how to resize encrypted partition?

[JakeMaverick]

The mission: I just bought an SSD, finally! yay! But it's 60 gig and the drive I'm currently using is 80 gig. So not that much of a problem....so I thought....all I need to do is resize the partition before transferring it over.

So, gave gparted a try as it seems it is the only thing that will do it....everything else I have does not like anything to do with Linux. But, doh....it seems gparted can not cope with encrypted hard drives! It is the whole drive, not just the folder/ login.

Is there any solution to this one? I figure there must be a way to resize my system drive from within Kubuntu, even though would probably require a reboot....but I cannae find a way? :-(

Tearing my hair out for 3 days now, almost bald....

[JakeMaverick]

actually, more i think about it and the more research i do....I'm thinking my only option now is to rebuild the kubuntu installation from scratch. :-( Thing is I've been using Kubuntu for about a year now....nowhere near as familiar with everything than I am in Windows.....so what is the best way to backup every single thing/ change/ customisation/ browser history/ downloads/ directories i've put on the drive/ all programmes and mods i've made....is there a programme that will just copy everything on the drive other than the standard installation and allow me to put it back quickly and easily after? figure I'm asking too much i know......;-)

[oshunluvr]

Ahhhh, the hassles of encrypted partitions. Just my opinion, but I can't understand why anyone would encrypt anything outside their home folder. Are you concerned that a hacker will figure out what version of some program you have installed? You might consider evaluating your security needs for future installs. Since you've recently come over from Windows, you're used to a lot more jumping though hoops to keep your system safe than most Linux users bother with - just food for thought. My wife's Windows laptop is encrypted but she's in the medical field and HIPA requires it. None of our Linux machines are.

Anyway, in no particular order; G4L, Partimage, Clonezilla, Remastersys. Any of these should be able to do what you want. Since AFAIK encryption is at the filesystem level, any program which does a file-to-file type backup should work. The usual answer of dd won't work because you'd be copying the encryption too.

I suspect Remastersys may be the best option as it creates an install-able ISO from your current system, but I'd read-up a bit before diving in.

BTW, a new install is much quicker in most cases unless you have an inordinate amount of system customization. If you install the same version of Kubuntu, usually a copy of your old home folder will preserve your personal desktop customization.

[JakeMaverick]

Many thanks for that! Well...the way I see it the best and only way these days is to encrypt everything by default....and I'm TI also....so pretty heavily targeted :-( fact is no way to evade my perps, 'cept to get off planet which just isn't possible right now.
I'm always game for a challenge! ;-)
That is hilarious though....forced to use Windows, which is inherently much less secure...and forced to encrypt? It's just along running joke....even putting medical info on the internet now over here! and they never even bother to keep things secure in reality....and stateside you're even worse! you can go to websites, upload a photo of somebody or put their number plate in and it will tell u everything abt hem, where they live, credit history, criminal convictions.....:-( you could not make it up.

Thanks for the info...bit busy now but I shall look those things up. I think your last line is best way to go now though....but version of Kubuntu? over a year old that i got burned to disk.....but it will just update to the latest once connected to tinternet wd it not? I think doing that....reload backups for firefox and Chromium....and as you say home folder.....but will that do all my apps i've installed as well? was doubting that bit....i think do a screen grab and search and re-install them all manually?

many thanks!

[JakeMaverick]

actually....my bag.....i'm actually using Xubuntu.....not sure exactly what the diff is? ;-)

[JakeMaverick]

actually, i might have done something bit daft....was having some trouble re-installing on this machine so i did the software build on my other PC....i know that won't work with windows! but is it going to be a problem for linux? should also mention my other machine is AMD and this is I3.....:-(

[oshunluvr]

That is hilarious though....forced to use Windows, which is inherently much less secure...and forced to encrypt? It's just along running joke....even putting medical info on the internet now over here! and they never even bother to keep things secure in reality....and stateside you're even worse! you can go to websites, upload a photo of somebody or put their number plate in and it will tell u everything abt hem, where they live, credit history, criminal convictions.....:-( you could not make it up.

Yeah exactly. Even worse: I work for the US Government. Once, years ago, we had a security briefing where the presenter was letting us know we were only allowed to use I.E. (vers. 6 or 7 I think). I raised my hand and asked him if they were so interested in internet security, why do they force us to use the least secure operating system and the least secure browser? All my co-workers chuckled quite a bit. He replied with a heavy sigh that it was only his job to brief us on the rules - he didn't make policy. Typical bureaucratic BS.

Anyway, as far as which version of Kubuntu to consider installing - it's all about your preference (as everything is in the Linux world :-) ). If you want the least amount of problems with the longest support cycle, I'd install 14.04 and stick with it for a while. It's supported until April 2019. The newest LTS (long term support) version is 16.04 but it's still too troublesome to use as a "daily driver" for my taste. It's got the newest version of Plasma (KDE) and QT5 and others so it's still going through growing pains. I'd wait 4-6 more months before planning on using it daily. IMO, the mid-term regular releases (non-LTS) versions will drop off support too soon for a new-ish Kubuntu-ite.

[JakeMaverick]

yeah man! they really take the p***! they do actually know, not as stupid as they pretend to be......just blindly following orders! sounds a bit hyperbolic....but in the greater context of everything else going on it really is 1930s germany all over again :-(
they force you to do that as they get bribes to and also because it makes it easier for them to spy on you. not a lot of people know....but billy gates was discussing a deal with Heir Blair some time ago that involved him giving a free laptop to every schoolkid in Britain...the price? it came with a special version of Windows that forced them to accept the US absurd/ backwards date format....fell through because of that in the end. but tech has moved on...and it's not so long ago that these teacher pervs really were watching the kids on their webcams without them knowing.....only came to light as they were actually so stupid to do it in front of a televison crew, it's like they really believe they're doing nothing wrong 'coz it's state sanctioned....:-(

TBH on linux i just tried a few flavours and stuck with the one i liked the look of most....think it was a toss up between kubuntu and xubuntu in the end....you really got to start using them to get to know....and it seems i got it wrong and had Xubuntu all the time in the end, so maybe i'm onn wrong forum. and original source disk out today...and turns out i been using bit longer than i thought as it is 14.04, November 2014. i had thought all those updates that come down were upgrading the version number on it...but i guess now not. i'll know if the new install works when i reboot this machine tomorrow.....what has also been bugging me though is i can't get screensavers to work, just goes to the lock screen.....but screensavers just won't run. dunno what it is....my other machine does it in windows as well.....and linux is a problem on that machine as i never could get the resolution right for radeon HD graphics....so i know far from perfect but xubuntu been working magic for my internet needs!

[oshunluvr]

The updates for Ubuntu flavors aren't the same as release changes. New releases (versions) come out every six months, but older releases are supported (updated) for 9 months and LTS releases are updated for 5 years. The LTS releases also get "point" updates every so often but I'm not sure why or when this happens. A point release gets a sub-minor number (i.e. 14.04 becomes 14.04.1, etc.). One of the reasons for this is due to the long release cycle for LTS releases the number of new packages required to update a new install becomes very large, so they put out a point release so you can download a more up-to-date ISO if you're doing a new install. Also, be aware that not all "flavors" of *buntus use all the releases. The devs. of Kubuntu or any of the other distros based on Ubuntu don't always follow the Ubuntu release schedule exactly the same.

BTW, totally agree that the US date format is bass-ackwards. I can't imagine why anyone thought placing calendar info in random order was a good idea.

[GreyGeek]

The mission: I just bought an SSD, finally! yay! But it's 60 gig and the drive I'm currently using is 80 gig. So not that much of a problem....so I thought....all I need to do is resize the partition before transferring it over.

So, gave gparted a try as it seems it is the only thing that will do it....everything else I have does not like anything to do with Linux. But, doh....it seems gparted can not cope with encrypted hard drives! It is the whole drive, not just the folder/ login.

Is there any solution to this one? I figure there must be a way to resize my system drive from within Kubuntu, even though would probably require a reboot....but I cannae find a way? :-(

Tearing my hair out for 3 days now, almost bald....

I did the same thing last week and found out that neither Kpaartition nor Gparted would delete or resize the EFI partition. So, I went old school and tried cfdisk. It had no problem deleting the encrypted EFI system.

BTW, IMHO. Kubuntu 16.04 is ready for your desktop. The niggles have been fixed. On my Acer it is about 2X faster than 14.04 was. Btrfs is awesome, as usual.

[JakeMaverick]

thanks oshunluvr!
i think i had gotten my head around that actually, but then forgotton it.....it's one of the reasons i kept delaying the switch to linux for years.....all sounds very complicated lot more to learn.....and it's finding the time to do it! but turns out it isn't really.....the worse thing i had to do was figure out how to do a custom resolution for the monitor, which i completely forgotten how to do.....and took me hours at the time......and i was still having problems just copying my home directory....so remastersys was looking like the way to go....accept it's now discontinued, can't find it anywhere....een looking at the offshoots/ recontinuations of....and it seems they've all died off to...accept for something called Black Lab Linux, which is a massive download, not possible on my wireless connection....and costs 50 bucks as well, which i haven't got :-(

that would be easiest best option....but there must a be a free way of doing it? anybody else know of something?

turns out my SSD booted fine, even though it was built on an AMD system and now plugged into I3....so go figure ;-)

[JakeMaverick]

GreyGeek
thanks...but all sounds bit too dangerous for me....and i dnt want to delete the encrypted drive i just need to transfer contents over....that disk is starting to fail a liitle but, but it's a raptor/ 10 000 rpm, so think i'm going to keep it as an emergency backup boot disk, was the plan....
14.04 is the fastest i've ever had running for internet! was very impressed....not sure i could cope if it doubled in speed again! ;-) i think i'll stick with what i got for now....but now wishing i had waited until i had more money for a larger ssd....but i figured 16 quid for 60 gig was best i likely to ever find.....dats the point, how the smeg do you do pound signs in linux? ;-) cannae believe the ubuntu gods have not sorted that yet

[JakeMaverick]

actually, just tried grsync to copy my home folder.....seems to have mostly worked...but none of my applications have gone over! it has transferred all settings for firefox and chromium....but all my other apps aren't there, although they are in the directory....ummm....apart from that i just need to figure how to transfer custom settings for monitor then i think, maybe possibly....it's mission accomplished! ;-)

[GreyGeek]

While most app config files are in a user's home account the executables usually are not. So just copying the home account won't get the applications. The man page for apt (or apt-get) tells how to create a text file listing the actual names of installed apps. That file can be used to feed a script which will install them

[JakeMaverick]

never easy is it :-(

GreyGeek- i did search on that but could not find a 'main page' for it that wd tell u how to do...

i did just try aptik

http://www.unixmen.com/aptik-backup-...ttings-ubuntu/

which took ages, and looked like it did everything, even the grub menu....though it seems it didn't do google earth or skype, which i seem to recall was a real pain to install the first 20 or so times around.....not sure if anything else is missing, but i just need to figure how to transfer the screen settings and i'll try and rebuild whatever i lost from there i think.....