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In the past I routinely backed up my entire unencrypted /home folder with LuckyBackup (gui for Rsync) to an external HDD. I've had no problems seeing and manipulating the backed up data when accessing the external backup HDD from a LiveCD, another Ubuntu computer or even Win7.

I recently installed Ubuntu 12.04LTS on a new SSD and decided to enable /home folder encryption during installation. Now, when I do a backup of /home to my external HDD using LuckyBackup, I can only see the backed up data on the HDD when I am in logged in to Ubuntu 12.04. When I try to look at or manipulate the data from a LiveCD, another Ubuntu computer or Win7 the data is not accessible and has a user 1000 permission set which can not be changed.

I conclude from this, that all of my backed up data is now saved on my external HDD in encrypted form. I did not expect this, nor do I want it. I want the backed up data saved in unencrypted format so I can access it from other OS's.

Question: Is there a way to backup an encrypted /home partition's data in an unencrypted format, read/copy/executable by any other OS?

Rizlaw
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1 Answers1

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If you want to backup the cleartext versions of these files, you'll need to do two things:

  • You'll need to be logged in and your home directory will need to be mounted when your backup job runs.
  • You'll need to backup your actual home directory, such as /home/$USER, rather than just /home.

Full disclosure: I'm the author and maintainer of Ubuntu's Encrypted Home Directory feature

Dustin Kirkland
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  • I didn't enabled the encryption of my home during installation, can I enabled it now or is it recommended to re-install Ubuntu and enable encryption during the install? – Max May 27 '12 at 08:51
  • This is a very reasonable question, but it should be asked as a new question of its own, and not a comment here. Thanks! – Dustin Kirkland May 28 '12 at 02:56
  • Dustin if I backup my /home/$USER when I'm logged in can I restore that /home/$USER by copying to another ubuntu installation home directory? – Jorge B. Sep 27 '17 at 10:31