Tails

#2 Updated by DanOver 2015-07-07 09:38:11

This needs to be implemented urgently! It is an excellent idea.

#3 Updated by intrigeri 2015-07-07 09:56:28

> This needs to be implemented urgently! It is an excellent idea.

Well, if you find it urgent, then feel free to do the tests I’ve asked for on Feature #9659#note-1 :)

#4 Updated by DanOver 2015-07-08 15:49:53

Because Tails does not use exFAT? The exFAT could be used in persistence. It’s just a suggestion. Thx for all! <3

#5 Updated by intrigeri 2015-07-08 16:36:57

> The exFAT could be used in persistence.

Given Tails persistent volume is not meant to be unlocked on non-Tails operating systems, I am not able to think of a reason to do so. Of course I can be missing something, though.

#6 Updated by DanOver 2015-07-09 06:56:56

To improve access to data.

#7 Updated by intrigeri 2015-07-09 08:46:04

> To improve access to data.

This is so vague I have no idea what you mean => may you please describe an actual use case that’s not covered currently?

#8 Updated by Hoopy 2015-08-31 09:04:42

I agree with “intrigeri”.

The priority is low to normal.

The module should be working with Debian or other Linux distros before using it in Tails.

I do not have to a permanent Linux installation for testing. I tried to make it work on Tails at the time of the posting (~1.4), and Tails froze.

If some one can test this on Debian or its derivatives, some progress can be made.

Thnx

#9 Updated by muchandr 2015-10-14 10:32:23

intrigeri wrote:

> This is so vague I have no idea what you mean => may you please describe an
> actual use case that’s not covered currently?

Tails installer says “formatting with FAT32” for a new installation. This hypothetically means that you could only use up to 32GB SDHC flash, but not 64GB+ SDXC flash, which is ExFAT only. Witness the spec difference:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U77V8AM/ref=twister_B00WECRAF0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

IMHO, the convergence between photographics flash and USB sticks driven by Lexar is something to greet, because there is no telling what are freebie OEM Chinese sticks are made of (or not…)

FAT32 is aweful for both security and lifetime of the flash, because it keeps poinding the same place for its root directory. That’s why ExFAT was invented in the first place. From Tails installer I surmise that FAT32 is still used to boot some critical kernel initialisation chunk, at least? That’d be bad news…

#10 Updated by intrigeri 2015-10-14 11:06:43

> Tails installer says “formatting with FAT32” for a new installation.

Note that we’re talking of a 2.5 GB filesystem here.

> FAT32 is aweful for both security and lifetime of the flash, because it keeps poinding the same place for its root directory. That’s why ExFAT was invented in the first place. From Tails installer I surmise that FAT32 is still used to boot some critical kernel initialisation chunk, at least? That’d be bad news…

The Tails system partition is very rarely mounted read-write so this should not be a problem.

#11 Updated by muchandr 2015-10-22 20:48:04

intrigeri wrote:
>
> Note that we’re talking of a 2.5 GB filesystem here.
>
You use FAT32 at all -> You can’t use SDXC “native” ExFAT -> You can’t use space over 32 GB on an SD card at all. Counts as an “actual use case” in my book, anyway :)

#12 Updated by camedwardo 2016-03-08 00:08:07

I would like to also endorse support for the addition of ExFAT to Tails. I have personally tested the installation of the exfat-fuse package as available from repositories already included with Tails for APT. It works perfectly and I have yet to run into any issues.

What more information or testing do we need to add exfat support? Please let me know what I may be able to contribute, happy to assist!

#14 Updated by phil_jr 2016-05-06 12:39:10

In addition to the USB stick where TAILS is installed, it would be great to be able to read SSDs formatted in exFAT.
Currently I must enter:
1) sudo apt-get update
2) sudo apt-get install exfat-fuse exfat-utils

If only the repositories were updated ( … which takes a while), we’d then only have to run the 2nd command, which is fast.

#15 Updated by intrigeri 2016-05-06 13:46:00

> 1) sudo apt-get update
> 2) sudo apt-get install exfat-fuse exfat-utils

> If only the repositories were updated ( … which takes a while), […]

Three things:

• It would be mostly useless to ship the APT indices (what apt-get update downloads) in the ISO, as they expire after about a week, so quite quickly they would unusable; and they would take space in every ISO and incremental upgrade, so it would actually be harmful.
• As you can see above on this ticket, we still need test results in order to include exFAT support. Providing them would be the best way to avoid having to run these commands :)
• https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/persistence/configure/index.en.html#additional_software