guix_system.md 8.8 KB
title: Guix System with Full Disk Encryption on Libreboot ...
Objective
To provide step-by-step guide for setting up guix system (stand-alone guix) with full disk encryption (including /boot) on devices powered by libreboot.
Scope
Any users, for their generalised use cases, need not stumble away from this guide to accomplish the setup.
Advanced users, for deviant use cases, will have to explore outside this guide for customisation; although this guide provides information that is of paramount use.
Process
Preparation
In your current GNU/Linux System, open terminal as root user.
Insert USB drive and get the USB device name /dev/sdX, where “X” is the variable to make a note of.
lsblk
Unmount the USB drive just in case if it’s auto-mounted.
umount /dev/sdX
Download the latest (a.b.c) Guix System ISO Installer Package (sss) and it’s GPG Signature; where “a.b.c” is the variable for version number and “sss” is the variable for system architecture.
wget https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/guix/guix-system-install-a.b.c.sss-linux.iso.xz
wget https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/guix/guix-system-install-a.b.c.sss-linux.iso.xz.sig
Import required public key.
gpg --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys 3CE464558A84FDC69DB40CFB090B11993D9AEBB5
Verify the GPG Signature of the downloaded package.
gpg --verify guix-system-install-a.b.c.sss-linux.iso.xz.sig
Extract the ISO Image from the downloaded package.
xz -d guix-system-install-a.b.c.sss-linux.iso.xz
Write the extracted ISO Image to the USB drive.
dd if=guix-system-install-a.b.c.sss-linux.iso of=/dev/sdX; sync
Reboot the device.
reboot
Pre-Installation
On reboot, as soon as you see the Libreboot Graphic Art, press arrow keys to change the menu entry.
Choose “Search for GRUB2 configuration on external media [s]” and wait for the Guix System from USB drive to load.
Set your keyboard layout lo, where “lo” is the two-letter keyboard layout code (example: us or uk).
loadkeys lo
Unblock network interfaces (if any).
rfkill unblock all
Get the names of your network interfaces.
ifconfig -a
Bring your required network interface nwif (wired or wireless) up, where “nwif” is the variable for interface name. For wired connections, this should be enough.
ifconfig nwif up
For wireless connection, create a configuration file using text editor, where “fname” is the variable for any desired filename.
nano fname.conf
Choose, type and save ONE of the following snippets, where ‘nm’ is the name of the network you want to connect, ‘pw’ is the corresponding network’s password or passphrase and ‘un’ is user identity.
For most private networks:
network={
ssid="nm"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
psk="pw"
}
(or)
For most public networks:
network={
ssid="nm"
key_mgmt=NONE
}
(or)
For most organisational networks:
network={
ssid="nm"
scan_ssid=1
key_mgmt=WPA-EAP
identity="un"
password="pw"
eap=PEAP
phase1="peaplabel=0"
phase2="auth=MSCHAPV2"
}
Connect to the configured network, where “fname” is the filename and “nwif” is the network interface name.
wpa_supplicant -c fname.conf -i nwif -B
Assign an IP address to your network interface, where “nwif” is the network interface name.
dhclient -v nwif
Obtain the device name /dev/sdX in which you would like to deploy and install Guix System, where “X” is the variable to make a note of.
lsblk
Wipe the respective device. Wait for the command operation to finish.
dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sdX; sync
Load device-mapper module in the current kernel.
modprobe dm_mod
Partition the respective device. Just do, GPT --> New --> Write --> Quit; defaults will be set.
cfdisk /dev/sdX
Encrypt the respective partition.
cryptsetup -v --cipher serpent-xts-plain64 --key-size 512 --hash whirlpool --iter-time 500 --use-random --verify-passphrase luksFormat /dev/sdX1
Obtain and note down the “LUKS UUID”.
cryptsetup luksUUID /dev/sdX1
Open the respective encrypted partition, where “partname” is any desired partition name.
cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdX1 partname
Make filesystem on the respective partition, where “fsname” is any desired filesystem name.
mkfs.btrfs -L fsname /dev/mapper/partname
Mount the respective filesystem under the current system.
mount LABEL=fsname /mnt
Create a swap file and make it readable cum writable only by root.
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/swapfile bs=1MiB count=2048
chmod 600 /mnt/swapfile
mkswap /mnt/swapfile
swapon /mnt/swapfile
Installation
Make the installation packages to be written on the respective mounted filesystem.
herd start cow-store /mnt
Create the required directory.
mkdir /mnt/etc
Create, edit and save the configuration file by typing the following code snippet. WATCH-OUT for variables in the code snippet and replace them with your relevant values.
nano /mnt/etc/config.scm
Snippet:
(use-modules
(gnu)
(gnu system nss))
(use-service-modules
xorg
desktop)
(use-package-modules
certs
gnome)
(operating-system
(host-name "hostname")
(timezone "Zone/SubZone")
(locale "ab_XY.1234")
(keyboard-layout
(keyboard-layout
"xy"
"altgr-intl"))
(bootloader
(bootloader-configuration
(bootloader
(bootloader
(inherit grub-bootloader)
(installer #~(const #t))))
(keyboard-layout keyboard-layout)))
(mapped-devices
(list
(mapped-device
(source
(uuid "luks-uuid"))
(target "partname")
(type luks-device-mapping))))
(file-systems
(append
(list
(file-system
(device
(file-system-label "fsname"))
(mount-point "/")
(type "btrfs")
(dependencies mapped-devices)))
%base-file-systems))
(users
(append
(list
(user-account
(name "username")
(comment "Full Name")
(group "users")
(supplementary-groups '("wheel" "netdev" "audio" "video" "lp" "cdrom" "tape" "kvm"))))
%base-user-accounts))
(packages
(append
(list
nss-certs)
%base-packages))
(services
(append
(list
(extra-special-file "/usr/bin/env"
(file-append coreutils "/bin/env"))
(set-xorg-configuration
(xorg-configuration
(keyboard-layout keyboard-layout)))
(service gnome-desktop-service-type))
%desktop-services))
(name-service-switch %mdns-host-lookup-nss))
Initialise new Guix System.
guix system init /mnt/etc/config.scm /mnt
Reboot the device.
reboot
Post-Installation
On reboot, as soon as you see the Libreboot Graphic Art, choose the option 'Load Operating System [o]'
Enter LUKS Key, for libreboot's grub, as prompted.
You may have to go through warning prompts by repeatedly pressing the "enter/return" key.
You will now see guix's grub menu from which you can go with the default option.
Enter LUKS Key again, for kernel, as prompted.
Upon GNOME Login Screen, login as "root" with password field empty.
Open terminal from the GNOME Dash.
Set passkey for "root" user. Follow the prompts.
passwd root
Set passkey for "username" user. Follow the prompts.
passwd username
Update the guix distribution. Wait for the process to finish.
guix pull
Update the search paths.
export PATH="$HOME/.config/guix/current/bin:$PATH"
export INFOPATH="$HOME/.config/guix/current/share/info:$INFOPATH"
Update the guix system. Wait for the process to finish.
guix system reconfigure /etc/config.scm
Reboot the device.
reboot
Conclusion
Everything should be stream-lined from now. You can follow your regular boot steps without requiring manual intervention. You can start logging in as regualar user with the respective "username".
You will have to periodically (at your convenient time) login as root and do the update/upgrade part of post-installation section, to keep your guix distribution and guix system updated.
That is it! You have now setup guix system with full-disk encryption on your device powered by libreboot. Enjoy!
References
[1] Guix Manual (http://guix.gnu.org/manual/en/).
[2] Libreboot Documentation (https://libreboot.org/docs/).
Acknowledgements
[1] Thanks to Guix Developer, Clement Lassieur (clement@lassieur.org), for helping me with the Guile Scheme Code for the Bootloader Configuration.
[2] Thanks to Libreboot Founder and Developer, Leah Rowe (leah@libreboot.org), for helping me to understand the libreboot’s functionalities better.
License
Copyright (C) 2019 RAGHAV "RG" GURURAJAN (raghavgururajan@disroot.org).
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
A copy of the license can be found at "https://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.en.html".