|
HTML rendering created 2025-09-06 by Michael Kerrisk, author of The Linux Programming Interface. For details of in-depth Linux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, look here. Hosting by jambit GmbH. |
|
|
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | BASIC ACTIONS | OPTIONS | RETURN CODES | EXAMPLES | DM-VERITY ON-DISK SPECIFICATION | AUTHORS | REPORTING BUGS | SEE ALSO | CRYPTSETUP |
|
|
|
VERITYSETUP(8) Maintenance Commands VERITYSETUP(8)
veritysetup - utility for configuring and managing dm-verity
devices
veritysetup <action> [<options>] <action args>
Veritysetup is a utility for configuring and managing kernel
dm-verity devices.
Kernel device-mapper dm-verity target provides read-only
transparent data integrity protection of block devices.
When you configure the dm-verity device, veritysetup creates a new
mapping that applications can access like any regular storage
device. The kernel performs the verification transparently by
comparing each block against pre-computed cryptographic hashes.
The verification uses a Merkle tree and happens transparently at
the kernel level without affecting applications.
Verity devices can be activated during boot through veritytab(5),
which is part of systemd(1).
Veritysetup supports these operations:
FORMAT
format <data_device> <hash_device>
Calculates and permanently stores hash verification data for the
data_device. Hash area can be located on the same device after
data, if specified by --hash-offset option.
You need to provide the root hash string for device verification
or activation. Root hash must be trusted.
The data or hash device argument can be a block device or a file
image. If the hash device path doesn’t exist, it will be created
as a file.
<options> can be [--hash, --no-superblock, --format,
--data-block-size, --hash-block-size, --data-blocks,
--hash-offset, --salt, --uuid, --root-hash-file].
If option --root-hash-file is used, the root hash is stored in
hex-encoded text format in <path>.
OPEN
open <data_device> <name> <hash_device> <root_hash>
open <data_device> <name> <hash_device> --root-hash-file <path>
create <name> <data_device> <hash_device> <root_hash> (OBSOLETE
syntax)
Creates a mapping with <name> backed by device <data_device> and
using <hash_device> for in-kernel verification.
The <root_hash> is a hexadecimal string.
<options> can be [--hash-offset, --no-superblock,
--ignore-corruption or --restart-on-corruption,
--panic-on-corruption, --ignore-zero-blocks, --check-at-most-once,
--root-hash-signature, --root-hash-file, --use-tasklets,
--shared].
If option --root-hash-file is used, the root hash is read from
<path> instead of the command line parameter. Expects hex-encoded
text, without a terminating newline.
If --no-superblock is used, you must use the same options as in
the initial format operation.
VERIFY
verify <data_device> <hash_device> <root_hash>
verify <data_device> <hash_device> --root-hash-file <path>
Verifies data on data_device using hash blocks stored on
hash_device.
This command performs userspace verification; no kernel device is
created.
The <root_hash> is a hexadecimal string.
If option --root-hash-file is used, the root hash is read from
<path> instead of the command line parameter. Expects hex-encoded
text, without a terminating newline.
<options> can be [--hash-offset, --no-superblock,
--root-hash-file].
If --no-superblock is used, you must use the same options as in
the initial format operation.
CLOSE
close <name>
remove <name> (OBSOLETE syntax)
Removes existing mapping <name>.
<options> can be [--deferred] or [--cancel-deferred].
STATUS
status <name>
Reports status for the active verity mapping <name>.
DUMP
dump <hash_device>
Report parameters of the verity device from the on-disk stored
superblock.
<options> can be [--hash-offset].
--batch-mode, -q
Do not ask for confirmation.
--cancel-deferred
Cancels a previously configured deferred device removal in the
close command.
--check-at-most-once
Instruct the kernel to verify blocks only once they are read
from the data device, rather than every time.
WARNING: It provides a reduced level of security because only
offline tampering of the data device’s content will be
detected, not online tampering.
--data-blocks blocks
Size of the data device used in verification. If not
specified, the whole device is used.
--data-block-size bytes
Used block size for the data device. Maximum is the page size
used by the kernel.
--debug
Run in debug mode with full diagnostic logs. Debug output
lines are always prefixed by #.
--deferred
Defers device removal in the close command until the last user
closes it.
--error-as-corruption
Handle device I/O errors the same as data corruption. This
option must be combined with --restart-on-corruption or
--panic-on-corruption.
--fec-device device
Use forward error correction (FEC) to recover from corruption
if hash verification fails. Use encoding data from the
specified device.
The FEC device argument can be a block device or a file image.
For format, if the FEC device path doesn’t exist, it will be
created as a file.
Block sizes for data and hash devices must match. Also, if the
verity data_device is encrypted, the fec_device should be too.
FEC calculation covers data, hash area, and optional foreign
metadata stored on the same device as the hash tree
(additional space after the hash area). The size of this
optional additional area protected by FEC is calculated from
image sizes, so you must use the same images for activation.
If the hash device is in a separate image, metadata covers the
entire image after the hash area.
The metadata ends on the FEC area offset if the hash and FEC
device are in the image.
--fec-offset bytes
This is the offset, in bytes, from the start of the FEC device
to the beginning of the encoding data.
--fec-roots number
Number of generator roots. This equals the number of parity
bytes in the encoding data. In RS(M, N) encoding, the number
of roots is M-N. M is 255, and M-N is between 2 and 24
(including).
--format number
Specifies the hash version type. Format type 0 is the original
Chrome OS version. Format type 1 is the current version.
--hash hash
Hash algorithm for dm-verity. For default, see --help option.
--hash-block-size bytes
Used block size for the hash device. Maximum is the page size
used by the kernel.
--hash-offset bytes
Offset of hash area/superblock on hash_device. Value must be
aligned with the disk sector offset.
--help, -?
Show help text and default parameters.
--ignore-corruption, --restart-on-corruption,
--panic-on-corruption
Defines what to do if a data integrity problem (data
corruption) is detected.
Without these options, the kernel fails the I/O operation with
an I/O error. With --ignore-corruption option, the corruption
is only logged. With --restart-on-corruption or
--panic-on-corruption, the kernel is restarted (panicked)
immediately. (You have to provide a way to avoid restart
loops.)
Use these options only for very specific cases.
--ignore-zero-blocks
Instruct the kernel not to verify blocks expected to contain
zeroes and always directly return zeroes instead.
Use this option only in very specific cases.
--no-superblock
Create or use dm-verity without a permanent on-disk
superblock.
--root-hash-file file*
Path to file with stored root hash in hex-encoded text.
--root-hash-signature file*
A path to the root hash signature file used to verify the root
hash (in kernel). This feature requires a Linux kernel version
5.4 or more recent.
--salt=hex string
Salt used for formatting or verification. Format is a
hexadecimal string.
--shared
Allows the data device to be used in shared mode. The data
device is not checked for exclusive access before the device
activation and may be mapped in multiple verity mappings.
--usage
Show short option help.
--use-tasklets
Try to use kernel tasklets in the dm-verity driver for
performance reasons. This option is available since Linux
kernel version 6.0.
--uuid UUID
Use the provided UUID for the format command instead of
generating a new one.
The UUID must be provided in standard UUID format, e.g.,
12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc.
--verbose, -v
Print more information on command execution.
--version, -V
Show the program version.
Veritysetup returns 0 on success and a non-zero value on error.
Error codes are: 1 wrong parameters, 2 no permission, 3 out of
memory, 4 wrong device specified, 5 device already exists or
device is busy.
veritysetup --data-blocks=256 format <data_device> <hash_device>
Calculates and stores verification data on hash_device for the
first 256 blocks (of block size). If hash_device does not exist,
it is created (as a file image).
veritysetup format --root-hash-file <path> <data_device>
<hash_device>
Calculates and stores verification data on hash_device for the
whole data_device, and stores the root hash as hex-encoded text in
<path>.
veritysetup --data-blocks=256 --hash-offset=1052672 format
<device> <device>
Verification data (hashes) is stored on the same device as data
(starting at hash-offset). Hash offset must be greater than the
number of blocks in the data area.
veritysetup --data-blocks=256 --hash-offset=1052672 create
test-device <device> <device> <root_hash>
Activates the verity device named test-device. Options
--data-blocks and --hash-offset are the same as in the format
command. The <root_hash> was calculated in the format command.
veritysetup --data-blocks=256 --hash-offset=1052672 verify
<data_device> <hash_device> <root_hash>
Verifies device without activation (in userspace).
veritysetup --data-blocks=256 --hash-offset=1052672
--root-hash-file <path> verify <data_device> <hash_device>
Verifies device without activation (in userspace). Root hash is
passed via file rather than inline.
veritysetup --fec-device=<fec_device> --fec-roots=10 format
<data_device> <hash_device>
Calculates and stores verification and encoding data for the
data_device.
The on-disk format specification is available on the DMVerity
<https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/wikis/DMVerity> page.
The first implementation of veritysetup was written by Chrome OS
authors.
This version is based on verification code written by Mikulas
Patocka <[email protected]> and rewritten for libcryptsetup by
Milan Broz <[email protected]>.
Report bugs at cryptsetup mailing list
<[email protected]> or in Issues project section
<https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/-/issues/new>.
Please attach the output of the failed command with --debug option
added.
Cryptsetup FAQ
<https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/wikis/FrequentlyAskedQuestions>
cryptsetup(8), integritysetup(8) and veritysetup(8)
Part of cryptsetup project
<https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/>. This page is part of
the Cryptsetup ((open-source disk encryption)) project.
Information about the project can be found at
⟨https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup⟩. If you have a bug
report for this manual page, send it to [email protected]. This
page was obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
⟨https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup.git⟩ on 2025-08-11. (At
that time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in
the repository was 2025-08-01.) If you discover any rendering
problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there is
a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
(which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
[email protected]
veritysetup 2.8.1-git 2025-08-09 VERITYSETUP(8)
Pages that refer to this page: veritytab(5), cryptsetup(8), cryptsetup-benchmark(8), cryptsetup-bitlkDump(8), cryptsetup-close(8), cryptsetup-config(8), cryptsetup-convert(8), cryptsetup-erase(8), cryptsetup-fvault2Dump(8), cryptsetup-isLuks(8), cryptsetup-luksAddKey(8), cryptsetup-luksChangeKey(8), cryptsetup-luksConvertKey(8), cryptsetup-luksDump(8), cryptsetup-luksFormat(8), cryptsetup-luksHeaderBackup(8), cryptsetup-luksHeaderRestore(8), cryptsetup-luksKillSlot(8), cryptsetup-luksRemoveKey(8), cryptsetup-luksResume(8), cryptsetup-luksSuspend(8), cryptsetup-luksUUID(8), cryptsetup-open(8), cryptsetup-reencrypt(8), cryptsetup-refresh(8), cryptsetup-repair(8), cryptsetup-resize(8), cryptsetup-ssh(8), cryptsetup-status(8), cryptsetup-tcryptDump(8), cryptsetup-token(8), integritysetup(8), systemd-veritysetup-generator(8), [email protected](8), veritysetup(8)
|
HTML rendering created 2025-09-06 by Michael Kerrisk, author of The Linux Programming Interface. For details of in-depth Linux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, look here. Hosting by jambit GmbH. |
|