# cryptsetup-luksRemoveKey

## NAME



           cryptsetup-luksRemoveKey - remove the supplied passphrase from the
           LUKS device
    


## SYNOPSIS



           **cryptsetup** _luksRemoveKey_ **[ <options>] <device> [<key file with**
           **passphrase to be removed >]**
    


## DESCRIPTION



           Removes the supplied passphrase from the LUKS device. The
           passphrase to be removed can be specified interactively, as the
           positional argument or via --key-file.
    
           If you read the passphrase from stdin (without further argument or
           with '-' as an argument to --key-file), batch-mode (-q) will be
           implicitly switched on and no warning will be given when you
           remove the last remaining passphrase from a LUKS container.
           Removing the last passphrase makes the LUKS container permanently
           inaccessible.
    
           This operation removes only the key in a particular keyslot; it
           does not wipe any encrypted data.
    
           **< options> **can be [--key-file, --keyfile-offset, --keyfile-size,
           --header, --disable-locks, --type, --timeout,
           --verify-passphrase].
    


## OPTIONS



           **--batch-mode** , **-q**
               Suppresses all confirmation questions. Use with care!
    
               If the --verify-passphrase option is not specified, this
               option also switches off the passphrase verification.
    
           **--debug** or **--debug-json**
               Run in debug mode with full diagnostic logs. Debug output
               lines are always prefixed by **#**.
    
               If --debug-json is used, additional LUKS2 JSON data structures
               are printed.
    
           **--disable-locks**
               Disable lock protection for metadata on disk. This option is
               valid only for LUKS2 and is ignored for other formats.
    
               **WARNING:** Do not use this option unless you run cryptsetup in a
               restricted environment where locking is impossible to perform
               (where /run directory cannot be used).
    
           **--header** _< device or file storing the LUKS header>_
               Use a detached (separated) metadata device or file where the
               LUKS header is stored. This option allows one to store the
               ciphertext and LUKS header on different devices.
    
               For commands that change the LUKS header (e.g., _luksAddKey_),
               specify the device or file with the LUKS header directly as
               the LUKS device.
    
           **--help** , **-?**
               Show help text and default parameters.
    
           **--key-file** , **-d** _file_
               Read the passphrase from the file.
    
               If the name given is "-", then the passphrase will be read
               from stdin. In this case, reading will not stop at newline
               characters.
    
               See section _NOTES ON PASSPHRASE PROCESSING_ in cryptsetup(8)
               for more information.
    
           **--keyfile-offset** _value_
               Skip _value_ bytes at the beginning of the key file.
    
           **--keyfile-size** , **-l** _value_
               Read a maximum of _value_ bytes from the key file. The default
               is to read the whole file up to the compiled-in maximum that
               can be queried with --help. Supplying more data than the
               compiled-in maximum aborts the operation.
    
               This option is useful to cut trailing newlines, for example.
               If --keyfile-offset is also given, the size count starts after
               the offset.
    
           **--timeout** , **-t** _seconds_
               The number of seconds to wait before a timeout on passphrase
               input via terminal. It is relevant every time a passphrase is
               asked. It has no effect if used in conjunction with
               --key-file.
    
               This option is useful when the system should not stall if the
               user does not input a passphrase, e.g., during boot. The
               default is a value of 0 seconds, which means to wait forever.
    
           **--type** _type_
               Specifies required device type, for more info, read the _BASIC_
               _ACTIONS_ section in cryptsetup(8).
    
           **--usage**
               Show short option help.
    
           **--verify-passphrase** , **-y**
               When interactively asking for a passphrase, ask for it twice
               and complain if both inputs do not match. Ignored on input
               from file or stdin.
    
           **--version** , **-V**
               Show the program version.
    


## CRYPTSETUP



           Part of cryptsetup project
           <https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/>. This page is part of
           the _Cryptsetup_ ((open-source disk encryption)) project.
           Information about the project can be found at 
           ⟨https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup⟩. If you have a bug
           report for this manual page, send it to dm-crypt@saout.de. This
           page was obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
           ⟨https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup.git⟩ on 2025-08-11. (At
           that time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in
           the repository was 2025-08-01.) If you discover any rendering
           problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there is
           a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
           corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
           (which is _not_ part of the original manual page), send a mail to
           man-pages@man7.org
    
    cryptsetup 2.8.1-git            2025-08-09     _CRYPTSETUP...SREMOVEKEY_(8)
    


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