If you have used a RAID array then, to access the data you will need to at least partially rebuild that array by using a new linux box and connecting the discs to it. But, I think you are asking something slightly different, which is what happens to the individual drives inside the Synology box if the box itself dies? Under these circumstances the answer to this question will depend upon how your box is configured. The point is that if the Synology box, which has got 4 drives in a RAID 5 array, keels over, I can still access my most precious data. In my case, I have an external HDD plugged into the Synology box taking a nightly incremental impression of mission-critical files. The how-to I have described above will allow you to decrypt a copy of the encrypted drive data, for instance from a backup source. Sorry for the slow reply, I've been away. Perhaps they want everyone to buy a new disk station to decrypt their files.
This is pretty simple, so I have no idea why Synology have not made more effort to make this clearer on their website and in their supporting documentation. 11) Your decrypted content will be accessible at the new mount point: cd /mnt/synology_decrypt/ If I have missed anything, please comment below.
5) Now mount the encrypted volume at the new mount point using this command: mount -t ecryptfs /mnt/synology_decrypt 6) At the prompt, enter the passphrase or password (not the exported key) you used to encrypt the volume on synology originally.
3) Now make another mount point, this time it's for the decrypted content - sudo mkdir /mnt/synology_decrypt 4) Install ecryptfs-utils on your linux platform (sudo apt-get install ecryptfs-utils).
mnt/synology - sudo mkdir /mnt/synology 2) Mount the encrypted drive or directory at this mount point here's how if it's a synology network share: mount -t cifs -o username=TYPE THE USER LOGIN NAME FOR THE SHARE HERE,password=TYPE THE LOGIN PASSWORD HERE //NAS_SERVER_IP/ENCRYPTED VOLUME /mnt/synology This will mount the encrypted share to /mnt/synology check you can see the content by typing ls -l /mnt/synology.
So here is what Synology don't, or won't tell you: INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO DECRYPT AN ENCRYPTED SHARE ON SYNOLOGY NAS SYSTEMS USING A LINUX PLATFORM 1) Create a mount point on your linux platform e.g. Before I ended up in the above situation, I thought I'd solve the problem in advance to work out how to do it. No instructions are given on how to use it or how to rescue data if you've lost your NAS and need to resort to a backup. The interface gives you an option to export the key, but this dumps on your desktop a file of what looks, at first glance, like gibberish. Unfortunately, Synology are pretty hopeless at actually telling you how to unencrypt you content should you need to. It also means that if you make a remote backup of the drive content, using the built-in backup facility, what is written to the backup drive is also encrypted. Synology NAS DSM comes with an option to encrypt shared drives this means that if someone removes the drives they cannot decode what is on them. I am posting this here as a "how to" to help others.