Installing Older Versions of VeraCrypt on Linux: A Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction:

During some house cleaning I had an old external drive that was encrypted with an old version of truecrypt. I wanted to mount the drive and see what was left on it but the issue was that the latest version of veracrypt isn't backward compatable with the drive. Knowing this, I needed to download the old source code so that I could use the drive. This was done on a ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS. Below are the notes to get it to work on the system. 

Step 1: Download the Older Version of VeraCrypt Begin by visiting the VeraCrypt website (https://veracrypt.fr/code/VeraCrypt/) and navigating to the "Older Versions" section. Here, you'll find a list of previous releases of VeraCrypt. Choose the version you wish to install and download the corresponding package for Linux.

Step 2: Extract the Downloaded Package Once the download is complete, navigate to the directory where the package is saved and extract it using the following command:

tar zxvf VeraCrypt_1.25.4.tar.gz

Replace <veracrypt_package.tar.gz> with the name of the downloaded package.

Step 3: Install Required Dependencies Before installing VeraCrypt, ensure that you have the required dependencies installed on your system. These dependencies may vary depending on your Linux distribution. Common dependencies include gcc, make, libfuse-dev, libwxgtk3.0-gtk3-dev, and libgtk-3-dev. You can install these dependencies using your distribution's package manager. For example, on Ubuntu, you can use the following command:

sudo apt-get install gcc make libfuse-dev libwxgtk3.0-gtk3-dev libgtk-3-dev

sudo apt install -y build-essential yasm pkg-config libwxgtk3.0-gtk3-dev

sudo apt install -y libfuse-dev git libpcsclite-dev  

Step 4: Compile and Install VeraCrypt Navigate to the directory where the VeraCrypt source code was extracted and run the following command to compile and install VeraCrypt:

sudo make sudo make install

This will compile the VeraCrypt source code and install the binary files on your system.

Step 5: Verify the Installation To verify that VeraCrypt has been installed successfully, open a terminal and run the following command:

./veracrypt --version

You should see the version number of the installed VeraCrypt binary printed in the terminal.

Step 6: Launch VeraCrypt You can now launch VeraCrypt by running the following command in the terminal:

./veracrypt

This will open the VeraCrypt graphical user interface, allowing you to create encrypted volumes and manage your encrypted data.

Conclusion: Installing an older version of VeraCrypt on Linux is a straightforward process that ensures you have access to the version of the software that best meets your needs. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can easily install and use older versions of VeraCrypt on your Linux system, enabling you to secure your sensitive data with confidence.