On Sat, 23 Jan 2010 02:34:31 +0100 Roland Smith <rsm...@xs4all.nl> wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 03:08:00AM -0600, Scott Bennett wrote: > > > > Why is that stored in the last sector of the device, rather > > than in the key file? What is the purpose of the key file if not > > to hold that type of information? The keyfile is user generated, usually just some bytes from /dev/random > All geom(4) providers use their last sector to store metadata; it's a > design decision. Probably because the first sector(s) are used for > boot blocks or filesystem metadata etc. > > It would have been possible to store the generated key in the > user-provided keyfile. But since it is not mandatory to have a > keyfile (you can also use just a passphrase), it makes more sense to > use the already provided metadata space in the last sector. Having it on the last sector allows the auto-detection of geli partitions. It would be nice to have the option of having the metadata in a separate metadata file instead of the last sector, to allow geli partitions to be indistinguishable from securely erased partitions. _______________________________________________ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
