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Tails users that have Windows as their main operating system can use this program to backup an image of their Tails USB to their Windows hard drive:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your USB drive fails or is lost, you can write the image back out to a new USB drive that is the same size or larger and be good to go in minutes.
Since this program creates a complete image of the USB, it will also back up the persistence partition (if you have one configured). Because the persistence partition is encrypted, that part of the USB image will also be encrypted on your Windows disk.
You should create a new image anytime you make an important change to your Tails system (you generate a new PGP key, new electrum wallet, before an upgrade, etc.)
Buy two flash drives of equal size to test it out. Setup Tails on the 1st USB drive, then use the tool to copy an image of the 1st USB to the hard drive. Restore the image out to the 2nd USB and boot from it to make sure it works for you.
When you make a backup using the USB Image Tool, you want to make sure that you use it in "Device Mode" so that you back up the complete USB including the boot blocks.
I think the main problems with running Tails in a virtual machine are:
If your host is infected with malware, your VM might be compromised as well. Simple example: A key logger running on your Windows machine will capture the keystrokes you make in the Tails VM as well.
If your VM is swapped out of RAM and onto disk, data that should just disappear when you shut Tails down, may end up being saved to your hard drive.
Running Tails in a VM is still better than nothing and can be very convenient.
Problem 1 is not so much of a problem on a Linux machine or a Mac, since most malware is written to exploit Windows, the most popular desktop OS. Careful Windows users that run a good antivirus program can also be very successful at keeping malware off of their system.
Problem 2 can be worked around by either encrypting your entire hard drive or by disabling the OS from paging memory out to disk.
Windows users using a Tails USB with persistence can run this program to make a backup of their entire USB including the persistence partition:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If the Tails USB fails or is lost, the image can be written back out to a USB flash drive of the same size or larger and be ready to boot.
Make an image of the USB stick.
Then run testdisk (link) on the image. For that you need twice the amount of space that the usb stick has. Once for the image, and again for the files that get restored.
DO NOT WRITE TO THE USB STICK!!!
On windows you can use this handy tool. USB Image Tool it is Free and Open Source Software, as well as gratis.
Not sure if you are having hardware problems or are just running into the Windows problem with recognizing USBs that have been formatted by Tails.
You can use this method to reset a USB under Windows:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/reset/windows/index.en.html
This program is a little easier to use than the above method to reset USBs:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Select the USB in the left pane and click on the Reset button.
You can also use this program to make backup images of your Tails USB with persistence.
>Is it safe to assume the automatic upgrades to TAILS USB is safe to upgrade to?
Yes, Tails automatically checks the cryptographic signatures of the upgrade package before it does the upgrade.
If you are using a persistence partition, you should back it up before doing the upgrade:
Windows users can use this program to make a backup image of their entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
>Also while we are on the topic is there any way for an attacker to compromise your TAILS USB without physically coming into contact with it?
It's possible. Hopefully it's a low probability. If an attacker had a set of exploits that would allow them to break out of the browser, and become root, they could compromise your Tails USB.
Unfortunately, the version of Electrum that currently ships with Tails (1.9.8) is not compatible with seed words generated with the newer 2.X versions. The best way to get your coins into a wallet on Tails is to create a new wallet on Tails and use a normal bitcoin transaction to send it from your wallet on Windows to a receive address on Tails.
When you create a new wallet on Tails, write down your seed words and your first receive address, then do a wallet restore action and enter those seed words to make sure that you get the same first address. A number of people have lost all of their coins because they thought that they had their seed words saved correctly, but did not.
If you decide to use a persistence partition on Tails, you should back it up. USB flash drives can be very unreliable.
Windows users can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
You can boot from a new USB with persistence enabled on it and mount your old USB's persistent volume using the Tails Disk Utility to copy the files over.
Applications > Accessories > Disk Utility
It would be similar to mounting an encrypted volume using this method:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/encryption_and_privacy/encrypted_volumes/index.en.html
Make a backup of your Tails USB with persistence before upgrading it.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
>Is making a persistent partition on TAILS necessary?
No, but it is more convenient.
> I am assuming so if I want to use electrum?
No. You can just recover your wallet with your seed words whenever you need to use it.
>Is tumbling bitcoins necessary?
There's a big debate about that. Some say yes, some say no.
>I feel like it would be in my best interests to do so?
It probably won't hurt and it might help, so for a small fee, is it worth it for the extra peace of mind?
That's something you will have to determine yourself.
>Would LBC>Electrum on Windows>Electrum on TAILS>DNM be safe enough?
It would give you some plausible deniability. You could have sold the coins to someone else for cash and they were the ones that sent it to the darknet market. You could probably skip the Windows step and send it straight from LBC to your Electrum wallet on Tails.
If you do decide to create a persistent partition, back it up!
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been saved.
Try using this tool to write the ISO file directly to the USB drive byte for byte:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Start the program.
Make sure that it is in "Device Mode".
Select your USB drive.
Hit Restore.
Change "Image files" to "All files" in the lower right corner of the file finder.
Select the Tails ISO file and hit Open.
Make sure that it is going to write to the correct device and then hit Yes.
When it's done, you may get a popup from Windows saying that you need to format the USB. Hit Cancel, or you will wipe out what you have just written to it.
>[Tails + Electrum] Is Tails good way to store Bitcoins in a long term?
I would say that although Tails is secure, the weak link is the USB on which it is stored. USB flash drives are notoriously unreliable.
You should write down your Electrum seed words and do a wallet restore with them just to make sure that you have them exactly right. Make a duplicate hard copy and keep them in separate physical locations.
You should also make a backup image of the entire Tails USB including the persistence volume using this program:
>Should i bother updating TAILS?
Yes.
It's not that hard to update. If you have a bootable Tails USB with persistence, it should ask you if you want to use the automatic update. Click yes. Wait for it to finish and reboot. You are done. (I know you said you have a DVD-R disc, which you can't upgrade. You should download the new version and burn a new DVD.)
If you use Windows, you should make a backup image of your Tails USB with persistence before upgrading with this program:
Crap.
You said that the other program that I had you try (http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/) wouldn't write to the USB drive at all?
Could we try that again?
Make sure the "Device Mode" is selected on the top left.
Click on your USB to highlight it in blue.
Click on Restore.
Change the drop down at the bottom right to "All files".
Select the Tails ISO and click on Open.
A pop up should appear saying "Do you want to restore image ..."
Hit Yes.
It should start a progress bar on the lower left.
When it finishes, try booting from that USB.
>Could someone with more knowledge than me explain the differences between persistence and no persistence from the user's side.
Persistence allows one to save important info (Electrum wallet, your PGP private key, vendors PGP public keys, passwords to markets, market URLs, etc) to an encrypted storage area on the same USB as Tails. This encrypted storage area is detected at boot up and once you enter its passphrase (should be multi-word, and very difficult to guess), it will be automatically mounted, so that all of the info is immediately available.
When you run Tails without persistence, no information is saved to the USB. Once you reboot, any information that was downloaded to the system disappears. Many people use Tails without persistence. When not using persistence one would need to save their PGP key to a different storage medium, and would also need to remember (or write down) the account names, passwords, seed words for Electrum, etc.
>should I get 4GB or 8GB USB for running Tails.
Either is fine. The Tails website lists 4G as a minimum size. A 4G flash drive will leave room for a little over 1G bytes for the encrypted persistence partition.
https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/installation/index.en.html
Typically a Tails darknet market user won't need to save a lot of information to their persistence area, so 4G will work for most people.
Buy two (or more) flash drives of the same size. That way, one can easily create the special Tails boot image that is needed for configuring persistence. With a 2nd flash drive of the same size, it is also easy to make an exact duplicate of your Tails USB with persistence, as a backup, in case your primary USB drive fails. You can use this program to copy an image of your USB drive to your Windows hard drive and back out to a 2nd USB.
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Backup your Tails USB with persistence! USB flash drives are notoriously unreliable and are easy to lose.
I make a complete duplicate of my tails usb using this usb image tool (http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/). You can either store the image in an encrypted file on your computer, or you can restore it onto a second usb stick (recommended). If you plan on using your intermediary tails usb, you'll want to clear it before you restore your tails onto it.
Hy there, here is a really easy program that can help you with cloning a SD. http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/ (Download USB Image Tool 1.72) It is REALLY easy to use. When you start the program, you just click on the Device on the left side that you want to clone, hit backup then it leads you to a new Window where you enter the name you want to choose for the clone image and where you want to save it. When it is done, you unplug your SD Card and plug in the Card you want it to be copied on, then just go back to the Program. Then you highlight your Card on the left Side, hit "Restore", locate the Image you named and cloned and wait until it is finished. There you go, you successfully cloned the SD Card.
>f I do the automatic upgrade (I do get the prompt), will it seamlessly install while keeping persistence functional?
Yes, it should.
You may want to make a backup of your persistence files before upgrading, just in case something goes wrong.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
>Could you tell me what the second, third and fourth addresses are for?
You should use a separate receive address for every transaction to make it a little harder to link your activities through the blockchain. New addresses will automatically be created as you use your current ones.
https://bitcoin.org/en/protect-your-privacy
>Other than convenience, is everything persistence does is just keep the information so don't have to remember the address keys?
Kind of. Without persistence, you will need to do a wallet recovery using the seed words whenever you want access to your money. Many people use Electrum and Tails successfully this way without using persistence.
>Are there any decreases In security?
Not unless you live in a police state like the UK (and many other countries) where you can be sent to prison for not handing over your passwords:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law
The main problem with persistence is not security, but a dependability. USB flash drives can be very unreliable. Very few people backup their important information in persistence to a separate device, so when their Tails USB eventually fails, they lose all of their money and access to their darknet market accounts.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
Sounds like Windows software problem to me. Are you trying to create a bootable USB of a Linux distro?
Images of USB partitions are usually img files. If yours is an ISO, it may be meant for a CD/DVD and may not have the information required to make the drive bootable. Since you are starting with an ISO file, try Universal USB installer instead, as it can deal with ISO files.
Even with img files that should work with a USB drive, Win32diskimager has not worked for me sometimes. USB Image Tool has been much more reliable at backing up and restoring USB drives for me.
Unfortunately, your GPG keyring has somehow become corrupted.
Make a backup image of your Tails USB with persistence using this tool before proceding:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
You can use this procedure to recover your keyring and fix the problem:
Boot Tails.
Enable persistence.
Start a command line terminal window (click on the small black box on the upper left menu bar).
Copy and paste these commands:
cd
cd .gnupg
mkdir 0bak
mv * 0bak
Hit the Enter key to make sure that the last command executed.
You will get the following error with the above command:
mv: cannot move '0bak' to a subdirectory of itself, '0bak/0bak'
It is safe to ignore.
Copy and paste these commands:
cp 0bak/gpg.conf .
cd 0bak
gpg -K
Hit the Enter key to make sure that the last command executed.
Should return with this:
gpg: keyring `/home/amnesia/.gnupg/secring.gpg' created
gpg: keyring `/home/amnesia/.gnupg/pubring.gpg' created
gpg: /home/amnesia/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created
Copy and paste these commands:
gpg --import secring.gpg
gpg -K
gpg --import pubring.gpg
gpg -k
Hit the Enter key to make sure that the last command executed.
Check the gpg applet to see if it is now working.
Try this:
Backup your current Tails USB with persistence before proceeding:
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Tails 1.6 Manual Upgrade Procedure
Download and verify the new 1.6 Tails ISO file.
Install it to a 2nd blank USB using Rufus:
Use the default values, except:
Change the drop down for "bootable disk using" from FreeDOS to ISO Image.
Click on the button to the right of the ISO image and select the Tails ISO from the file manager.
READY should be displayed near the bottom of the Rufus window.
Hit Start.
(Let it download any updates that it needs.)
Boot Tails from the 2nd USB.
Insert the 1st USB.
Do Applications > Tails > Tails Installer > Clone & Upgrade.
(It is very important that you select Clone & Upgrade. If you select Clone & Install it will wipe out your persistent partition.)
Select the 1st USB with persistence from the drop down and hit Install.
Once it is finished, shutdown Tails from the top right power icon.
Remove the 2nd USB and try booting from your original Tails USB.
Hey everyone! I have a very easy fix for this issue that only involved one extra flash drive. The same thing happened with me, and now I can pass on what I have learned.
Credit to /u/ziz1 for all his fantastic help on this issue.
Do you have a persistent partition that you need to access?
If so, backup your current Tails USB with persistence before proceeding:
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Download and verify the new 1.6 Tails ISO file.
Install it to a 2nd blank USB using Rufus:
Use the default values, except:
Change the drop down for "bootable disk using" from FreeDOS to ISO Image.
Click on the button to the right of the ISO image and select the Tails ISO from the file manager.
READY should be displayed near the bottom of the Rufus window.
Hit Start.
(Let it download any updates that it needs.)
Boot Tails from the 2nd USB.
Insert the 1st USB.
Do Applications > Tails > Tails Installer > Clone & Upgrade.
(It is very important that you select Clone & Upgrade. If you select Clone & Install it will wipe out your persistent partition.)
Select the 1st USB with persistence from the drop down and hit Install.
Once it is finished, shutdown Tails from the top right power icon.
Remove the 2nd USB and try booting from your original Tails USB.
You can use this method on Windows to reset the USB:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/reset/windows/index.en.html
If you don't want to mess with the command line on Windows, you can use this program to reset the USB:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Select the USB in the left pane and hit the "Reset" button at the bottom of the window.
>Can I upgrade keeping all my persistence intact?
Yes, but backup your data first, just in case something goes wrong!
Also, make sure to use "Clone & Upgrade".
("Clone & Install" would wipe out your persistent partition.)
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been recovered.
> Is it advised to backup your persistence/usb before undergoing the update?
Yes.
Upgrades usually go smoothly, but can fail occasionally. Also, upgrades do a lot of writes to your USB. If your USB drive is on the verge of failure, an upgrade could push it over the edge.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
You could also create an encrypted volume on a 2nd USB and copy your important files to it:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/encryption_and_privacy/encrypted_volumes/index.en.html
You can use this method to create an encrypted volume on a 2nd USB to backup files from your persistent volume:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/encryption_and_privacy/encrypted_volumes/index.en.html
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
>Is it as simple as clinking YES to the uprade if I am booting from USB and using persistence?
Yes.
>Should I backup anything or is it a simple process?
It is a simple process, but you should still backup all of your important data.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been saved.
If for some reason you can't use the USB Image Tool, you can create an encrypted volume on a 2nd USB and manually copy your important files to it. To create an encrypted volume on a USB drive, you can use this method:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/encryption_and_privacy/encrypted_volumes/index.en.html
An Electrum bitcoin wallet running on Windows isn't anonymous unless you run it through Tor.
>Or do you just need a wallet on your normal OS ?
Best to just have an Electrum wallet on Tails.
>Bitcoin wallet (like Electrum) located on permanent storage on Tails?
If you setup persistence and enable "Bitcoin Client" on Tails then your wallet will be saved in the encrypted persistence volume on your USB:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/persistence/configure/index.en.html
Unfortunately, it is far from "permanent storage". USB flash drives can be very unreliable. You need to write down your seed words and regenerate the wallet from those seed words to make sure that you wrote them down correctly. Too many people have lost all of the money in their wallets because they somehow wrote down their seed words incorrectly and didn't test them.
You should also make a backup image of your USB drive with persistent storage. A single bit error in the "right" place on the LUKS encrypted header will completely wipe out your encrypted storage.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been saved.
>So generally enabling persistence for things like your PGP key is something only a vendor would really need to do, right?
Lots of buyers use the persistence to save their PGP keys as well. You will need to save your own PGP key if you decide to enable two factor authentication on a marketplace.
You don't have to save your own key to persistence since most of the time, the flow of encrypted data is from the buyer to the vendor and not in the other direction. If you think you'll only need to encrypt your address to the vendors, then you can just import their key from the marketplace profile whenever you need to encrypt a message to them, instead of saving it to persistence.
If you do decide to create and use an encrypted persistence partition it is essential that you backup your data. USB flash drives can be very unreliable.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
The Tails persistence volume is secure and convenient. Unfortunately USB flash drives are notoriously unreliable. You should backup your Tails USB with persistence once you start storing important information on it.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been saved.
Since you have a persistence partition and are creating PGP keys, you may want to form a strategy for securely backing up any important information that is stored on your Tails USB.
You can use this method to create an encrypted volume on a 2nd USB to copy important info to:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/encryption_and_privacy/encrypted_volumes/index.en.html
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been saved.
Please PM me if you need any further help. The OP's problem was his persistence.conf file got deleted so none of his saved directories were getting mounted making it so that none of his keys would show up.
I've also seen a different problem where the persistence is being mounted correctly, but the gpg keyring has somehow become corrupted. This causes the PGP keys to also not appear.
Be careful! Make a backup of your Tails USB using this program before making any changes:
I just recently got a Mushkin Atom and it works well with Tails. Try to get an 8GB one so that it take less time to back it up.
You can make a backup image of a Tails USB with persistence by using this program:
It is a good idea to use the persistent volume if you protect it with a good multi-word unguessable passphrase and you make backups of it.
Windows users can use this program to make a backup image of their Tails USB with persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your USB drive fails or is lost, you can write the image out to a larger USB and have a bootable Tails USB with your persistence files intact and ready to go. You can write the image out to the same size drive, but it must be the exact same size. Best plan is to buy multiple USB flash drives from the same manufacturer with the same model number and test your backup plan before disaster strikes.
You can use this method, but be careful to properly identify the USB drive. You don't want to accidentally wipe out your Windows hard drive:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/reset/windows/index.en.html
You can download and run this program for an easier solution:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
You select your Tails USB and hit the "Reset" button to wipe out Tails and make it so that Windows can see the USB again.
You can also use this tool to make a backup image of your Tails USB with persistence so that if your USB fails or is lost, you can write the image out to a larger USB drive and be ready to boot Tails with your persistence intact.
>Any other suggestions you have for a noob?
Since you are using Tails, perhaps with a persistence partition, you should consider backing up your Tails USB in case it fails, or is lost.
Windows users can use this program to make a backup image of your Tails USB:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
> Really appreciate your help,
Glad to help!
Windows users can use this program to make a backup image of their Tails USB with persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If you have two USB flash drives of the exact same size and model, you can copy the image from the Tails USB to your hard drive and then write the image from the hard drive back out to a 2nd blank USB to create a backup bootable Tails USB with all of your info saved in the persistent partition.
If you don't have two USB drives of the exact same size, then the 2nd one must be larger than the 1st one.
If you have a 3rd USB, you can create an encrypted volume on it and use it as a backup medium and a way to transfer information from one Tails USB to another.
You can use this method to create an encrypted volume on a blank USB drive:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/encryption_and_privacy/encrypted_volumes/index.en.html
Your PGP keys live here if you want to copy them from one USB to another:
/home/amnesia/.gnupg
The three files you would want to copy over are:
secring.gpg (Your private PGP key(s) are here.)
pubring.gpg (Any public keys you have imported.)
trustdb.gpg (Any keys that you have marked as trusted.)
To see these files in the file manager, do the following:
Start the file manager: Top Menu Bar > Places > Home Folder
On the file manger window select View > Show Hidden Files.
Drill down into the ".gnupg" directory.
>Also I was wondering would the Electrum wallet be the same or would it be different between the 2 USB sticks. Thanks for the info.
If you use the same seed words for both wallets, then the receive addresses will be the same for both wallets. You may also wish to backup your receive address labels. Wallet > Labels > Export.
>When I boot into my tails (with persistence) and I choose to clone tails, will this also clone my persistence.
Unfortunately, no.
>Basically I want to make a backup of tails on a different USB
If you are a Windows user, you can make a backup image of your Tails USB with persistence using this program:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If you have 2 USB drives that are the same manufacturer and exact same size and model, you can copy the image of the one with persistence to your hard drive and then write that image back out to the 2nd USB (which is blank) to make a separate bootable copy of your Tails USB with persistence.
If the two USB flash drives are not exactly the same size, then the 2nd one must be larger than the 1st one so that the complete image can be written out to it.
If that works, then you can use the Tails installer from the DVD to install Tails to a USB.
You might also try writing the Tails ISO directly to a USB using this program:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Since the Tails ISO is an "isohybrid", writing it directly to a USB should create a bootable USB. This does not work on all computers because of BIOS differences and / or BIOS bugs.
>If I do that, will I lose my Persistent volume?
No. It should preserve your persistent volume and all of the data stored in it.
But, you should back it up before you upgrade (you should also just backup it up on a regular basis).
Windows users can use this program to create a backup image of their Tails USB with persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost, you can write the image back out to a flash drive the same size or larger and be ready to boot with your saved persistence.
Note:
The replacement USB must be the exact same size or larger. Best to start with 2 flash drives of the same model and test the backup image immediately to make sure that it works before the loss / failure occurs.
>Do I want to completely erase the old version of tails and redo the entire process with 1.3? Or do I just update?
If you have a Tails USB with a persistence partition already set up, just do the update.
>Do I want to create, download, manage all my PGP related stuff while running tails?
Yes. That way all of your keys are in stored on the Tails USB in the encrypted persistence partition. In the event that something goes wrong and your main computer gets seized, there won't be any public keys from "TheDrugDude" laying around on your main hard drive to be used as evidence against you.
You should make a backup of your Tails USB using this program:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
That way if your USB fails or is lost, you can restore the important information in your persistence partition and be ready to boot Tails again in a matter of minutes.
Sounds like your USB is going bad.
>How did I loose only my PGP keys?
Bad sector in just the wrong spot?
In the future, you can use this tool to create an image of your USB on your Windows hard drive:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Once the image is created, you can "Restore" it to another USB of the same size or larger and boot from that.
>is there anyway to repair my copy of tails?
You could try the above image creation method to create a 2nd USB from the 1st USB.
Boot the 2nd USB and check your keys. If they are not there, refresh the copy of Tails on the 2nd USB as follows:
Create a DVD with Tails 1.3 on it.
Boot from the DVD. (Make sure no USBs are inserted when booting from the DVD, or it will appear to boot from the DVD but will actually boot from the USB.)
Insert the 2nd USB.
Run the Tails installer from the DVD. (Applications > Tails > Tails installer)
Choose "Clone & Upgrade" to rewrite the Tails OS onto the 2nd USB in case the copy from the 1st USB is somehow corrupted.
When it is finished, Eject the DVD.
Reboot to the 2nd USB.
Check your keys.
Once you create a bootable Tails USB with a persistent volume, you can set the DVD aside for an emergency (in case the USB fails to boot for some reason). You need only the USB to boot Tails and access the persistence partition.
Once you start putting important information in your persistence partition, you should back up your USB in case the USB flash drive itself fails, you lose it or an upgrade goes wrong.
You can use this program to make an image of the entire USB, including the encrypted persistence partition to your Windows hard drive:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Once the image is on your hard drive, you can write it back out to a 2nd USB of the same size or larger. You should boot from the 2nd USB and verify your persistence partition contents to ensure that your backup procedure worked properly.
Try to create an image file of your CF card (for PC you can easily create one with http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/ , for Mac you'll have to use dd command or Disk Utility), then send it to some service similar to restore.media . The latter recovers videos/audio files only, but maybe they'd recover photos as well. If not, try googling other data recovery services that repair files (photos) from an image file of your corrupt SD/CF card.
I'm not sure about SD cards, but I've had my files recovered from a flash card by Restore.Media service.
I had to go through many steps, though:
- Had to make an image file of the card with USB Image Tool (a card’s copy) and then re-named the generated image file into .mp4 format.
- Uploaded a valid reference file at Restore.Media website (a reference file is a good, not corrupted file from that same device - you’d better find out one among your previous recordings).
- Then uploaded the image file into the system at the website (it's all online)
- After their automatic recovery was completed, asked for manual recovery (there was an option) since it was not automatically restored and got a .zip archive with my files.
But truly I'm not sure if they help with SD cards - better ask the support.
What is your system log saying? I found a post describing a similar issue (with a resolution in the comments).
The OPs log was saying the error was that his second USB didn't have enough space even though it was 32GB. The same error message was returned for another USB he tried that was originally functional. He tried reformatting both, but the installation process made both of unrecognizable by his OS.
A commenter provided a program (for windows) that "reset" his USB and then suggested he use Rufus instead of the Universal USB installer. The link he provided isn't working for me but I'm on mobile right now.
did it work with using other types of bridges or when using none at all? regardless I will add a note to the guide that warns users that such an error could happen with obfs4 bridges.
edit: you can use also an alternative way to back your data up:
Backing up your entire Tails USB stick
Boot your primary OS (e.g. Windows or OS X) and download and install the tool USB Image Tool. Then plug in your Tails USB stick and use the tool to make an image of it. Then copy that image to another USB stick.
Remember to stash your USB stick with the backup somewhere safe where nobody will find it easily but you can still retrieve it after your properties got searched and your assets seized.
Restoring the backup
You can just plug in the backup USB stick and boot it, since it contains all Tails data files and not just the persistence files.
>Also when i plug in my usb while on windows It doesnt show up as a device so i cant format it.
You can use this program to "reset" the USB so that Windows can see it again:
> You should be able to get your other USBs recognized by Windows if you use this program to "reset" them: http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Thank for for this link, this worked perfectly and i now have a working USB drive again. I did run into some problems are with permissions but i managed to fix this.
> Not sure if this will help, but you might try this procedure using Rufus instead of the Universal USB Installer to do your initial Tails installation. The cloned ones might work after using this method: https://www.reddit.com/r/sohhlz/wiki/index/install-rufus-usb-usb
I used this method, and now all seems to be working perfectly.
All round your suggestions fixed my issues. Thank you very much :)
I haven't used it myself, but from the screenshots on the website, I think there's a dropdown menu where you can switch between volume mode and device mode.
Also, this is the FAQ page I was referring to, if you haven't seen it yet: http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/faq/
Hy there, here is a really easy program that can help you with cloning a SD.
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/ (Download USB Image Tool 1.72)
It is REALLY easy to use.
When you start the program, you just click on the Device on the left side that you want to clone, hit backup then it leads you to a new Window where you enter the name you want to choose for the clone image and where you want to save it.
When it is done, you unplug your SD Card and plug in the Card you want it to be copied on, then just go back to the Program. Then you highlight your Card on the left Side, hit "Restore", locate the Image you named and cloned and wait until it is finished.
There you go, you successfully cloned the SD Card. I used it that way and successfully cloned my Pi 2 Triple System from my 32GB SD to my new 200GB SD.
From Windows, you can try this method:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/reset/windows/index.en.html
You might try this program first, since it is easier to use than the above method:
I recently upgraded from 16 to 32gb, what i did was an image of the 16gb card with usbimagetool here: http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/ and then I used a partition tool to resize the 16gb partition to fill the whole 32gb card, it was really simple
Step 1. Create image of 4gb sd card. http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/ I use this personally.
Step 2. Format 32gb card to fat32. This can be done through windows partition manager.
Step 3. Flash image into 32gb card using the tool in step 1.
Step 4. Use an external partition manager to extend the 32gb card to its full capacity. If you are using emunand, then extend the partition on the left towards the left. I use this tool. http://www.partition-tool.com
Step 5. If no emunand, just copy everything from your 4gb card to PC, then those files to your fat32 card
You can try this method to reset the USB:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/reset/windows/index.en.html
This program can also be used to reset the USB and is a little easier to use:
Many thanks. Also, if I want to make a back up copy of my tails 2.0.1 usb including my persistence files do you still recommend using: http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/ for Windows users?
An easy way to upgrade to a larger card is to make an image of your original card using USB Image Tool, then apply it to the new card with a partition manager. I used EasUS Partition Manager. Be sure to extend the larger partition all the way to the right and don't touch the smaller one at the beginning as that's your emuNAND.
I've used USB Image Tool - http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/
this can reset the USB and reset the size.
This can happen when you copy an image to the USB that is smaller and it resizes the drive to that of the image.
That's not good. It sounds like the underlying filesystem on the encrypted partition may have become corrupted.
If you are a Windows user, make a backup image of the USB using this program before proceeding:
See if this program can detect and make a backup image of your problem USB:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Be careful to only use the backup option. You don't want to accidentally overwrite the USB.
it probably has a partition because it was probably imaged at some point.
copy the data you want off it, then use this tool to reset it. then format it and copy your data back. i think you right click on the drive.
>Well my USB drive just stopped working so that was likely the problem
Man, USB drives can be so crappy. Don't forget to use some kind of backup method to keep your files safe on more than one device.
You can use this procedure to create an encrypted volume on a 2nd USB to copy your important files to:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/persistence/configure/index.en.html
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to create a backup image of your entire Tails USB with persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
>if I have the same problem may I PM you?
Yes, please do.
Was it created with the Tails installer?
Before we go any further, is there any important information in your persistence volume?
If so, cant you put it in the machine that it seems to work on and make a backup of the info you need saved?
If you are a Windows user, you can use this procedure to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB with persistence:
Luckily you had your data backed up on paper.
You might also consider backing it up to a 2nd USB drive.
You can create an encrypted volume on another device using this method:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/encryption_and_privacy/encrypted_volumes/index.en.html
Here's a method for manually backing up the data in persistence:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/persistence/copy/index.en.html
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
Hopefully you still have the working drive? I'm guessing it cloned the data, but didn't properly make the USB bootable. Try using USB Image Tool instead.
If you don't have the working drive still intact, then maybe you could try to recover by saving an iso image of the data and then creating the bootable drive with Rufus or Yumi.
>Today when I got the new update it says I should do a manual update as my USB does not have enough available space? It's a goddamn 32gb USB how can it not have enough space?
There are two partitions on a Tails USB with persistence. The 1st is a FAT partition with the Tails OS installed on it. It is currently 2.6GB. The 2nd partition is the encrypted ext4 partition which takes up the rest of the space. Whenever you do the automatic upgrade, it takes up a little more space on the 1st partition with the incremental update files. Eventually, all of the free space on that partition is consumed by the updates.
>Do I really have to burn a new disc with Tails 1.7 and then use the Tail Installer to update my USB?
Unfortunately, yes.
>If so will my persistence stay 100 % intact?
Yes, but you should make a backup of it before doing the upgrade, just in case.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Make sure you do a "Clone & Upgrade" from the Tails installer.
Do NOT do a "Clone & Install". That would wipe out your persistent partition.
>So I just now saved the keepass under "/home/amnesia/Persistent/keypass.kdb"
Perfect.
>Is this safe?
If you used an long, impossible to guess, but easy for you to remember passphrase, then the information will be secure from others.
USB flash drives are notoriously unreliable, so you will need to either make a backup image of your Tails USB with persistence or manually copy your important files to another encrypted USB (or both).
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If you want to copy your information to another encrypted USB, you can use this procedure to create one:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/encryption_and_privacy/encrypted_volumes/index.en.html
It sounds like the persistence partition may have become corrupted. Do you normally shut down Tails using the power icon on the top right menu bar? (Never pull the USB out of the machine to shut down Tails, unless it is an emergency. Doing so could corrupt the persistent partition.) It is also possible that your USB drive is starting to fail.
First, make a backup image of your Tails USB with persistence using this program:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Next, boot Tails without enabling persistence and try using the disk utility tool to manually decrypt and mount the persistent partition:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/persistence/copy/index.en.html
I was able to get somebody else back up and running that was having the same 1.6 upgrade failure using this procedure:
Manual upgrade procedure for Tails 1.6
Backup your current Tails USB with persistence before proceeding:
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Download and verify the new 1.6 Tails ISO file.
Install it to a 2nd blank USB using Rufus:
Use the default values, except:
Change the drop down for "bootable disk using" from FreeDOS to ISO Image.
Click on the button to the right of the ISO image and select the Tails ISO from the file manager.
READY should be displayed near the bottom of the Rufus window.
Hit Start.
(Let it download any updates that it needs.)
Boot Tails from the 2nd USB.
Insert the 1st USB.
Do Applications > Tails > Tails Installer > Clone & Upgrade.
(It is very important that you select Clone & Upgrade. If you select Clone & Install it will wipe out your persistent partition.)
Select the 1st USB with persistence from the drop down and hit Install.
Once it is finished, shutdown Tails from the top right power icon.
Remove the 2nd USB and try booting from your original Tails USB.
You don't really need persistence, it is just more convenient. Your keys and wallet are automatically loaded when you use persistence. Either way, you should backup your critical information.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image your USBs:
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been recovered.
> I went out and got another 4gig drive and it is working perfectly now.
Good deal!
Flash drives can be very unreliable. Since you are using persistence, you should back up your data in case your new flash drive fails at some point in the future.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been recovered.
You are fine.
Boot your Tails USB on your system and configure a persistent partition to save your PGP keys, Electrum wallet, etc.
Applications > Tails > Configure persistent partition
Choose a long impossible to guess but easy for you to remember passphrase to protect your persistent volume.
Enable ALL of the persistence options.
Reboot.
USB flash drives can be terribly unreliable. You need to backup any data that if lost would lock you out of your accounts or prevent access to the bitcoins in your bitcoin wallet.
Since you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
Unfortunately, Tails has a problem with SanDisks:
https://tails.boum.org/support/known_issues/index.en.html#index1h2
If a normal boot hangs forever when using a Sandisk, you can try this method as a workaround:
At the Tails boot menu, hit Tab.
Type Ctrl+A to move the cursor to the beginning of the line.
Use the right arrow key to move the cursor over to the first "i" in "live-media=removable".
Hit backspace.
It should now read as "ive-media=removable".
Hit Enter to boot.
If you want to erase Tails and reset the USB so you can use it on Windows again, you can use this program:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Start the program, select the USB to be erased and hit the Reset icon.
Hmm. Sounds like the executable somehow go corrupted during the upgrade.
It could be that your USB is going bad.
You should make a backup image of your Tails USB before proceeding.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
After you make a backup, you might want to create a new Tails boot device (DVD or USB) using the 1.5.1 ISO, boot from that, then insert the problem device and do an
Applications > Tails > Tails Installer >> Clone & Upgrade
to see if that corrects the problem.
(Do not do a Clone & Install! That would wipe out your persistent partition.)
> do I use that tool I vaguely remember using something that lets you install Li nux distributions from an iso file straight onto a USB memory stick? And I want to keep my persistence intact.
Don't use that tool! It would wipe out your persistent partition.
>I've got the iso ready and verified so do I burn it onto a DVD and boot from that
Yes. Boot from the DVD with the Tails USB removed from the machine. Once you are booted up from the DVD, insert the Tails USB with your persistence on it.
Do Applications > Tails > Tails Installer >> Clone & Upgrade.
(Don't use "Clone & Install". That would also wipe out your persistence also.)
Before you do the upgrade, backup your Tails USB with persistence.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been recovered.
>If I wanted to format my USB would it get rid of tails completely?
If you mean remove all traces that Tails was ever installed on the USB, then no.
If you mean so that you can use it for other purposes, then yes.
If you used the Tails installer to install Tails, you may need to delete the Tails partition before Windows will recognize it again and allow you to reformat it:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/reset/windows/index.en.html
If you don't want to use the command line, you can use this program to reset the USB:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Run the program, select the USB and hit the Reset button.
>For the persistent volume, does it save to the USB tails is running off or does it save to a separate USB?
It saves it to the same USB that Tails is running from.
> Is there any good persistent volume guides for setting it up anywhere?
It's pretty straight forward:
Applications > Tails > Configure persistent volume
Use an impossible to guess (but easy for you to remember), multi-word passphrase to protect your encrypted persistence volume.
You can safely enable all of the options.
Reboot.
Create a test PGP key, Electrum wallet, file in /homes/amnesia/Persistent, etc.
Reboot.
Make sure that everything was properly saved in the persistence volume.
It is important that you backup your persistent volume, because USB flash drives can be very unreliable.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been recovered.
Try going back through the persistence configuration tool and enabling all of the persistence features that you originally had enabled.
Applications > Tails > Configure persistent volume
Reboot and see if it makes a difference.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been recovered.
Don't forget to backup your Tails USB with persistence. USB flash drives can be very unreliable. If yours fails and you don't have a backup, you could be in bad shape.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been recovered.
Unfortunately, USB flash drives can be very unreliable. Once you start saving important data to your persistent partition, you should start regularly backing it up.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been recovered.
Click on the small eye icon to the right of the password entry box to check and make sure what you think you are typing is what you are typing.
If you can't get in, can you start over with a new database or will you lose access to accounts?
It's possible that the database has become corrupted somehow (USB going bad?).
For future reference:
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been recovered.
Make a backup image of your Tails USB with persistence using this program before you proceed:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Download the latest Tails ISO from here:
http://dl.amnesia.boum.org/tails/stable/tails-i386-1.5/tails-i386-1.5.iso
Verify the ISO file is not corrupted or tampered with using whatever method you have used in the past (GPG signature or SHA-256 hash checksum verification).
Burn the ISO to a DVD and boot from the DVD with your non-booting USB inserted into the machine (make sure that the BIOS is set to boot from the DVD drive first).
If your persistent partition is still intact, Tails, booting from the DVD should recognize it on the USB and ask if you want to enable it. Go ahead and enable it and check to make sure your saved items are still good.
Reboot and boot to the DVD again, but this time do not enable persistence.
Once Tails is running from the DVD again, do a "Clone & Upgrade" to the USB (Do not do a "Clone & Install" - that would wipe out your persistent partition).
(Applications > Tails > Tails Installer >> Clone & Upgrade)
Once it is complete, eject the DVD and try booting from the USB again.
The above procedure could also be done with a 2nd USB if you do not have a DVD drive.
Use Rufus to create the 2nd USB (without the 1st USB inserted in the machine - don't accidentally format the USB drive with your persistent partition on it).
>is it as simple as just clicking upgrade?
Yes.
> if you upgrade does it save everything like your pgp keys and all that?
Yes, normally. Upgrades do fail occasionally though. You should backup your persistent files before upgrading.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
>Do you really need to write all the stuff down?
No.
I tell people to write them down and test them because most people don't make backups of their Tails USB and when it fails, they lose all of their money. You should still test them to make sure that you've made no mistake in copying them and that you understand the wallet recovery procedure.
For others reading this:
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been recovered.
>My question is, if I copy the one with persistence onto the original tails usb without it, will my persistence and tails be backed up on two usbs?
Yes, if the other USB is the exact same size or larger.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been saved.
I used a card adapter, but even if the SD card isn't accessible on the H2O, the USB image tool should still be able to create and restore an image since it mounts like any other USB storage. It's a bit more convenient than the method linked to above.
>OH one other thing, when it comes to setting up a Persistence Volume is it used to save your info so that you don't have to constantly start over again?
Correct.
Don't forget to backup your persistent data, though. USB flash drives can be very unreliable. A single bit error in the "right" place can wipe out the entire persistent partition.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been saved.
>Also wanting to know if it's entirely safe to use KeePassX on tails to store all my passwords?
Not if you don't make regular backups of your Tails USB. Flash drives can be very unreliable. A single bit error in the "right" place can wipe out the entire persistent partition.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
You could also copy your important info to a 2nd USB with an encrypted volume as a backup:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/encryption_and_privacy/encrypted_volumes/index.en.html
>enabling persistence doesn't jeopardise anything else right?
Correct.
Use a good, difficult to guess (but easy for you to remember) multi-word passphrase to protect it.
Backup your Tails USB with persistence using this tool (flash drives can be very unreliable):
>Is it just a matter of clicking the update button and it will do it itself
Yes.
>will it delete everything on my persistent volume?
It shouldn't, but things do go wrong during upgrades. Now is a good time to make a backup of your Tails USB.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been saved.
> it can be a pain to then load up my other persistent volume and ditto that volume to match, if you know what I mean.
Yes.
>But I'm not sure there is really anyway around that.
You could save a backup of the Tails USB to your Windows hard drive using the USB Image Tool:
No, not if you use a long, unguessable (but memorable) passphrase when creating it.
The main danger of using persistence is storing important info in it without backing it up. USB flash drives can be very unreliable and are easy to misplace. I've seen posts from a number of users that have lost all of the bitcoins in their Electrum wallet because their Tails USB failed and they didn't have a backup of the info in their persistence volume and didn't save their seed words somewhere else.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been saved.
>It's 23 characters of upper and lower case, numbers, and special characters (symbols and such.) According to KeePassX it offers between 180-200bit. ... I will say this, it is totally random, it makes no sense at all, so maybe its enough, but I would value your input as always.
That seems like a strong passphrase.
If you ever decide that you need to change it, you can use the disk utility to do so (Applications > Accessories > Disk Utility).
Expand the disk utility window to be full screen size.
Select your Tails USB in the left pane.
Click on the Encrypted partition on the right pane.
Select Change Passphrase.
>I'm sure I will have a few more questions. One thing now is about cloning the persistent volume with the program you listed. What was the link to that again?
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
>And when cloned, can I work on that cloned volume in persistence, just as I do on my normal volume now,
Yes. It will be a full functional (read / write) copy of the original.
> And I was wondering, I'm not able to get into my windows hard drive at all, because I do not have the admin password it asks for,
The administration password is not persistent. You must set it during bootup (More options? > Yes) if you intend to use it. It is valid only for that session of Tails. Once you reboot, the administration password goes back to being disabled.
>If you were me, and you had the PGP needs I have, how would you do it? Would you always carry a persistent volume with you?
Yes.
>And if so, what method of importing them would you use? Right now, all my keys are on gpg4usb. You showed me how to move them to Tails, so no problem there. However, if I'm going to have to import them every time I boot, is that the quickest method, to mount them from windows or a 2nd usb, like the method you originally walked me through, or would you do it another way?
I would just use the standard Tails persistence volume with "GnuPG" enabled (as well as "Personal Data") so that all of my keys would be already imported when I booted Tails. I think that is a very secure method just as long as you use a good, long, difficult to guess, but easy for you to remember persistent passphrase.
I would also backup my USB regularly using http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/ since flash drives can be very unreliable.
>I upgraded tails earlier tonight. that is the only other thing I can think of.
It is possible the upgrade somehow corrupted your persistence or that the USB itself is failing and the upgrade made it apparent.
Are the rest of your saved files / PGP keys / etc. still intact in your persistence volume?
You should probably make a backup copy of your current Tails USB with persistence in case the USB flash drive is failing:
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been saved.
>When creating a back up of a usb with a persistent enabled, would backing up the whole amnesia directory suffice?
Mostly.
If you wanted to just backup what is in the persistence partition, don't enable persistence at boot and then mount the persistence partition manually using the disk utility (Applications > Accessories > Disk Utility).
Here's a guide from the Tails website that gives some more info:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/persistence/copy/index.en.html
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been saved.
It has happened to many people, unfortunately. USB drives can be very unreliable. I wish that the Tails website stressed the importance of backing up your data.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been saved.
If you are a Windows user, you can use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
If your Tails USB fails or is lost at some point, you can use this tool to write the image back out to a 2nd USB of the exact same size or larger and be ready to go with a bootable Tails USB with all of your persistence data intact. Best to buy a few USB flash drives of the same model number so that you are more likely to get drives of the same size. You can test your backup system by backing up an image of your Tails USB and then writing it back out to a 2nd USB. Boot from the 2nd USB and make sure that all of your data has been saved.
You could also create an encrypted volume on a 2nd USB drive and copy your important information over to it:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/encryption_and_privacy/encrypted_volumes/index.en.html
Sounds like your GPG keyring has become corrupted.
If you are a Windows user, use this program to make a backup image of your entire Tails USB including persistence before starting the next procedure:
http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/
Try this method to recover your keys:
Start a command line terminal window (click on the small black box on the upper left menu bar).
Type the following commands:
cd
cd .gnupg
mkdir 0bak
mv * 0bak
You will get the following error with the above command:
mv: cannot move '0bak' to a subdirectory of itself, '0bak/0bak'
It is safe to ignore.
Type these commands:
cp 0bak/gpg.conf . (There's a space followed by a period at the end.)
cd 0bak
gpg -K (upper case K - lists the secret keys on your keyring - should be none at this point)
Should return with this:
gpg: keyring `/home/amnesia/.gnupg/secring.gpg' created
gpg: keyring `/home/amnesia/.gnupg/pubring.gpg' created
gpg: /home/amnesia/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created
gpg --import secring.gpg
gpg -K (Are any of your secret keys now present?)
Try the gpgApplet clipboard icon to see if it works.
gpg --import pubring.gpg
gpg -k (lower case k)
Did it import your saved public keys?
Check the gpgApplet to make sure it is still working.
If so, stop. Your keys are now hopefully recovered.