Need to see if your shared folder is taking up space on your dropbox đŸ‘šâ€đŸ’»? Find out how to check here.

Forum Discussion

ap8's avatar
ap8
Explorer | Level 4
8 years ago
Solved

Encrypting local copies of shared files and synchronizing

Hi, I understand that encryption of the local copy of Dropbox files is my responsibility.   For various reasons, I do not want to encrypt the entire PC with Bitlocker and a boot password. I am usi...
Delete
desktop
sync
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    8 years ago
    Thanks for the detailed requirements, Alison. Sounds like how TrueCrypt works when I use it occasionally by mounting a folder of the encrypted file.
     
    Long story short, it wouldn’t work the way you want it to, since it will see it as a hard drive that no longer exists, and thus the folder will be ‘missing’. 
     
    You’ll get an error message almost instantly, and in the worst case scenario, it’ll start to delete files from your account, thinking that the files were all deleted at once.
     
    It’s similar to how having your Dropbox folder syncing on an external drive works, and my post here about the potential effects of that would apply here.
     
    Hope this helps to clarify matters!
ap8's avatar
ap8
Explorer | Level 4
8 years ago

Just a sanity check... it sounds like the only really safe option is to encrypt the whole system and unencrypt on boot, so nothing can start synchronising until after the unencryption has completed.

Boca's avatar
Boca
Helpful | Level 6
7 years ago

If I understand your need... it sounds like I am doing the same thing without any issues.

 

I have a Veracrypt vault which looks like a single file ( eg A) to Dropbox but, when unencrypted, it mounts a new drive letter which can contain files B,C,D etc.

When I make changes to B,C, D then close the vault, this causes a change to A which prompts Dropbox to sync it.

I can access fille A ( and un-encrypt/encrypt) it from several locations.. using the same password.

 

Hope this helps.

  • Dave_Rasch's avatar
    Dave_Rasch
    New member | Level 2
    6 years ago

    In TruCrypt and VeraCrypt you can set up the container without a password but with one or more key files. 

    I have my user able to run the veracrypt command via sudo without a password, then I have my key file(s) on a USB drive, and then use this command line in linux to mount automatically.  

    sudo veracrypt -t -k "<where the usb drive mounts>/<keyfile>" -p "" --non-interactive --pim=0 --fs-options=owner --protect-hidden=no /<dir>/<encrypted container> /<mnt point>/Dropbox

    Put the USB drive in and run the mount script that I have; mounts it and starts dropbox

    To remove I run a umount script; stops dropbox and unmounts the container

    So far I have had no luck geting it all working the way I like with udev ... but that will come along.

About Delete, edit, and organize

Solve issues with deleting, editing, and organizing files and folders in your Dropbox account with support from the Dropbox Community.

The Dropbox Community team is active from Monday to Friday. We try to respond to you as soon as we can, usually within 2 hours.

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X, Facebook or Instagram.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!