more info: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dm-crypt/Device_encryption format the device cryptsetup -v luksFormat /dev/sdx dump header cryptsetup luksDump /dev/sdx map cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdx name zero (random data) fill dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mapper/name bs=1M create partition mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/name mount mount -t ext4 /dev/mapper/name /mnt unmount and close umount /mnt cryptsetup luksClose