Offline Bitcoin Armory on LiveUSB | Bitcointalksearch.org

cp1

hero member

Activity: 616

Merit: 500

Stop using branwallets

If you're worried about compatibility then download that exact version that he states on the site.
The Live USB won't damage your existing OS. Of course it's possible that you could damage the OS by formatting the drive or deleting files, but just don't mess with the hard drive and you'll be fine.

varChar

member

Activity: 92

Merit: 10

Quote from: dominicus on December 29, 2013, 10:01:33 AM

Download Armory and TrueCrypt
Use a separate, extra USB drive to transfer information to/from your LiveUSB session:

Download and verify the Bitcoin Armory package for Linux, which includes all dependencies for offline installation to Ubuntu. Match the Ubuntu version and bitcount.
Download and verify the latest stable version of TrueCrypt for Linux. Select the Standard version for the corresponding Ubuntu version and bitcount of your LiveUSB.
Save both files to the extra USB drive.

Was a while since you wrote this. So I dont know if it perhaps changes since you wrote it.
But there are a ubuntu link. Use that instead?
And this link?
0.91.1 (Offline Bundles) Ubuntu 12.04 (Exact) Offline Bundles

And know I see that I downloaded ubuntu latest 12.04. But they have some text that saying that it might not work:

Quote from: armory

These bundles were made against Ubuntu 12.04.3 which appears to have a different package/dependency set than the latest 12.04.4. If you have trouble with this bundle, please install 12.04.3 (exactly) from the following link: http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/releases/12.04.3/

But i guess its only to try and see if it works.

Another question.
Never runned ubuntu before. So this first is only for testing before I run it on my cold computer.
But if I run this usb on my hot windows 8 computer. Can the usb ubuntu OS "damage" my HD win 8 OS? Or is it ok to run 2 os on same computer without problem?

DaDeus

newbie

Activity: 40

Merit: 0

Thank you dominicus for this great guide. If you travel a lot, it's much easier to use a USB instant of a additional netbook

dominicus

member

Activity: 97

Merit: 10

Wow. My thanks and appreciation to those who have sent me BTC's for this post. Bitcoiners are special indeed.

dominicus

member

Activity: 97

Merit: 10

Quote from: cp1 on January 05, 2014, 01:11:32 AM

I prefer installing ubuntu onto the USB drive instead of creating a persistent live image -- I think it's just cleaner. But, both will work.

The key benefit of LiveUSB over full install: the resulting LiveUSB Armory will boot on the full variety of PC hardware supported by the OS.
With LiveUSB, the owner has a much better chance of being able to successfully use their offline Armory when the transaction needs to be done on an alternative computer.
The mods in this process are meant to overcome the tradeoffs of LiveUSB vs. full install.

cp1

hero member

Activity: 616

Merit: 500

Stop using branwallets

I prefer installing ubuntu onto the USB drive instead of creating a persistent live image -- I think it's just cleaner. But, both will work.

dominicus

member

Activity: 97

Merit: 10

USB 3 drives have several potential issues:
-some models give issues when you try to format as bootable.
-some have propietary partitions that can persist formats
-many laptops/netbooks will boot USB's at 2.0 speeds, even if it's USB3 port with USB3 drive. Go figure.

Thus I recommend USB2 for Live, bootable install. It's the most cross-compatible and reliable platform IMO.

smfuser

member

Activity: 82

Merit: 10

Thanks for posting this. I'd like to try something like this. Just a quick question for now:

What is the reason for this statement: "Not recommended: USB 3.0 drives"?

Tehfiend

hero member

Activity: 491

Merit: 514

Very nice, thank you!

I'm applying some of your tweaks to my existing setup but ran into a problem when trying to disable the "Try Ubuntu" screen:

Quote

On the terminal screen, type: sudo gedit /cdrom/syslinux/syslinux.cfg

My Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS 32bit install does not have a /cdrom/syslinux/ folder and "locate syslinux.cfg" finds nothing. I used the UNetbootin tool to install instead of Universal-USB-Installer but I can't imagine that making a difference. Any ideas?

Thanks again!

dominicus

member

Activity: 97

Merit: 10

Overview
Creates a self-contained offline Bitcoin Armory, on a bootable USB drive, from signed verifiable sources (ubuntu.com, bitcoinarmory.com, truecrypt.org). Your wallet remains saved in encrypted storage.
This is intended for those seeking the benefits of an offline wallet, but without dedicating a PC to this purpose.
The setup process, while verbose, will require less overall time to setup compared to installing a fresh OS from scratch.
It’s laid out in step-by-step format with select sections labeled Recommended, which can be skipped to shorten the setup time, and performed at a later time to improve your experience with the Offline Bitcoin Armory on LiveUSB.

Create a LiveUSB

Get a fast USB 2.0 drive
A 4 GB or greater USB stick with fast reads and good outer construction will do.
Recommended: Super Talent Pico-C USB 2.0 drive, LaCie iamakey USB 2.0 drive (not v2, no encryption). Fast, compact, waterproof, metal housing.
Not recommended: USB 3.0 drives, drives with hidden partitions that auto-run proprietary software, drives with wear-leveling firmware.

Create an Ubuntu 12.04 Persistent LiveUSB

Download and validate the .iso image for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Desktop to your online PC, in either 32bit (recommended) or 64bit. Note 64bit will only run on PC’s with multi-core processors and will not work on many netbooks powered by single-core CPU’s.
Do a low-level (not “quick”) format of what will become your LiveUSB drive. Warning: all data in the target drive will be destroyed...this is not the step to be careless.
With your freshly formatted USB drive, create a persistent LiveUSB:
- In Windows, use these instructions.
- Within Ubuntu, use the “Startup Disk Creator” application pre-installed in Ubuntu.
- For either method, you will specify the .iso image you downloaded
- For the persistent space, select the maximum allowed.

Download Armory and TrueCrypt
Use a separate, extra USB drive to transfer information to/from your LiveUSB session:

Download and verify the Bitcoin Armory package for Linux, which includes all dependencies for offline installation to Ubuntu. Match the Ubuntu version and bitcount.
Download and verify the latest stable version of TrueCrypt for Linux. Select the Standard version for the corresponding Ubuntu version and bitcount of your LiveUSB.
Save both files to the extra USB drive.

Boot to your Ubuntu LiveUSB

Isolate the laptop/netbook you will use as offline Armory:
- Remove hardwire LAN cable
- If your laptop is provided with a WiFi switch, turn off WiFi.
- Ensure the BIOS allows the PC to boot from USB.
- (Recommended) Alter the BIOS boot order such that the PC will boot your LiveUSB drive whenever present.
With your LiveUSB plugged in, power on your PC. If you didn’t or couldn’t change the boot order, be prepared to hit the right key to enter the BIOS boot screen and select the option to boot from the LiveUSB drive.
You’ll get a dialog screen from Ubuntu. Select the option to “Try Ubuntu”.
Ubuntu OS will boot up.

Configure your LiveUSB installation

Disable network connectivity

Click on the top-right gear-shaped icon.
Select “Startup Applications…”
Click on [Add]
On the Name field, enter: Disable Networking
On Command, enter: nmcli nm enable false
On Comment, enter: disables all networking
Click on [Add], then [Close]

(Recommended) Remove unneeded icons from the Launchbar:

Since this is meant to be a special-purpose installation, you can delete unneeded icons from the launchbar, which will make way for icons of other apps you’ll install later.
Successively right-click icons for choices of LibreOffice apps and Firefox, and select “Unlock from Launcher”. This deletes the icons, but doesn’t delete the apps.
Do not delete preinstalled apps using the Ubuntu Software Center.

(Recommended) Bypass the “Try Ubuntu” screen:

On the Ubuntu Launchbar, select the top “Dash home” icon.
Type “terminal” in the search box.
Click on the “Terminal” icon.
On the terminal screen, type: sudo gedit /cdrom/syslinux/syslinux.cfg
A text editor window will open to edit this file. Replace all text there with one of the following: for 32-bit install use this; for 64-bit install use this.
Save the file and close the text editor.
Close the terminal window.

Copy Armory and Truecrypt to your LiveUSB:

Insert the extra USB drive holding the Armory and TrueCrypt installers.
The File Explorer should open automatically showing the content of the extra USB
Copy the TrueCrypt and Armory installation files from the extra USB drive to the “Downloads” folder within the Ubuntu LiveUSB file system.
Eject and remove the extra USB drive.

Install TrueCrypt and Bitcoin Armory

While in the Ubuntu File Explorer, go to the Downloads folder and locate the TrueCrypt installation file.
Right-click on the TrueCrypt installation file and select “Extract Here”
Locate the Armory installation file, right-click on its file name, and select “Extract Here”
Double-click on the created TrueCrypt decompressed file
Select [Run From Terminal].
Select [Install TrueCrypt], accept the terms, and hit [OK].
Once the TrueCrypt installation is done, you’ll be prompted to press [ENTER] to exit.
Double-click on the newly-created folder named armory…
Double-click on the file named Install_DblClick_RunInTerminal.sh
Select [Run In Terminal]
When the installation is successfully finished, the window will close.

Create and configure an encrypted storage space for your wallet

Create a TrueCrypt volume (steps are for TrueCrypt version 7.1a):

On the Ubuntu Launchbar, select the top “Dash home” icon.
On the search box, type “truecrypt” and click on the TrueCrypt application icon that will appear listed.
Once TrueCrypt launches, right-click on its icon now on the Launchbar and click “Lock to Launcher” for future use.
In TrueCrypt window, click on [Create Volume]
Make sure “Create an encrypted file container” is selected and click [Next].
Volume type “Standard TrueCrypt Volume” click [Next]
Click [Select File…], select the “Documents” folder
In the “Name” field, type safety.cab (or any other name you wish), click on [Save], click on [Next>]
Take the default (or your choice of) encryption options and click [Next>]
Select a volume size. Recommend using 200MB less than the max available.
Enter your TrueCrypt volume password twice. Make it strong, and keep a safe copy of it. Click [Next>]
On format options, select “Linux ext3”. Click [Next>]
Select “I will mount the volume only on Linux” and click [Next>]
Move your mouse around as instructed for as long as you have patience for, then click [Format].
Wait until the volume is reported as being successfully created. Click [OK], then [Exit]

Mount your TrueCrypt volume

Click on Slot 1 in TrueCrypt
Click on “Select File…”, select the safety.cab file, click [Open], then select [Mount].
Enter your TrueCrypt volume password. Your encrypted volume should now show on the list with “mount directory” as /media/truecrypt1

(Recommended) Configure TrueCrypt to auto-mount on boot:

Right-click on the listing for Slot1 showing your volume. Select [Add to Favorites…]
Click [OK]
Close TrueCrypt
Click on the gear-shaped icon in top-right, select “Startup Applications…”
Click [Add]
On field Name, enter: Mount TrueCrypt
On Command enter: truecrypt --auto-mount=favorites --background-task
On Comment, enter: mount TC favorite volume(s)
Click [Close]

Configure Bitcoin Armory

Create a launch icon for Armory linked to your encrypted volume:

Click the top-most icon in the Launchbar named “Dash home”
Make sure the Dash search window is not running maximized, and you still have a viewable portion of the Ubuntu desktop area.
In the search box, type “armory”
Drag and drop the “Armory (offline)” icon from the Dash applications search results to any viewable area of your desktop. An “Armory (Offline)” icon will be created on your desktop.
Click on “x” to close “Dash” search.
Right-click the “Armory (Offline)” desktop icon, click “Cut”
Open the File Explorer, go to your Documents folder (or other folder you create for this purpose), right-click on the right pane, and select “Paste”. The desktop icon will now be moved to the destination folder.
Right-click the “Armory (Offline)” icon in the destination folder, and select “Properties”
In the field titled Command, go to the very end of the existing text, hit spacebar, and add the following: --datadir=/media/truecrypt1
Click “Close”
Drag and drop the “Armory (Offline)” desktop icon into the Launchbar. This will create a new icon for Armory in the Launchbar.
You may close your File Explorer.

Create your Offline Armory wallet:

Click on the “Armory (Offline)” icon in the launchbar.
When Armory starts for first time, click to agree to license and click “Accept”
Click on “Create Wallet”
Decide on naming, encryption and backup printing of your Armory wallet.
Safely store your wallet paper backup. Save your encryption password too!
Create one or more test receiving addresses.
Do not transact yet, until you’ve successfully finished the following step.

Create your Watch-Only Armory wallet:

Plug in your extra USB drive.
Click on “Wallet Properties”.
Select “Create Watching-Only Copy”
IMPORTANT: If you did everything right, Armory will default to saving the “watchonly” version of your wallet to the /media/truecrypt1 directory. If this is not the case STOP. Cancel out of this screen, delete this (empty) wallet, ensure your TrueCrypt volume is properly mounted, and revisit the section above titled “Create a one-click launcher for Armory-offline” for spacing or syntax errors.
On the save dialog screen, select the extra USB drive
Click on “Save”
Eject the extra USB drive
You can now import your Watch-Only wallet from the extra USB drive to your Armory installation running in your online PC.

Test your finished LiveUSB
Test restarting your PC and booting to the LiveUSB:

Depending on your BIOS settings, you many need to press a key upon startup to enter the boot device screen, and select USB as boot drive for the session.
Upon startup, you should be asked for the password to your TrueCrypt volume, and validate it’s mounted in File Explorer.
After your encrypted volume is mounted, use the Launchbar icon to start Armory. Your wallet appears listed.
If you plan on using your LiveUSB on multiple PC’s, test booting on all.
Stretch goal: try deleting and restoring your wallet from your paper backup.

Begin using Armory:

Read up on usage of Armory
Try transferring small amounts using your offline/online Armories.
Kiss your paranoia goodbye, now you can just be careful:
- With just your wallet paper backup, you can safely recreate your offline environment and survive your LiveUSB drive being lost or compromised. Upon such event, and assuming you used strong encryption passwords, you can restore your environment and move your bitcoins to a new Armory wallet with very low risk that anyone can brute-force their way to your bitcoins.
- Run your LiveUSB offline Armory only on PC’s and environments you control and trust are private and secure. Plugging your LiveUSB to an untrusted PC and/or typing your passwords where someone may be physically recording your every move are not secure practices.
- Keep paper backups of your wallet and encryption passwords secure.
- Don’t keep your LiveUSB connected while you boot to the OS in your hard drive.
- Don’t mount your hard drive while in your LiveUSB environment.
- Don’t connect to the internet while running your offline LiveUSB….ever.

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Topic: Offline Bitcoin Armory on LiveUSB (Read 10259 times)