Hallo,
i´ve read a lot of the documentation, ini-files etc. but couldnt find anything regarding the following question.
Is there a way to use an alternative data dir (e.g. via commandline option) after the start of an portable app?
Explantion: I use the portableapps suite at home, at work and on nearly every pc i work on. I use a (relatively small) truecrypt container for my personal data (documents, password files etc.) but dont want to encrypt the whole drive or the complete portable apps suite. So my idea was to redirect only the data directories to my truecrypt container and use the unencrypted portable apps files for program start.
Example:
Now:
G: = usb drive without encryption
G:\PortableApps\ThunderbirdPortable\App
G:\PortableApps\ThunderbirdPortable\Data
G:\PortableApps\ThunderbirdPortable\Other
Start of "ThunderbirdPortable.exe" uses/creates Data-Directory for user-data in app directory
Idea:
G: = usb drive without encryption
G:\PortableApps\ThunderbirdPortable\App
G:\PortableApps\ThunderbirdPortable\Other
Start of "ThunderbirdPortable.exe /datadir:P:\PortableApps" uses/creates data directory from commandline option
P: = encrypted usb drive
P:\PortableApps\ThunderbirdPortable\Data
This way the user-data would be encrypted and the encrypted container doesnt need to be very big. Maybe later an option can be added to the portableapps-menu to set the "root" directory for the DataDir to a different directory.
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Hopefully someone will reply soon regarding your main question but I wonder why you don't want to encrypt most of the drive including the PortableApps.
I have been doing it this way for 5 years. There were many posts back then describing the advantages. Mainly it's faster and more secure. You can just keep a few utilities, Truecrypt and antivirus programs in the insecure portion of the drive and keep everything else in the secure container.
Thanks for the reply.
The idea is that i just have to copy the encrypted container with the data dirs and my personal documents etc to backup all my important data. Another advantage would be that you can just copy the complete app dir e.g. to another stick or a local drive to "deploy" a fresh portable app suite (as i´ve done a lot of times) without the worry about copying all the data dirs with your personal data/profiles etc.
I´ve tried with a large container with truecrypt but my impression was that it was somehow slow. Maybe that was because of the usb stick itself (i´ve already ordered a new one).
What is the best way to enrypt a drive: Encrypt the whole drive or just a (big) partition. Which tool works best for this purpose ?
"A dwarf might hear you. And what then?" - Dr. Alan Statham (Green Wing)
As a data-centric person I agree with you about the advantages of separating the data from the applications. However from PortableApps point of view it is so much easier to have the apps' data folders with the apps. I know it would be possible to have a parallel folder structure and everywhere in their code redirect to it but it makes their installer and updater simpler and easier to maintain and reduces the number of support issues if they don't.
I am not a dev here but I think from posts I've read before they won't implement your suggestion, but if they did you wouldn't get it for months as there is a long list of outstanding issues and upcoming features, see here: https://portableapps.com/node/28593.
Encrypt almost the whole drive with Truecrypt leaving just enough for a few utilities as I said in my first post.
If these weren't removable drives and they were formatted with NTFS, you could use symbolic links. That's what I'm doing right now.
Previously known as kAlug.