Fedora 9 and encfs Encryption

To get this installed with 'useraccount' having the rights to use the fuse system, as root do :

# yum install encfs
# /usr/sbin/groupadd -r fuse
# /usr/sbin/usermod -a -G fuse useraccount

# Restart X11 - to get the groups right

Now, as your regular user account ('useraccount' from above) :

$ encfs ~/.Fieldstone-Secure.encfs ~/Fieldstone-Secure

#   If file doesn't exist initially, this prompts for directory
#   creation, encryption settings and password
#   (hit enter for defaults, and chose a pw)

Regular use

Mount the encrypted files as a virtual directory system on the mount point :

$ encfs ~/.Fieldstone-Secure.encfs ~/Fieldstone-Secure
#   just prompts for pw

# ... do stuff with 'data' appearing in ~/Fieldstone-Secure

Once you're done altering the 'files' in the virtual directory :

$ fusermount -u Fieldstone-Secure

Efficient backup idea ...

encfs has a --reverse option that creates a virtual directory of encrypted files (from a plain-text directory). One can then rsync these (virtual) encrypted files over the internet. The replicated backup will be fully encrypted (no need for SSH, and no need to worry who owns the server).