I have TAILS (Debian based) on VirtualBox virtual machine.

I want to access a USB on my host that is password protected.

How can I 1) locate the USB and 2) then open it then 3) input my password and access it in TAILS?

I already have it open on the host.

Is tails a true install or simply a live boot?

What is host OS? Anyway, if you have it open on host it may be easier to mount it to share it on host to client.

A device that is connected to host can not be connected to the guest at the same time. You need to eject it from windows and then on the guest menu select usb devices and then select the drive to enable it. It should then be available.

How do I locate it once I go through this process.

I just went to the "devices" drop down menu and clicked on "unknown usb device." Then it said it had successfully installed the drivers.

How do I locate this "unknown device" to find out if it is my USB stick?

The output of the lsusb command will show the device as well as the output of the blkid or lsblk.

by adding a usb filter to the virtualbox manager I was able to locate the usb on TAILS,

but to open TAILS there are two applications
1. is where you activate the usb and input the password
2. then the actual main file opens

I can find these applications in TAILS but none will open so I can put in the password.

In one case, a message comes on saying it is DOS based on and is incompatible.

I need to be able to open USB's etc when I run linux for real, and I am sure there is a way to do this.

Can you suggest the mistake I am making or is it just not possible through the virtual machine?

How was the USB drive password protected?

In windows you open "computer" and you can see the icons for the drive eg F, and you can see the icon for the usb device.

You must first click on the usb icon and input the password.

then the drive F will open and you can access your files.

no password field appears with TAILS.

That does not tell us how the drive was originally password protected or encrypted. Posting the manufacture of the drive might help. Many use a windows application which is not compatible with linux.

manufacturer: EMTEC

http://www.emtec-international.com/en-us/faq

http://www.emtec-international.com/e...eases-S450-AES

I bought it in the EU.

I just checked the EMTEC site again and it mentions only Windows OS's.

http://www.emtec-international.com/e...eases-S450-AES

This is not the same model, however.


Is there a way to go into BIOS to get TAILS open it, password or not?

A quick search did not find anything that says its linux compatible. I assume the lock application is windows only.

there may be a way to get into a USB that is already open on the Win host through "shared folders" configuration. I configured VirtualBox to recognize the folder inside the USB. TAILS says its there but I cannot yet find it.