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Date:      Mon, 26 Apr 2021 16:50:27 -0400
From:      mike tancsa <mike@sentex.net>
To:        d@delphij.net, FreeBSD-STABLE Mailing List <freebsd-stable@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: zfs native encryption best practices on RELENG13
Message-ID:  <89f5a96b-60fa-2d99-3f61-42cade6280eb@sentex.net>
In-Reply-To: <56a4a35f-b4d7-661a-f59b-8cd399784e6e@delphij.net>
References:  <e79a8278-0fd8-532f-2a72-87d43cf27e7a@sentex.net> <56a4a35f-b4d7-661a-f59b-8cd399784e6e@delphij.net>

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On 4/23/2021 5:23 PM, Xin Li wrote:
> On 4/23/21 13:53, mike tancsa wrote:
>> Starting to play around with RELENG_13 and wanted explore ZFS' built i=
n
>> encryption.=C2=A0 Is there a best practices doc on how to do full disk=

>> encryption anywhere thats not GELI based=C2=A0 ?=C2=A0 There are lots =
for=20
>> GELI,
>> but nothing I could find for native OpenZFS encryption on FreeBSD
>>
>> i.e box gets rebooted, enter in passphrase to allow it to boot kind of=

>> thing from the boot loader prompt ?
> I think loader do not support the native OpenZFS encryption yet.
> However, you can encrypt non-essential datasets on a boot pool (that is=
,
> if com.datto:encryption is "active" AND the bootfs dataset is not
> encrypted, you can still boot from it).
>
> BTW instead of entering passphrase at loader prompt, if / is not
> encrypted, it's also possible to do something like
> https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-security/2012-August/006547=
=2Ehtml
> .
>
> Personally I'd probably go with GELI (or other kind of full disk
> encryption) regardless if OpenZFS's native encryption is used because m=
y
> primary goal is to be able to just throw away bad disks when they are
> removed from production [1].  If the pool is not fully encrypted, there=

> is always a chance that the sensitive data have landed some unencrypted=

> datasets and never gets fully overwritten.
>
> [1] Also keep in mind: https://xkcd.com/538/

Thanks for the perspective and links.=C2=A0 I have a couple of use case
scenarios.=C2=A0 One, for devices in somewhat physically untrusted
environments.=C2=A0 Someone breaks into the store, and steals the PC.=C2=A0=20
I can
see the advantages of GELI to this environment.=C2=A0 The other is the
ability for customers to send me encrypted datasets for offsite backup.=C2=
=A0
If its encrypted, I have less exposure if the dataset is encrypted and I
cant see the contents.=C2=A0=C2=A0 Same for making backups to disks to pu=
t in cold
storage although yes, I can see GELI having an an advantage again for
full disk encryption.=C2=A0


=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 ---Mike





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