## Setting up Encryption with Remote Decryption in NixOS This guide provides an example setup for a single-disk ZFS system with native encryption, accessible for decryption remotely. This configuration only applies to `systemd-boot` enabled systems and requires UEFI booting. For a mirrored disk setup, add `mode = "mirror";` to `zroot`. Under the `disk` option, provide the additional disk identifier, e.g., `y = mirrorBoot /dev/disk/by-id/`. Replace the disk `nvme-eui.002538b931b59865` with your own. Below is the configuration for `disko.nix` ```nix { lib, ... }: let mirrorBoot = idx: { type = "disk"; device = "/dev/disk/by-id/${idx}"; content = { type = "gpt"; partitions = { boot = { size = "1M"; type = "EF02"; # for grub MBR priority = 1; }; ESP = lib.mkIf (idx == "nvme-eui.002538b931b59865") { size = "1G"; type = "EF00"; content = { type = "filesystem"; format = "vfat"; mountpoint = "/boot"; mountOptions = [ "nofail" ]; }; }; zfs = { size = "100%"; content = { type = "zfs"; pool = "zroot"; }; }; }; }; }; in { boot.loader.systemd-boot.enable = true; disko.devices = { disk = { x = mirrorBoot "nvme-eui.002538b931b59865"; }; zpool = { zroot = { type = "zpool"; rootFsOptions = { compression = "lz4"; acltype = "posixacl"; xattr = "sa"; "com.sun:auto-snapshot" = "true"; mountpoint = "none"; }; datasets = { "root" = { type = "zfs_fs"; options = { mountpoint = "none"; encryption = "aes-256-gcm"; keyformat = "passphrase"; keylocation = "file:///tmp/secret.key"; }; }; "root/nixos" = { type = "zfs_fs"; options.mountpoint = "/"; mountpoint = "/"; }; "root/home" = { type = "zfs_fs"; options.mountpoint = "/home"; mountpoint = "/home"; }; "root/tmp" = { type = "zfs_fs"; mountpoint = "/tmp"; options = { mountpoint = "/tmp"; sync = "disabled"; }; }; }; }; }; }; } ``` Add this to networking.nix and **replace** the `default` values as well as the name `gchq-local` and `networking.hostId` with your own. ```nix { config, lib, ... }: { options = { networking.gchq-local.ipv4.address = lib.mkOption { type = lib.types.str; default = "192.168.178.177"; }; networking.gchq-local.ipv4.cidr = lib.mkOption { type = lib.types.str; default = "24"; }; networking.gchq-local.ipv4.gateway = lib.mkOption { type = lib.types.str; default = "192.168.178.1"; }; networking.gchq-local.ipv6.address = lib.mkOption { type = lib.types.str; default = "2003:100:6701:d500:fbbc:40fb:cff3:3b87"; }; networking.gchq-local.ipv6.cidr = lib.mkOption { type = lib.types.str; default = "64"; }; networking.gchq-local.ipv6.gateway = lib.mkOption { type = lib.types.str; default = "fe80::3ea6:2fff:feef:3435"; }; }; config = { networking.dhcpcd.enable = false; networking.nameservers = [ "127.0.0.1" ]; networking.hostId = "a76ebcca"; # Needs to be unique for each host # The '10' in the network name is the priority, so this will be the first network to be configured systemd.network.networks."10-eth" = { matchConfig.Type = "ether"; addresses = [ { Address=config.networking.gchq-local.ipv4.address + "/" + config.networking.gchq-local.ipv4.cidr; } { Address=config.networking.gchq-local.ipv6.address + "/" + config.networking.gchq-local.ipv6.cidr; } ]; DHCP = "yes"; }; }; } ``` Put this into initrd.nix and add your pubkey to `authorizedKeys`. Replace `kernelModules` with the ethernet module loaded one on your system. ```nix {config, pkgs, ...}: { boot.initrd.systemd = { enable = true; network.networks."10-eth" = config.systemd.network.networks."10-eth"; }; boot.initrd.network = { enable = true; ssh = { enable = true; port = 7172; authorizedKeys = [ "" ]; hostKeys = [ "/var/lib/initrd-ssh-key" ]; }; }; boot.initrd.availableKernelModules = [ "xhci_pci" ]; # Check the network card by running `lspci -k` on the target machine boot.initrd.kernelModules = [ "r8169" ]; } ``` ### Step 1: Copying SSH Public Key Before starting the installation process, ensure that the SSH public key is copied to the NixOS installer. 1. Copy your public SSH key to the installer, if it has not been copied already: ```bash ssh-copy-id -o PreferredAuthentications=password -o PubkeyAuthentication=no root@nixos-installer.local ``` ### Step 1.5: Prepare Secret Key and Clear Disk Data 1. Access the installer using SSH: ```bash ssh root@nixos-installer.local ``` 2. Create a `secret.key` file in `/tmp` using `nano` or another text editor: ```bash nano /tmp/secret.key ``` 3. Discard the old disk partition data: ```bash blkdiscard /dev/disk/by-id/nvme-eui.002538b931b59865 ``` 4. Run the `clan` machine installation with the following command: ```bash clan machines install gchq-local root@nixos-installer --yes --no-reboot ``` ### Step 2: ZFS Pool Import and System Installation 1. SSH into the installer once again: ```bash ssh root@nixos-installer.local ``` 2. Perform the following commands on the remote installation environment: ```bash zpool import zroot zfs set keystate=prompt zroot/root zfs load-key zroot/root zfs set mountpoint=/mnt zroot/root/nixos mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt/boot ``` 3. Disconnect from the SSH session: ```bash CTRL+D ``` 4. Securely copy your local `initrd_rsa_key` to the installer's `/mnt` directory: ```bash scp ~/.ssh/initrd_rsa_key root@nixos-installer.local:/mnt/var/lib/initrd-ssh-key ``` 5. SSH back into the installer: ```bash ssh root@nixos-installer.local ``` 6. Navigate to the `/mnt` directory, enter the `nixos-enter` environment, and then exit: ```bash cd /mnt nixos-enter realpath /run/current-system exit ``` 7. Run the `nixos-install` command with the appropriate system path ``: ```bash nixos-install --no-root-passwd --no-channel-copy --root /mnt --system ``` 8. After the installation process, unmount `/mnt/boot`, change the ZFS mountpoint, and reboot the system: ```bash umount /mnt/boot cd / zfs set mountpoint=/ zroot/root/nixos reboot ``` 9. Perform a hard reboot of the machine and remove the USB stick. ### Step 3: Accessing the Initial Ramdisk (initrd) Environment 1. SSH into the initrd environment using the `initrd_rsa_key` and provided port: ```bash ssh -p 7172 root@192.168.178.141 ``` 2. Run the `systemd-tty-ask-password-agent` utility to query a password: ```bash systemd-tty-ask-password-agent --query ``` After completing these steps, your NixOS should be successfully installed and ready for use. **Note:** Replace `root@nixos-installer.local` and `192.168.178.141` with the appropriate user and IP addresses for your setup. Also, adjust `` to reflect the correct system path for your environment.