Release notes for cryptmount-6.3

			RW Penney, July 2024

Introduction
============
cryptmount is a utility for GNU/Linux operating systems which allows
an ordinary user to mount an encrypted filing system without requiring
superuser privileges, and which assists the system-administrator in
creating and managing encrypted filesystems & swap-partitions.

cryptmount automatically performs the various stages of configuring
any supporting loopback and device-mapper targets needed to access
an encrypted filing system before actually mounting it, but
without requiring the user to be explicitly granted root privileges
through either knowing the root password or through tools such as sudo.
Filesystems managed by cryptmount can also be designated so that only
the superuser can (un)mount them.

By allowing user-level, on-demand, mounting of encrypted filing systems,
cryptmount allows filesystems that are only used intermittently to be
left in a more secure state than if they have to be made available by
the system administrator whenever the system is booted.
cryptmount also provides an aid to the system manager in allowing easier
control over the configuration and mounting of encrypted filesystems,
especially within system start-up scripts.


Summary of new features in cryptmount-6.3
=========================================

This (stable) release offers the following improvements:

  * Safer interaction with system automatic creation of devmapper nodes

  * Replacement of device-settling mechanisms to remove dependency on libudev

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Arch Linux (late-Jul-2024) (x86_64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 13.x ("trixie"/"testing", late-Jul-2024) (amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 12.6 ("bookworm") (amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 11.10 ("bullseye") (amd64)

  * Fedora 40 (x86_64)

  * Fedora 39 (x86_64)

  * openSUSE Leap 15.6 (x86_64)

  * Ubuntu 24.04 ("noble") (x86_64)

  * Ubuntu 18.04 ("bionic") (x86_64)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-6.2
=========================================

This (stable) release offers the following improvements:

  * More robust handshaking on device setup using libudev

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Arch Linux (early-Jan-2023) (x86_64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 12.x ("bookworm"/"testing", early-Jan-2023) (amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 11.6 ("bullseye") (amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 10.13 ("buster") (x86)

  * Fedora 37 (x86_64)

  * openSUSE Leap 15.4 (x86_64)

  * Ubuntu 22.10 ("kinetic") (x86_64)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-6.1
=========================================

This (stable) release offers the following improvements:

  * Improved deconfliction when operating simultaneously with other device-mapper tools

  * Revised installation instructions, now in markdown format

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Alma Linux 9.0 (x86_64, lacking libcryptsetup headers)

  * Arch Linux (mid-Dec-2022) (x86_64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 12.x ("bookworm"/"testing", early-Oct-2022) (amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 11.6 ("bullseye") (amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 10.13 ("buster") (x86)

  * Fedora 37 (x86_64)

  * Ubuntu 22.10 ("kinetic") (x86_64)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-6.0
=========================================

This (stable) release offers the following enhancements:

  * cryptmount-setup script uses LUKS format by default

  * Support for wider range of libgcrypt & OpenSSL cipher algorithms

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Arch Linux (mid-Aug-2022) (x86_64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 12.x ("bookworm"/"testing", early-Sep-2022) (amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 11.4 ("bullseye") (amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 10.12 ("buster") (x86)

  * Fedora 36 (x86_64)

  * Ubuntu 22.04 ("jammy") (x86_64)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-5.3
=========================================

This (stable) release offers the following enhancements:

  * Improved compatability with libcryptsetup-2.x

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Arch Linux (late-Dec-2020) (x86_64)

  * CentOS 8.3.2011 (x86_64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 11.x ("bullseye"/"testing", late-Dec-2020) (amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 10.7 ("buster") (amd64, x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 9.13 ("stretch") (x86)

  * Fedora 33 (x86_64)

  * Gentoo (late-Dec-2020) (x86)

  * Ubuntu 20.10 ("groovy") (x86_64)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-5.2
=========================================

This (stable) release offers the following enhancements:

  * Fixes to filesystem-check (fsck) PATH setup

  * Allowing multiple password attempts within setup script

  * Various code cleanups

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Arch Linux (mid-Jan-2018) (x86_64)

  * CentOS 7.4 (x86_64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 10.x ("buster"/"testing", mid-Jan-2018) (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 9.3 ("stretch") (amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 8.10 ("jessie") (x86)

  * Gentoo (mid-Dec-2017) (x86)

  * Ubuntu 17.10 ("artful") (x86_64)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-5.1
=========================================

This (stable) release offers the following enhancements:

  * Improved portability of RPM build scripts

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Arch Linux (early-May-2015) (x86)

  * CentOS 7.1 (x86_64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 8.0 ("jessie") (x86, amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 7.3 ("wheezy") (x86)

  * Fedora 21 (x86_64)

  * OpenSuSE 13.2 ("harlequin") (x86)

  * Ubuntu 15.04 ("vivid") (x86_64)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-5.0
=========================================

This (stable) release offers the following enhancements:

  * Delegation of all LUKS functionality to libcryptsetup

  * Addition of '--status' option to query filesystem mounting status

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Arch Linux (late-Apr-2014) (x86)

  * Gentoo (late-Apr-2014) (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 7.x ("jessie"/"testing", late-Apr-2014) (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 7.3 ("wheezy") (x86, amd64)

  * Mageia 4 (x86)

  * OpenSuSE 12.3 ("dartmouth") (x86_64)

  * Ubuntu 14.04 ("trusty") (x86_64)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-4.5
=========================================

This (stable) release offers the following enhancements:

  * Support for TRIM/allow_discards options suitable for solid-state disks

  * Moving run-time state information from /etc into /run

  * Updating of loop-device management to use /dev/loop-control interface

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Arch Linux (early-Jan-2014) (x86)

  * CentOS 6.5 (x86_64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 7.x ("jessie"/"testing", early-Jan-2014) (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 7.3 ("wheezy") (x86, amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 ("squeeze") (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 ("lenny") (x86)

  * Fedora 20 ("heisenbug") (x86_64)

  * Gentoo (early-Jan-2014) (x86)

  * Mageia 3 (x86)

  * OpenSuSE 12.3 ("dartmouth") (x86_64)

  * Ubuntu 13.10 ("saucy") (x86_64)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-4.4
=========================================

This (stable) release offers the following enhancements:

  * Support for systemd

  * Unified support for automatic filesystem setup on system boot

  * Improved handling of kernel module loading on initial setup

  * Improved support for management of LUKS partitions to mirror cryptsetup-1.6

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Arch Linux (mid-May-2013) (x86)

  * CentOS 6.4 (x86_64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 7.x ("jessie"/"testing", mid-May-2013) (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 7.0 ("wheezy") (x86, amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 ("squeeze") (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 ("lenny") (x86)

  * Fedora 18 ("spherical cow") (x86_64)

  * Gentoo (x86, mid-May-2013)

  * OpenSuSE 12.2 ("mantis") (x86_64)

  * Ubuntu 13.04 ("raring ringtail") (x86_64)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-4.3
=========================================

This (stable) release offers the following enhancements:

  * Support for environmental variables within target definitions

  * Improved support for management of LUKS partitions to mirror cryptsetup-1.4

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * CentOS 5.7 (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 6.1 ("wheezy"/"testing", mid-March-2012) (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 ("squeeze") (x86, amd64)

  * Fedora 16 (x86_64)

  * Gentoo (x86, mid-February-2012)

  * Linux Mint 11 ("kataya")

  * OpenSuSE 11.4 (x86)

  * Ubuntu 10.04 ("lucid lynx") (x86_64)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-4.2
=========================================

This (stable) release offers the following enhancements:

  * Improved protection against accidental formatting of swap partitions

  * Improved support for management of LUKS partitions to mirror cryptsetup-1.2

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * CentOS 5.6 (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 6.1 ("wheezy"/"testing", mid-June-2011) (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 ("squeeze") (x86, amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 ("lenny") (x86)

  * Fedora 13 (x86_64)

  * Gentoo (x86, early-June-2011)

  * OpenSuSE 11.4 (x86)

  * Ubuntu 10.04 ("lucid lynx") (x86_64)

  * Ubuntu 8.04 ("hardy heron") (x86)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-4.1
=========================================

This (stable) release focuses on compatibility improvements including:

  * Facilities for user-supplied options to 'fsck' for automatic checking
    of filesystems on mounting

  * Improved support for management of LUKS partitions to mirror cryptsetup-1.1
    including user-selected hashing functions and code-cleanup

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 5.1 ("squeeze"/"testing", mid-May-2010) (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 ("lenny") (x86, amd64, ppc)

  * Fedora 12 (x86)

  * FedoraCore-7 (x86)

  * Gentoo (x86, late-May-2010)

  * OpenSuSE 11.1 (x86)

  * Slackware 12.2 (x86)

  * Ubuntu 10.04 ("lucid lynx") (amd64)

  * Ubuntu 8.04 ("hardy heron") (x86)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-4.0
=========================================

This (stable) release focuses on security & functionality
improvements including:

  * Support for encrypted filesystems protected by password,
    without the need for a separate keyfile or partition header

  * Enhanced protection against password attacks in the builtin key-manager
    through additional hash-based password strengthening

  * Improved support for selecting different encryption schemes
    when creating LUKS partitions

  * Substantial tidying of internal interfaces & removal of legacy code

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 5.1 ("squeeze"/"testing", late-Apr09) (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 ("lenny") (x86, ppc)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 ("etch") (x86, amd64)

  * Fedora 9 (x86)

  * FedoraCore-7 (x86)

  * OpenSuSE 11.1 (x86)

  * Slackware 12.2 (x86)

  * Ubuntu 8.04 ("hardy heron") (x86)

  * Ubuntu 7.10 ("gutsy gibbon") (x86)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-3.1
=========================================

This (stable) release focuses on adding support for LUKS partitions

  * Support for mounting of existing LUKS partitions was added

  * Support for basic formatting of LUKS partitions was added

  * Support for changing passwords on LUKS partitions was added

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 4.1 ("lenny"/testing, mid-Sep08) (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 ("etch") (x86, amd64)

  * Fedora 9 (x86)

  * FedoraCore-7 (x86)

  * OpenSuSE Linux 10.2 OSS (x86)

  * Ubuntu 8.04 ("hardy heron") (x86)

  * Ubuntu 7.10 ("gutsy gibbon") (x86)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-3.0
=========================================

This (stable) release focuses on code-tidying and usability improvements

  * Support for default settings within filesystem configuration file

  * Support for multiple password attempts when interactively
    mounting encrypted filesystems

  * Improved internationalization infrastructure in filesystem setup-script,
    including French localization

  * German localization of message in main application

  * Removed dependence on OpenSSL library for OpenSSL-compatible access-keys

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 4.1 ("lenny"/testing, mid-May08) (x86)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 ("etch") (x86, amd64)

  * FedoraCore-7 (x86)

  * FedoraCore-5 (x86)

  * OpenSuSE Linux 10.2 OSS (x86)

  * Ubuntu 8.04 ("hardy heron") (x86)

  * Ubuntu 7.10 ("gutsy gibbon") (x86)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-2.2
=========================================

This (stable) release focuses on code-tidying and usability improvements

  * Support for reading passwords from streams,
    to allow integration with scripts or GUI wrappers

  * Prioritization of libgcrypt (with OpenSSL compatibility layer) over libssl
    for access-key security

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 ("etch") (x86, amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 ("sarge") (x86)
  
  * FedoraCore-7 (x86)

  * FedoraCore-5 (x86)

  * OpenSuSE Linux 10.2 OSS (x86)

  * Ubuntu 7.10 ("gutsy gibbon") (x86)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-2.1
=========================================

This (stable) release focuses on extended functionality and consolidation

  * Setup script added for basic configuration of new encrypted filesystems

  * Support for OpenSSL key-files via the libgcrypt library

  * Facilities for translating between access-keys stored in different formats

  * Improved handling of system shutdown while loopback filesystems are active

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 ("etch") (x86, amd64)

  * Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 ("sarge") (x86)
  
  * FedoraCore-7 (x86)

  * FedoraCore-5 (x86)

  * OpenSuSE Linux 10.2 OSS (x86)

  * Ubuntu 7.04 ("feisty fawn") (x86)
  	(may need 'modprobe dm-crypt' and creation of extra /dev/loop? nodes)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-2.0
=========================================

This (stable) release focuses on extended functionality and improved internal structure, including:

  * Built-in key management based on SHA1 + Blowfish crypto-algorithms,
    which can be used when OpenSSL or libgcrypt are not available
    (e.g. during system boot-up, or if not installed at all)

  * OpenSSL & libgcrypt key-management now available through
    dynamically loadable modules

  * Improved support for very large (64bit) filing systems

  * Improved support for setup of encrypted devices at system boot

  * Various improvements to error-trapping and portability

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 ("etch") (x86, amd64)
  
  * Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 ("sarge") (x86, kernel-2.6)
  
  * OpenSuSE Linux 10.2 OSS (x86)

  * FedoraCore-5 (x86)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-1.2
=========================================

This (stable) release focuses on extensions in functionality, including:

  * support for reading configuration data via the command-line

  * support for priority-setting on crypto-swap

  * improved robustness to pathological (un)mount operations

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 ("sarge") (x86, kernel-2.6)
  
  * Ubuntu 6.06.1 ("dapper drake") (x86)
  	(may need patching of 'dd' and creation of extra /dev/loop? nodes)

  * SuSE Linux 10.0 OSS (x86)

  * Mandriva Linux 2005 (x86)

  * FedoraCore-5 (x86)

  * FedoraCore-4 (x86)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-1.1
=========================================

This (stable) release focuses on extensions in functionality, including:

  * support for encrypted swap partitions

  * multiple formats for key-files, currently either OpenSSL or libgcrypt

  * addition of a script for mounting filesystems/swap partitions at boot

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 ("sarge") (x86, kernel-2.6)

  * SuSE Linux 10.0 OSS (x86)

  * Mandriva Linux 2005 (x86)

  * FedoraCore-5 (x86)

  * FedoraCore-4 (x86)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-1.0
=========================================

This (stable) release focuses on extensions in robustness, user-friendliness
and internationalization, including:

  * addition of options for changing the access password for each target

  * addition of mechanisms for generating
    random decryption keys for new filesystems

  * addition of compile-time option for responding to invocation via
    linked executables named "cryptumount", "cryptunmount" etc.

  * added support for GNU gettext, including French translations of
    manual pages and common messages

  * improved mechanisms for preventing unauthorized unmounting of filesystems

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 ("sarge") (x86, kernel-2.6)

  * SuSE Linux 10.0 OSS (x86)

  * Mandriva Linux 2005 (x86)

  * FedoraCore-4 (x86) (may need extra configuration of
            security policies governing losetup, mke2fs etc)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-0.4
=========================================

This (beta) release focuses on extensions in functionality and robustness,
including:

  * addition of switches allowing filesystem mounting to be restricted
    only to superuser

  * addition of automatic filesystem checking (via fsck) prior to mounting

  * compile-time choice between in-built mount, or /bin/mount etc

  * addition of facility for unencrypted filesystem key
    (e.g. stored on removable device such as a USB key)

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 ("sarge") (x86, kernel-2.6)

  * FedoraCore-4 (x86) (may need extra configuration of
            security policies governing losetup, mke2fs etc)

  * Mandriva Linux 2005 (x86)

  * SuSE Linux 10.0 OSS (x86)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-0.3
=========================================

This (beta) release focuses on extensions in functionality and robustness,
including:

  * addition of '--all' command-line option, for example to allow easier
    unmounting of all encrypted filing systems via 'cryptmount --unmount --all'

  * multiple targets can be specified on the command-line, for example
    for mounting multiple filing systems at the same time

  * support for loopback filingsystems >2GB has been improved

  * all mounting/unmounting activity is now recorded via syslog

  * security checks on the configuration file have been extended

  * improved documentation of password-changing & fsck tasks

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 ("sarge") (x86, kernel-2.6)

  * FedoraCore-4 (x86) (may need extra configuration of
            security policies governing losetup, mke2fs etc)

  * Mandriva Linux 2005 (x86)

  * SuSE Linux 10.0 OSS (x86)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-0.2
=========================================

This (beta) release focuses on extensions in functionality, including:

  * addition of optional configuration-file parameters for selecting
    a subset of blocks within a device for hosting the filing system

  * addition of optional configuration-file parameter for selecting
    a particular loopback device rather than having one chosen automatically

  * addition of optional cipher-IV parameter to configuration-file

  * improved detection of errors in the configuration-file

  * basic security checks performed on configuration-file and
    target-description before any privileged action is taken

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 ("sarge") (x86, kernel-2.6)

  * FedoraCore-4 (x86) (may need extra configuration of
            security policies governing losetup, mke2fs etc)

  * Mandriva Linux 2005 (x86)

  * SuSE Linux 10.0 OSS (x86)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-0.1
=========================================

This (beta) release focuses on improvements in robustness, portability
and documentation, including:

  * improved support for systems with glibc built against kernel-2.4 headers
  
  * addition of mechanisms for updating /etc/mtab on (un)mounting filing
    systems, so the programs such as df can operate normally on filesystems
    controlled by cryptmount

  * clearer examples on usage within README & the cryptmount man-page
    (avoiding ambiguities about whether 'aes256', rather than 'aes',
    is a valid kernel-module name)

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 ("sarge") (x86, kernel-2.6)

  * FedoraCore-4 (x86) (may need extra configuration of
            security policies governing losetup, mke2fs etc)

  * Mandriva Linux 2005 (x86)

  * SuSE Linux 10.0 OSS (x86)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-0.0.3
===========================================

This (alpha) release further improves robustness, and portability including:

  * a bug which restricted protection of cipher-key to the Blowfish and
    md5 algorithms has been fixed, thereby allowing any cipher/hash
    supported by the openssl library to be used

  * differences in behaviour of libdevmapper which may or may not create
    device-nodes below /dev/mapper, have been allowed for

  * an automatic testing script has been written

  * improved detection of failure to decrypt the cipher-key has been added

It has been tested on the following systems:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 ("sarge") (x86, kernel-2.6)

  * SuSE Linux 10.0 OSS (x86)


Summary of new features in cryptmount-0.0.2
===========================================

This (alpha) release of cryptmount improves general robustness and documentation as follows:

  * a basic manual-page has been written
  
  * a locking mechanism has been added, to ensure that only the
    (non-root) user that mounted a filing system can unmount it

  * tidying-up of devices occurs if mounting fails

It has been tested on the following system:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 ("sarge") (x86, kernel-2.6)


Summary of features in cryptmount-0.0.1
=======================================

This initial (pre-alpha) release of cryptmount offers the following features:

  * support for all encryption algorithms supported by the kernel

  * encryption of cipher-key by Blowfish algorithm & md5 message-digest

It has been tested on the following system:

  * Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 ("sarge") (x86, kernel-2.6)


Acknowledgements
================
Please see the file 'AUTHORS' in the source package for a list of contributors.