How To Install yubikey-luks on Ubuntu 20.04

In this tutorial we learn how to install yubikey-luks on Ubuntu 20.04. yubikey-luks is YubiKey two factor authentication for LUKS disks

Introduction

In this tutorial we learn how to install yubikey-luks on Ubuntu 20.04.

What is yubikey-luks

yubikey-luks is:

With this extension to the initramfs-tools, you can unlock a LUKS encrypted disk using your YubiKey as a second factor.

The challenge-response mechanism of the YubiKey is used to generate a response based on a PIN/password you have to enter.

Only the combination of the correct password and the matching YubiKey will generate a response, that is a valid key of the LUKS disk. Alternatively you can use any other LUKS passphrase when the YubiKey is not present.

There are three methods to install yubikey-luks on Ubuntu 20.04. We can use apt-get, apt and aptitude. In the following sections we will describe each method. You can choose one of them.

Install yubikey-luks Using apt-get

Update apt database with apt-get using the following command.

sudo apt-get update

After updating apt database, We can install yubikey-luks using apt-get by running the following command:

sudo apt-get -y install yubikey-luks

Install yubikey-luks Using apt

Update apt database with apt using the following command.

sudo apt update

After updating apt database, We can install yubikey-luks using apt by running the following command:

sudo apt -y install yubikey-luks

Install yubikey-luks Using aptitude

If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Ubuntu. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.

sudo aptitude update

After updating apt database, We can install yubikey-luks using aptitude by running the following command:

sudo aptitude -y install yubikey-luks

How To Uninstall yubikey-luks on Ubuntu 20.04

To uninstall only the yubikey-luks package we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get remove yubikey-luks

Uninstall yubikey-luks And Its Dependencies

To uninstall yubikey-luks and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Ubuntu 20.04, we can use the command below:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove yubikey-luks

Remove yubikey-luks Configurations and Data

To remove yubikey-luks configuration and data from Ubuntu 20.04 we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y purge yubikey-luks

Remove yubikey-luks configuration, data, and all of its dependencies

We can use the following command to remove yubikey-luks configurations, data and all of its dependencies, we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge yubikey-luks

References

Summary

In this tutorial we learn how to install yubikey-luks package on Ubuntu 20.04 using different package management tools: apt, apt-get and aptitude.