---
title: "Migrating a Block Storage volume to an encrypted LUKS volume"
description: "OVHcloud now offers Block Storage volumes encrypted with LUKS. Currently, it is not possible to directly convert an existing volume to a LUKS-encrypted one usin"
url: https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/storage-and-backup/block-storage/migrating-non-encrypted-to-encrypted-volume
lang: en
---
> For AI agents: the complete documentation index is available at https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/llms.txt, the full documentation bundle is available at https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/llms-full.txt.

# Migrating a Block Storage volume to an encrypted LUKS volume

OVHcloud now offers Block Storage volumes encrypted with LUKS. Currently, it is not possible to directly convert an existing volume to a LUKS-encrypted one using the retype option, nor to back up and restore it as a LUKS volume.

 

## Requirements

- A [Public Cloud instance](https://us.ovhcloud.com/public-cloud/compute/) in your OVHcloud account
- An existing Block Storage volume (source)
- Administrator (root or sudo) access to your instance

#### OVHcloud Control Panel Access

- **Direct link:** [Public Cloud Projects](https://manager.us.ovhcloud.com/#/public-cloud/pci/projects)
- **Navigation path:** `Public Cloud` > Select your project

 

## Instructions

### Step 1: Create a LUKS volume

In your [OVHcloud Control Panel](https://manager.us.ovhcloud.com/), create a new Block Storage volume and select the `LUKS` type.

**Note:**

Once attached to your instance, the LUKS volume behaves like a standard volume. All encryption and unlocking are handled automatically by the OVHcloud infrastructure.

 

### Step 2: Attach the volumes to your instance

1. Attach both volumes to your instance:

   - Source volume (non encrypted)
   - Target volume (LUKS encrypted)

2. Verify that both volumes are visible on your instance:

   ```
   bash lsblk
   ```

   Example output:

   ```
   bash /dev/vdb # source volume /dev/vdc # target LUKS volume
   ```

 

### Step 3: Prepare the LUKS (encrypted) volume

1. Format the LUKS volume with the filesystem of your choice (for example, ext4):

   ```
   bash sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/vdc
   ```

2. Mount the target volume:

   ```
   bash sudo mkdir -p /mnt/luks_target sudo mount /dev/vdc /mnt/luks_target
   ```

 

### Step 4: Mount the source volume

If not already mounted, mount the source volume to your instance:

```
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/source_volume
sudo mount /dev/vdb /mnt/source_volume
```

 

### Step 5: Copy the data

Use `rsync` to copy your data from the source volume to the LUKS-encrypted target volume while preserving permissions and attributes:

```

# Copy data while preserving permissions and attributes

sudo rsync -aAXHv /mnt/source_volume/ /mnt/luks_target/

# Or, with progress display for large volumes

sudo rsync -aAXHv --progress /mnt/source_volume/ /mnt/luks_target/
```

 

### Step 6 (Optional): Verify and detach

1. Verify that your data has been copied successfully. You can use commands like `ls`, `du`, or `rsync --dry-run` for quick checks.

2. Unmount both volumes:

   ```
   bash sudo umount /mnt/source_volume sudo umount /mnt/luks_target
   ```

3. Detach the source volume if it is no longer needed.

 

### Step 7 (Optional): Update your mount points

If the LUKS volume should be used permanently, add an entry to `/etc/fstab` to mount it automatically at boot.

Example:

```
UUID=<UUID_of_volume> /mnt/data ext4 defaults 0 2
```

**Note:**

**Notes:**

Replace with the actual UUID of your LUKS volume (obtain it with `sudo blkid /dev/vdc`).

Ensure the mount point `/mnt/data` exists before boot or the system may fail to mount the volume.

 

## Go further

Browse all the [Block Storage guides](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/storage-and-backup/block-storage/landing-page-block-storage.md).

Browse the rest of the [OVHcloud US documentation](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/index.md) for guides on our other products and services.

Learn more about [Block Storage](https://us.ovhcloud.com/public-cloud/block-storage/) on the OVHcloud US website.