Editing Openai/695158d7-1b68-800b-a02f-4817bf1f6d25 (section)

=== Assistant: Nice — you’re asking exactly the right next-level questions. ===
Nice — you’re asking exactly the right next-level questions. I’ll keep this short(ish) and actionable: explain why you’re seeing what you see, show the safe/simple path you should take now, and then give the exact manual commands you can use only if you want to do everything by hand.

==== 1. If you want LVM thin (recommended for Qubes) and also unencrypted media partitions, use the Custom flow (not Advanced) and pick LVM Thin Provisioning there. ====
# If you already went into Advanced (Blivet), first create the unencrypted partitions (EFI, /boot, media) before you create the encrypted LUKS partition. The installer will then create the LUKS/LVM inside the correct partition.
# If Blivet GUI doesn’t show a “thin” checkbox, don’t panic — either go back to the earlier Custom screen to pick LVM Thin, or you can create a thin pool manually from the live terminal (commands below). Manual commands are powerful but risky — only use them if you’re comfortable.

==== - /boot/efi (vfat) is the EFI System Partition (ESP). It is a real partition (e.g. /dev/nvme0n1p1). BLIVET may display it under the device or grouped by mountpoint — that’s just UI representation. ====
* /boot is usually an unencrypted small partition (here 1024 MiB). Qubes keeps /boot unencrypted so the bootloader & initramfs can be read to unlock the encrypted LUKS container.
* / (qubes-dom0-root) and swap are logical volumes created inside the encrypted LUKS → LVM. The installer auto-created small defaults (20 GiB root, ~4 GiB swap) for dom0. You can change sizes — but they live inside the LVM VG.

==== Yes — but only if you create partitions outside the LUKS container. ====

How to do that in Blivet/Advanced:
* Create a partition on the disk and do not mark it for encryption (e.g. /dev/nvme0n1p3, size 700 GiB). Format it as ext4 (or leave unformatted to format later as exFAT). This partition will be unencrypted and accessible if you mount it in a VM.
* Create the partition you do want encrypted (e.g. 150 GiB) and mark that one for LUKS. Inside that LUKS container you'll create the LVM PV/VG and LVs for the system.

So the trick: put unencrypted partitions alongside the LUKS partition. Don’t try to create unencrypted LVs "inside" an encrypted PV — once PV is inside LUKS, everything inside is encrypted.

==== This is a UI thing. nvme0n1p1 is a partition on the drive. BLIVET groups mountpoints and shows logical relationships; it may visually nest boot/efi under the device or volume. As long as that partition is vfat and not marked LUKS, it’s correct. ====

==== - In the Custom install flow there’s a specific toggle or radio to choose LVM Thin Provisioning. That’s the easy way — pick Custom, choose Thin, then only use Advanced if you need per-partition control. ====
* If you’re already in Advanced and don’t see a “thin” checkbox, you can: 1. Go back to the previous screen and pick Custom → choose LVM Thin (recommended), or 2. Create the LUKS + VG with the GUI and then create the thin pool manually in a terminal (commands below).

==== Only follow this if you understand CLI and have a backup. Replace device names and sizes to match your layout. ====

Assume you created partitions:
* /dev/nvme0n1p1 — EFI (vfat), 600 MiB — unencrypted
* /dev/nvme0n1p2 — /boot 1024 MiB — unencrypted
* /dev/nvme0n1p3 — 150 GiB — intended for LUKS (system)
* /dev/nvme0n1p4 — media (rest) — unencrypted

Commands (run in the live installer terminal):

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash"># 1) format and set up LUKS on the partition
sudo cryptsetup luksFormat --type luks2 /dev/nvme0n1p3
=== open it (choose a name like cryptroot) ===
sudo cryptsetup open /dev/nvme0n1p3 cryptroot

=== 2) create LVM PV and VG inside the decrypted mapping ===
sudo pvcreate /dev/mapper/cryptroot
sudo vgcreate Notebook /dev/mapper/cryptroot

=== 3) create dom0 logical volumes (example sizes) ===
sudo lvcreate -L 20G -n qubes-dom0-root Notebook
sudo lvcreate -L 33G -n qubes-dom0-swap Notebook

=== 4) create a thin-pool to back thin LVs (choose size for pool; here 90G as example) ===
sudo lvcreate --type thin-pool -L 90G -n thinpool Notebook

=== 5) create thin logical volumes for VMs (virtual size can be larger than physical) ===
=== e.g., create a 200G-thin LV (virtual size) for VM storage ===
sudo lvcreate -V 200G -T Notebook/thinpool -n qubes-vm-pool

=== 6) create filesystems on LVs where expected (dom0 uses ext4 etc.) ===
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/Notebook/qubes-dom0-root
sudo mkswap /dev/Notebook/qubes-dom0-swap
=== DO NOT mkfs on the thin pool itself ===

</syntaxhighlight>

After this you’d tell the installer where root, swap and the VM pool are (if doing everything manually) or let the installer proceed if it detects these LVs. Again, manual approach requires care.

==== 1. Back out of Advanced if you’re unsure. ====
# Choose Custom (semi-guided). On that screen select LVM Thin Provisioning.
# In the partitioning step create explicitly: - nvme0n1p1 — ESP (vfat, ~600 MiB) — unencrypted - nvme0n1p2 — /boot (~1 GiB) — unencrypted - nvme0n1p3 — 150 GiB — mark as Physical volume (LVM) and enable encryption (this becomes LUKS -> VG) - nvme0n1p4 — media (~700 GiB) — ext4 or unformatted (unencrypted) - optional exchange partition — unformatted/exFAT
# Let the installer create LVs inside the encrypted VG (it will create qubes-dom0-root, swap, and the thin pool/LVs if you chose Thin). If you need custom sizes for dom0 root/swap, adjust them in Custom before applying.

==== - Don’t create swap as a separate unencrypted partition if you want full-disk protection — put swap inside the encrypted LUKS/LV. ====
* If you choose to do LVM thin manually, monitor free space — thin pools can run out and cause issues.

If you want, tell me which path you want now:
* A) I’ll walk you step-by-step in the installer GUI (exact clicks for Custom → partition setup).
* B) I’ll provide a ready-to-run script of the exact cryptsetup + pvcreate + vgcreate + lvcreate commands tailored to your chosen sizes.

Pick A or B and I’ll give the exact next steps.