Install VeraCrypt on Debian 11

In this guide, we are going to learn how to install VeraCrypt on Debian 11. VeraCrypt, a fork of TrueCrypt, is a free and open source on-the-fly disk encryption (OTFE) tool.

Install VeraCrypt on Debian 11

Some of the main features offered by VeraCrypt include;

Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.
Encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive.
Encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).
Encryption is automatic, real-time(on-the-fly) and transparent.
Parallelization and pipelining allow data to be read and written as fast as if the drive was not encrypted.
Encryption can be hardware-accelerated on modern processors.
Provides plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password: Hidden volume (steganography) and hidden operating system.

There are multiple ways in which one can install VeraCrypt;

Using Debian/Ubuntu packages
Using generic VeraCrypt Installers

Install VeraCrypt using DEB Binary

Note that there are two versions of VeraCrypt installers you can choose; The GUI based installer and the console based installer.

Download VeraCrypt GUI Installer for Debian

VeraCrypt provide installer scripts on their downloads page which makes the install as easy as executing the script.

Grab the installer download link for Debian/Debian from the download’s page above and pull it using wget or any of your preferred tools;

wget https://launchpad.net/veracrypt/trunk/1.25.9/+download/veracrypt-1.25.9-Debian-11-amd64.deb

Install VeraCrypt

sudo apt install ./veracrypt-1.25.9-Debian-11-amd64.deb -y

If you want to use the console version;

wget https://launchpad.net/veracrypt/trunk/1.25.9/+download/veracrypt-console-1.25.9-Debian-11-amd64.deb

sudo apt install ./veracrypt-console-1.25.9-Debian-11-amd64.deb

Install VeraCrypt using Generic Installer

Download generic installers from the downloads page.

wget https://launchpad.net/veracrypt/trunk/1.25.9/+download/veracrypt-1.25.9-setup.tar.bz2

Extract the installer once the download is completed;

tar xjf veracrypt-1.25.9-setup.tar.bz2

Similarly, there are two types of installers, GUI based and the console based Installers for both x86 and x86_64 systems that are extracted to the current working directory.

ls -1 veracrypt*

veracrypt-1.25.9-setup-console-x64
veracrypt-1.25.9-setup-console-x86
veracrypt-1.25.9-setup-gtk3-console-x64
veracrypt-1.25.9-setup-gtk3-gui-x64
veracrypt-1.25.9-setup-gui-x64
veracrypt-1.25.9-setup-gui-x86
veracrypt-1.25.9-setup.tar.bz2

You can choose which one to use for installation;

Example of using GUI based installer;

sudo ./veracrypt-1.25.9-setup-gui-x64

Click Install VeraCrypt in the installation wizard that pops up, accept the End User License Agreement and click Ok to install VeraCrypt.

If you want to use the console installer, then execute the command;

sudo ./veracrypt-1.25.9-setup-console-x64

Once the installer runs, you are prompted to choose the installation option. Select option 1 to install VeraCrypt.

VeraCrypt 1.25.9 Setup
____________________


Installation options:

 1) Install veracrypt_1.25.9_console_amd64.tar.gz
 2) Extract package file veracrypt_1.25.9_console_amd64.tar.gz and place it to /tmp

To select, enter 1 or 2: 1

Before you can use, extract, or install VeraCrypt, you must accept the
terms of the VeraCrypt License.

Press Enter to display the license terms..

Press ENTER and go through the EULA and accept it to proceed with installation.

...
Do you accept and agree to be bound by the license terms? (yes/no): yes

Once the installation is done, press ENTER to exit the installer;

...
usr/share/doc/veracrypt/HTML/bank_30x30.png
usr/share/doc/veracrypt/HTML/VeraCrypt Volume Format Specification.html
usr/share/doc/veracrypt/HTML/VeraCrypt Rescue Disk.html
usr/share/doc/veracrypt/HTML/VeraCrypt128x128.png
usr/sbin/
usr/sbin/mount.veracrypt
usr/bin/
usr/bin/veracrypt-uninstall.sh
usr/bin/veracrypt

Press Enter to exit...

VeraCrypt is now installed and placed under, /usr/bin/veracrypt.

You can uninstall VeraCrypt using the usr/bin/veracrypt-uninstall.sh script.

Launching VeraCrypt on Debian 11

If you installed console-based VeraCrypt, you can launch it from the terminal using the veracrypt command.

For example, to check help page and examples on how to use veracrypt on command line;

veracrypt --help

Check our guide on how to use VeraCrypt on command line to encrypt drives;

How to Use VeraCrypt on Command Line to Encrypt Drives

If you installed the GUI version, you can launch it from system activities.

Now that VeraCrypt is installed, how can I encrypt drives using VeraCrypt?

This process has been extensively described in our previous guide on how to use VeraCrypt to encrypt drives.

How to use VeraCrypt to Encrypt Drives on Debian

That is how easy it is to install VeraCrypt. Feel free to explore this awesome tool.

Read more on VeraCrypt Documentation page.

Install VeraCrypt on Debian 11