Hello,
I have an install of Ubuntu Mate and setup encryption, however I did not save the recovery key. Is there a way to extract this once I have unencrypted the drive?
Thank you for your time.
1 Like
I don’t think so with encryption. With a regular password you can reset that but with encrypted storage, I don’t think so. There may be tools that can hack it but I am not familiar.
2 Likes
I doubt it, but I don't know enough about Ubuntu's behavior to say for sure.
@HJV Unless the encryption Ubuntu is using is staggeringly inept, there is no chance of any tool hacking it until long after humanity is extinct.
@OP: Given how much of a headache it's likely to be if you somehow forget the password (close to impossible assuming you've chosen it competently, but things happen: accidents, dementia, etc etc), if you can't find a way to retrieve it (which would itself be a flaw in the system) I'd suggest rescuing anything important on the drive (to NAS, USB, Passport, whatever) and reinstalling. It'll be a minor irritation to do now, but a far larger one a year from now.
If you don't have a suitable device to copy the data to: repartition the drive, install a new copy of Mate alongside the current one, copy the data, delete the old partition, and expand the new one.
If you didn't understand that sentence then unless you don't mind losing all the data you currently have, go with the USB stick / Passport / whatever approach.
2 Likes