ecrytfs - purpose of Private.sig and Private.mnt?

Solution 1:

Private.mnt is a configuration file read by mount.ecryptfs_private at login that defines where your encrypted directory should be mounted. If you've encrypted your home directory, this will be $HOME. But some people choose to encrypt some other directory, perhaps a subset of $HOME, like $HOME/Private.

Private.sig contains "signatures" or "hashes" of your encryption keys. These are used as "handles" to identify the keys in use. It provides a safe, secure mechanism for eCryptfs to determine if you're using the correct key or not.

Both of these are absolutely required and eCryptfs will NOT function properly with out them!!!

Full disclosure: I'm one of the authors and maintainers of eCryptfs.