Arch Linux

LichenEater

Member

Registered: 2026-08-22

Posts: 2

Question: How to install Arch with LUKS to setup for Libreboot later

Hello, I am currently looking to do an installation of Arch Linux on my Thinkpad T480 and then install Libreboot on the laptop. I wish to encrypt the entire drive with LUKS, including (at some point) /boot.

the documentation states support for encrypted /boot via LUKS and Argon2. See link: https://libreboot.org/docs/linux/#encry … ith-argon2

The Libreboot documentation is quite confusing so I was wondering: Am I supposed to encrypt the /boot when first doing LUKS encryption during my Arch installation process or is this something that is handled in the Libreboot process afterwards? The Arch Linux documentation recommends to do any disk encryption processes prior to creating the file system, but this should be modifiable after the fact since /boot is just the bootloader and not Arch Linux itself right?

Last edited by LichenEater (2026-08-22 21:16:43)

Lone_Wolf

Administrator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 15,350

Re: Question: How to install Arch with LUKS to setup for Libreboot later

On most other systems, /boot must be unencrypted

Very few bootloaders support booting an encrypted /boot, grub is an exception .

If you want to use that method look at https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dm-cry … ion_(GRUB)

Keep in mind that changing an encrypted setup after it's been used is very tricky and usually requires decrypting everything first, then creating a new install and re-encrypting everything.

Do you have experience with installing/using arch ?

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Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.

clean chroot building not flexible enough ?
Try clean chroot manager by graysky

LichenEater

Member

Registered: 2026-08-22

Posts: 2

Re: Question: How to install Arch with LUKS to setup for Libreboot later

Thank you for the link, my plan will probably be to attempt to encrypt /boot with LUKS via the method provided in the link above, during the Arch installation process. It seems that Libreboot is a BIOS replacement, so I am still confused/figuring out how exactly that interacts with an encrypted /boot and thus encrypted GRUB (which Libreboot seems to modify to some extent?).

I do not have any experience installing/using Arch directly, only Manjaro an arch-based derivation. I will likely use ext4 as the file system and some window manager, undecided for now.