How to Change a LUKS Password

Linux uses a disk encryption utility called Linux United Key Setup (LUKS) and lets you encrypt a partition on a SCSI or IDE hard drive. Because LUKS includes its tools on the encrypted disk, you can only use and access the encrypted disk on the Linux operating system. LUKS lets you use up to eight passwords to access an encrypted disk. If you want to change a password, you must first add a new password and then remove the old one from LUKS.

• 1

  Open a terminal window and find the name for the partition of the encrypted drive by typing "sudo ls /dev/hd*" if you use IDE hard drives, or "sudo ls /dev/sd*" if you use the SCSI drive system. Type "sudo cryptsetup luksAddKey /dev/sda5", changing "sda5" to the name of the encrypted partition.

• 2

  Enter your current LUKS password when prompted so that LUKS can unlock a password slot. Enter a new password when prompted and type it again for verification to set the new password.

• 3

  Type "sudo cryptsetup luksKillSlot /dev/sda5 0",changing "sda5" to the name of the encrypted partition. Enter your original password when prompted. LUKS deletes the password so that only the new one works.