Compacting VHDX containing LUKS encrypted partition
If you have a VHDX file that contains a LUKS encrypted partition and you want to reduce its size to free up disk space, you can follow the steps below to compact the VHDX file. This process involves shrinking the LUKS encrypted partition and then compacting the VHDX file.
Step 1: Shrink the LUKS encrypted partition
1. Open the VHDX file using a virtual machine software like VirtualBox or VMware.
2. Start the virtual machine and log in to the operating system inside the virtual machine.
3. Open a terminal or command prompt and enter the following command to install the necessary tools:
sudo apt-get install cryptsetup
4. Once the tools are installed, use the following command to identify the LUKS encrypted partition:
sudo fdisk -l
Look for a partition with the "Linux LUKS" system type.
5. Once you have identified the LUKS encrypted partition, use the following command to open it:
sudo cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdXN my_encrypted_partition
Replace "/dev/sdXN" with the actual device and partition number of your LUKS encrypted partition.
6. After opening the encrypted partition, use the following command to resize the file system inside the encrypted partition:
sudo resize2fs /dev/mapper/my_encrypted_partition XG
Replace "X" with the desired size in gigabytes for the encrypted partition.
7. Once the file system has been resized, use the following command to close the encrypted partition:
sudo cryptsetup luksClose my_encrypted_partition
Step 2: Compact the VHDX file
1. Power off the virtual machine and close the virtual machine software.
2. Open a terminal or command prompt and navigate to the location of the VHDX file.
3. Use the following command to compact the VHDX file:
VBoxManage modifyhd your_vhdx_file.vhdx --compact
Replace "your_vhdx_file.vhdx" with the actual name of your VHDX file.
4. Wait for the compacting process to complete. This may take some time depending on the size of the VHDX file.
Step 3: Verify the compacted VHDX file
1. Open the virtual machine software and add the compacted VHDX file as a virtual hard disk to a new or existing virtual machine.
2. Start the virtual machine and log in to the operating system inside the virtual machine.
3. Verify that the LUKS encrypted partition is still accessible and all data is intact.
4. Check the size of the VHDX file to ensure it has been successfully compacted.
Congratulations! You have successfully compacted a VHDX file containing a LUKS encrypted partition, freeing up disk space on your system.
| References |
|---|
| VirtualBox - https://www.virtualbox.org/ |
| VMware - https://www.vmware.com/ |
| cryptsetup - https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup |
| resize2fs - https://manpages.debian.org/stretch/e2fsprogs/resize2fs.8.en.html |