deucalion open and deucalion close¶
open: unlock an encrypted backup drive¶
Asks for the backup's password, unlocks the encrypted drive (or part, or folder), and mounts it.
$ deucalion open --help
usage: deucalion open [-h] [--target NAME] [source]
unlock an encrypted backup drive
positional arguments:
source encrypted partition or file (only needed the first time)
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--target NAME which registered drive to use
$ deucalion open
Backup password:
Unlocking (you will be asked for your administrator password)…
Unlocking (VeraCrypt volumes can take up to a minute)…
Backup drive 'Alex Backup' is open: /media/alex/Alex Backup/Deucalion-Backup
You rarely need open on its own: any command that needs a locked drive (backup, status,
restore…) asks for the password and unlocks it first.
On a new computer (or after you forgot the drive), open finds
the encrypted backup by itself, if the drive has a normal part: it reads
Deucalion-Tool/drive.json on every mounted drive. It then unlocks the backup and registers it,
remembering how to unlock it next time:
$ bin/deucalion open
Backup password:
Unlocking (you will be asked for your administrator password)…
Unlocking (VeraCrypt volumes can take up to a minute)…
Registered backup drive 'Alex Backup' on this machine.
Backup drive 'Alex Backup' is open: /media/alexk/Alex Backup/Deucalion-Backup
If it can't find it, give the encrypted part or file the first time (only needed once):
deucalion open /dev/sdb2 # an encrypted part, or a whole encrypted drive's part
deucalion open /media/alex/Photos/Deucalion-Backup.hc # an encrypted folder (VeraCrypt)
deucalion open /media/alex/Photos/Deucalion-Backup.luks # an encrypted folder (LUKS)
A part is opened as LUKS if it is a LUKS volume, as VeraCrypt otherwise; a file ending in .luks as
LUKS, any other file as VeraCrypt.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
source |
The encrypted part (/dev/sdb2) or file; only needed when Deucalion can't find it. |
--target NAME |
Which registered drive to unlock. |
VeraCrypt needs your administrator password to unlock ("Unlocking (you will be asked for your
administrator password)…") and can take up to a minute. Opening a VeraCrypt drive doesn't need the
VeraCrypt app: Deucalion uses Ubuntu's own cryptsetup. LUKS needs no administrator password.
Messages:
| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
Wrong password. (LUKS) / wrong password, or this is not a VeraCrypt volume (VeraCrypt) |
Try again; check Caps Lock and the keyboard layout. |
No encrypted Deucalion backup found. Plug in the drive, or give the encrypted partition or file: deucalion open /dev/sdb2 |
The drive isn't plugged in, its normal part isn't mounted, or it has no normal part (whole-drive encryption). |
Unlocked at …, but there is no Deucalion backup in it. |
The password was right, but this encrypted volume has no backup. |
The backup drive is not connected. |
The registered drive isn't plugged in. |
close: lock (or unmount) before unplugging¶
Locks an encrypted backup drive, or unmounts a normal one, so you can unplug it safely.
$ deucalion close --help
usage: deucalion close [-h] [--target NAME]
lock/unmount the backup drive so it can be unplugged
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--target NAME which registered drive to use
$ deucalion close
Backup drive 'Alex Backup' is closed. You can unplug it.
For a drive that isn't encrypted it unmounts the drive's part that holds the backup (if it isn't mounted: "The backup drive is not mounted."). For an encrypted folder it also detaches the file, so the drive can be unplugged.
If a window or program still uses the drive: "The drive is in use. Close any window or program that shows its files, then try again."
Always close before unplugging
Unplugging a drive without closing it may lose the last changes written to it. Deucalion's backup survives this (the next backup repairs it), but other files on the drive may not.
Exit codes¶
0 done; 1 an error (wrong password, drive not found…); 130 stopped.