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Overview

gtk-cfs is a set of scripts for the simple creation, mounting, and unmounting of encrypted directorys via the Nautilus file manager (http://www.gnome.org/projects/nautilus/). Encryption is done using the CFS (http://www.ensta.fr/internet/unix/sys_admin/CFS.html) file system, which is easy to set up (since it dosen't require you to recompile the kernel)

License: GPL

Platforms: Linux (although it might work on *BSD)

Author: Marc Prud'hommeaux <marc@apocalypse.org>

Requires: cfs, nautilus, perl, libgtk-perl, File::Basename perl module

Install: run ./install.sh as root

Usage

To create a new directory:

1. In nautilus, select File->Scripts->Create Encrypted Directory
2. Enter a passphrase

To mount an existing encrypted directory:

1. Right-click on the encrypted directory (it will show up in Nautilus as a dangling symbolic link)
2. Select Scripts->Mount Encrypted Directory

To unmount a mounted encrypted directory:

1. Right-click on the encrypted directory
2. Select Scripts->Unmount Encrypted Directory

   Technical

   The actual encrypted directory that is created is called ".<directory name>.gtkcfs". E.g., if you create "New Encrypted Directory", the real encrypted directory is ".New Encrypted Directory.gtkcfs". The directory is attached with the command:

   "cattach '.New Encrypted Directory.gtkcfs' 'New Encrypted Directory'" This created the directory view at "/var/cfs/New Encrypted Directory", and a symlink to that point is then placed in the directory where the real encrypted directory resides.

   Bugs

   1. cattach and cmkdir are launched in a separate process, which means that the passphrase could potentially be seen in the process list!
   2. Recent version of cmkdir might hang or error out. Just retry creating the directory a few times to see if it works.
   3. Nautilus 1.0.5- does not allow files to be moved to an encrypted directory. It gives the error "There is not enough space on the destination". This is probably because the cfs mount point does not report that it has any available disk space. A bug report has been filed with Nautilus.
   4. Since the name of the mount point for cfs is the base name of the encrypted directory, you cannot have more that one encrypted directory with the same name (in separate directory trees).