS operations that add key material, this option allows
           you to specify which key slot is selected for the new key.

           The maximum number of key slots depends on the LUKS version.
           LUKS1 can have up to 8 key slots. LUKS2 can have up to 32 key
           slots based on key slot area size and key size, but a valid
           key slot ID can always be between 0 and 31 for LUKS2.

       --keyslot-cipher <cipher-spec>
           This option can be used to set specific cipher encryption for
           the LUKS2 keyslot area.

       --keyslot-key-size <bits>
           This option can be used to set specific key size for the
           LUKS2 keyslot area.

       --label <LABEL> --subsystem <SUBSYSTEM>
           Set label and subsystem description for LUKS2 device. The
           label and subsystem are optional fields and can be later used
           in udev scripts for triggering user actions once the device
           marked by these labels is detected.

       --luks2-keyslots-size <size>
           This option can be used to set specific size of the LUKS2
           binary keyslot area (key material is encrypted there). The
           value must be aligned to multiple of 4096 bytes with maximum
           size 128MB. The <size> can be specified with unit suffix (for
           example 128k).

       --luks2-metadata-size <size>
           This option can be used to enlarge the LUKS2 metadata (JSON)
           area. The size includes 4096 bytes for binary metadata
           (usable JSON area is smaller of the binary area). According
           to LUKS2 specification, only these values are valid: 16, 32,
           64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048 and 4096 kB The <size> can be
           specified with unit suffix (for example 128k).

       --offset, -o <number of 512 byte sectors>
           Start offset in the backend device in 512-byte sectors.

           The --offset option sets the data offset (payload) of data
           device and must be aligned to 4096-byte sectors (must be
           multiple of 8). This option cannot be combined with
           --align-payload option.

       --pbkdf <PBKDF spec>
           Set Password-Based Key Derivation Function (PBKDF) algorithm
           for LUKS keyslot. The PBKDF can be: pbkdf2 (for PBKDF2
           according to RFC2898), argon2i for Argon2i or argon2id for
           Argon2id (see Argon2
           <https://www.cryptolux.org/index.php/Argon2> for more info).

           For LUKS1, only PBKDF2 is accepted (no need to use this
           option). The default PBKDF for LUKS2 is set during
           compilation time and is available in cryptsetup --help
           output.

           A PBKDF is used for increasing dictionary and brute-force
           attack cost for keyslot passwords. The parameters can be
           time, memory and parallel cost.

           For PBKDF2, only time cost (number of iterations) applies.
           For Argon2i/id, there is also memory cost (memory required
           during the process of key derivation) and parallel cost
           (number of threads that run in parallel during the key
           derivation.

           Note that increasing memory cost also increases time, so the
           final parameter values are measured by a benchmark. The
           benchmark tries to find iteration time (--iter-time) with
           required memory cost --pbkdf-memory. If it is not possible,
           the memory cost is decreased as well. The parallel cost
           --pbkdf-parallel is constant and is checked against available
           CPU cores.

           You can see all PBKDF parameters for particular LUKS2 keyslot
           with cryptsetup-luksDump(8) command.

           NOTE: If you do not want to use benchmark and want to specify
           all parameters directly, use --pbkdf-force-iterations with
           --pbkdf-memory and --pbkdf-parallel. This will override the
           values without benchmarking. Note it can cause extremely long
           unlocking time or cause out-of-memory conditions with
           unconditional process termination. Use only in specific
           cases, for example, if you know that the formatted device
           will be used on some small embedded system.

           MINIMAL AND MAXIMAL PBKDF COSTS: For PBKDF2, the minimum
           iteration count is 1000 and maximum is 4294967295 (maximum
           for 32bit unsigned integer). Memory and parallel costs are
           unused for PBKDF2. For Argon2i and Argon2id, minimum
           iteration count (CPU cost) is 4 and maximum is 4294967295
           (maximum for 32bit unsigned integer). Minimum memory cost is
           32 KiB and maximum is 4 GiB. (Limited by addressable memory
           on some CPU platforms.) If the memory cost parameter is
           benchmarked (not specified by a parameter) it is always in
           range from 64 MiB to 1 GiB. The parallel cost minimum is 1
           and maximum 4 (if enough CPUs cores are available, otherwise
           it is decreased).

       --pbkdf-force-iterations <num>
           Avoid PBKDF benchmark and set time cost (iterations)
           directly. It can be used for LUKS/LUKS2 device only. See
           --pbkdf option for more info.

       --pbkdf-memory <number>
           Set the memory cost for PBKDF (for Argon2i/id the number
           represents kilobytes). Note that it is maximal value, PBKDF
           benchmark or available physical memory can decrease it. This
           option is not available for PBKDF2.

       --pbkdf-parallel <number>
           Set the parallel cost for PBKDF (number of threads, up to 4).
           Note that it is maximal value, it is decreased automatically
           if CPU online count is lower. This option is not available
           for PBKDF2.

       --progress-frequency seconds
           Print separate line every seconds with wipe progress.

       --progress-json
           Prints progress data in JSON format suitable mostly for
           machine processing. It prints separate line every half second
           (or based on --progress-frequency value). The JSON output
           looks as follows during progress (except it’s compact single
           line):

               {
                 "device":"/dev/sda",      // backing device or file
                 "device_bytes":"8192",    // bytes of I/O so far
                 "device_size":"44040192", // total bytes of I/O to go
                 "speed":"126877696",      // calculated speed in bytes per second (based on progress so far)
                 "eta_ms":"2520012",       // estimated time to finish an operation in milliseconds
                 "time_ms":"5561235"       // total time spent in IO operation in milliseconds
               }

           Note on numbers in JSON output: Due to JSON parsers
           limitations all numbers are represented in a string format
           due to need of full 64bit unsigned integers.

       --sector-size bytes
           Set sector size for use with disk encryption. It must be
           power of two and in range 512 - 4096 bytes. This option is
           available only with LUKS2 format.

           For LUKS2 devices it’s established based on parameters
           provided by underlying data device. For native 4K block
           devices it’s 4096 bytes. For 4K/512e (4K physical sector size
           with 512 bytes emulation) it’s 4096 bytes. For drives
           reporting only 512 bytes block size it remains 512 bytes. If
           data device is regular file put in filesystem it’s 4096
           bytes.

           Note that if sector size is higher than underlying device
           hardware sector and there is not integrity protection that
           uses data journal, using this option can increase risk on
           incomplete sector writes during a power fail.

           If used together with --integrity option and dm-integrity
           journal, the atomicity of writes is guaranteed in all cases
           (but it cost write performance - data has to be written
           twice).

           Increasing sector size from 512 bytes to 4096 bytes can
           provide better performance on most of the modern storage
           devices and also with some hw encryption accelerators.

       --timeout, -t <number of seconds>
           The number of seconds to wait before timeout on passphrase
           input via terminal. It is relevant every time a passphrase is
           asked. It has no effect if used in conjunction with
           --key-file.

           This option is useful when the system should not stall if the
           user does not input a passphrase, e.g. during boot. The
           default is a value of 0 seconds, which means to wait forever.

       --type <device-type>
           Specifies required device type, for more info read BASIC
           ACTIONS section in cryptsetup(8).

       --usage
           Show short option help.

       --use-random, --use-urandom
           For luksFormat these options define which kernel random
           number generator will be used to create the volume key (which
           is a long-term key).

           See NOTES ON RANDOM NUMBER GENERATORS in cryptsetup(8) for
           more information. Use cryptsetup --help to show the
           compiled-in default random number generator.

           WARNING: In a low-entropy situation (e.g. in an embedded
           system) and older kernels, both selections are problematic.
           Using /dev/urandom can lead to weak keys. Using /dev/random
           can block a long time, potentially forever, if not enough
           entropy can be harvested by the kernel.

       --uuid <UUID>
           Use the provided UUID for the luksFormat command instead of
           generating a new one. Changes the existing UUID when used
           with the luksUUID command.

           The UUID must be provided in the standard UUID format, e.g.
           12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc.

       --verify-passphrase, -y
           When interactively asking for a passphrase, ask for it twice
           and complain if both inputs do not match. Ignored on input
           from file or stdin.

       --version, -V
           Show the program version.

       --volume-key-file, --master-key-file (OBSOLETE alias)
           Use a volume key stored in a file. WARNING: If you create
           your own volume key, you need to make sure to do it right.
           Otherwise, you can end up with a low-entropy or otherwise
           partially predictable volume key which will compromise
           security.

REPORTING BUGS         top

       Report bugs at cryptsetup mailing list
       <cryptsetup@lists.linux.dev> or in Issues project section
       <https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/-/issues/new>.

       Please attach output of the failed command with --debug option
       added.

SEE ALSO         top

       Cryptsetup FAQ
       <https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/wikis/FrequentlyAskedQuestions>

       cryptsetup(8), integritysetup(8) and veritysetup(8)

CRYPTSETUP         top

       Part of cryptsetup project
       <https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/>. This page is part of
       the Cryptsetup ((open-source disk encryption)) project.
       Information about the project can be found at 
       ⟨https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup⟩. If you have a bug
       report for this manual page, send it to dm-crypt@saout.de. This
       page was obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
       ⟨https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup.git⟩ on 2024-06-14. (At
       that time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in
       the repository was 2024-06-11.) If you discover any rendering
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cryptsetup 2.8.0-git           2024-06-07       CRYPTSETUP-LUKSFORMAT(8)

Pages that refer to this page: cryptsetup(8)cryptsetup-reencrypt(8)