Because I am installing to an external drive, I want my data to be safe in the case that I lose it. As a result, I need encryption. Also, I need to often transfer files easily between computers so some empty, unencrypted space at the end of the drive is necessary.
I tried previously creating a default encrypted install and then attempting to resize everyting but that was really confusing and I couldn't get it to work.
I then tried to follow this Full_Disk_Encryption_Howto_2019 - Community Help Wiki, replacing every ubuntu instance with zorin and leaving some unallocated space at the end. However, I kept getting errors when the installer installs grub.
I need this to be able to be used on any computer from about 2015ish so it would be ideal if this would work with all booting mechanisms and with both secure boot both enabled and disabled.
Can someone help me install zorin this way? I am farily new to linux so it would be helpful if all commands that I have to do are written.
I guess I don't fully understand what is your use case but I think you're over-complicating things.
If you only care about some files being encrypted, you can just encrypt those while leaving the rest of the system untouched. This will make the file transfer much easier and secure, even across online services. You can use something like Cryptomator for that:
On the other hand, if your use case is to encrypt most of your files except for a few of them, you can just use any file sharing service. I'd recommend this which would encrypt the file in-transit anyway:
I want an installation that is built in such a way that if someone has access to the disk and tries to look at what is inside it, they will have mostly no clue what is there. I need just ~5gb of unencryped space so I can use this also like a usb stick that I can plug into computers that are already running and transfer my files to and from them. I had a look at FFSEND and it just seems harder than walking a bit to another computer, plugging it in and transferring some files. It also be hard to do as I don't know the addresses of the computers, I just know where they (physically) are. I want an experience mostly similiar to the already existing install zorin os with encryption, but I just need a little space left unallocated at the end of the disk.
Hmm ... You could create 2 Partitions on Your Drive. At the end of the Drive, You use it for your Saving Stuff. And on the first Partition, You install Zorin OS and encrypt that. If you want compatibility, I would suggest to format the last Partition into NTFS. That should be recognized from Windows and Linux. For the Partition for Zorin Os, You should take during the Installation ext4 of Course. Or You could take a Look at VeraCrypt if this offers Partition Encryption.
What could be a Problem is that Point:
That could be a difficult to be prepared to everything.
I'll try to make a clear step by step later today or most likely tomorrow, but I think in that case the easier approach would be to first encrypt the whole drive during the installation step, and then resize the partition down to create enough space for your unencrypted space.
Although, I'm still a little confused because you mention that you can physically walk to your computers... wouldn't it be easier to just use another drive, like a USB thumb drive for that?
You can also setup a Samba or NFS server to share files over the network, even if they are physically close to each other. For reference:
Zensen, I only have 2 drives. A 16gb usb stick which I nearly always have either the zorin iso or windows media creation tool on and a 256 gb external ssd that is fast enough to run zorin on it as a full install without being laggy. I dont have another usb stick that I can use just for this purpose.
You are probably right with the network based file sharing being easier over the long term, but first I would have to learn it. In most cases I probably will have to walk to another computer to check stuff is running so the little extra hassle probably will not be worth it. I will also have to deal with potentall firewall issues and the fact that some of the computers are running windows 10 and I don't have full admin privilidges on all of the win10 ones. None of that is insurmountable but it just feels that making the desired install configuration would be less hassle as ideally I will only have to do it once.
Ponce-De-Leon, I don't fully understand so correct me if I am wrong, you imply that you can install Zorin unencrypted, partitioning as you desire in the "something else" section and then post install you can encrypt zorin. How do you do that and will it be easier than resizing an encrypted partion like zenzen suggested?
No, I meant, that You create first 2 Partitions on Your Drive. 2 empty Partions. Because You want use the last one for Data Saving/Transfer, You could format this to NTFS; that should be detected by Windows and Linux.
The You install Zorin on the first Partition and during the Installation, You encrypt that. When You install it on the Partition, it could only encrypt that. But I'm not sure about that.
Or You install it without Encryption and use after it an Encryption Program like VeraCrypt and then try to encrypt the Partition with Zorin on it.
But to be honest: at this Point: I think, it would be easier to buy another USB Stick and use this for Your Data Saving/Transfer and then install only Zorin on the external Drive.