Feature Request - PDF Erase Certificate

[ghost]

Hello Sir / Team. Can you create option for PDF Certificate? I think ShredOS and several others that use your awesome app also need/want that option. I have tried editing, tweaking and modifying the log file console output, and the logging.X files, but I am not a coder or developer so am not able to do it correctly. I tried getting the log file and then parsing data out of it, but at code,app, and logging level this seems like a much easier way to get desired results. Lsoft and Blannco both have similiar formats for certificates. The 1 page simple option would work perfectly, the extended option report not required. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11cElrgaIQUcXL_Cxoc71TM2ho55H05NQ?usp=share_link Most of that infomation you are already getting from logging and dmidecode and it seemed there would be a way to have user options for specified attributes in logging, or having a separate pdf generated cert option. LSOFT uses an XML file to edit for emailing the cert via smtp, and company, technician info and a path for company logo. I thought with common linux tools like: text2pdf, enscript, ps2pdf or http://rst2pdf.github.io/ this might be implemented with reasonable ease, and work. ( I know sorry, If I know how to do it,, I would code it in myself.) Your current Table Summary prettified would work, with a possible file for adding company, technican, and logo would work just as well actually. If you cannot add this feature, is there any tips on a way to achieve this that you know of and you can post and share?

[PartialVolume]

Ever since I first started working on Nwipe & ShredOS having nwipe create a pdf certificate for each drive wiped has always been one of my pet features I've always wanted to implement, but not got round to.

I've even got the code to embed into nwipe that creates the pdf file, just not pushed it to the master yet.

I'm hopefully going to have a couple of quiet weeks this week and next. No promises but let me see what I can come up with ... Including a config file you can put on the stick that allows some customisation of the certificate including your own logo.

[ScubyG]

This would be fantastic, i'd be happy to help out with any testing and/or documentation

[ghost]

Hello,

Yes, that is possible Great News. I can do testing as well, or documentation, maybe graphics or other work. I can tweak and edit some different types of code, just not a coder.I'd help in any way I can if I have the skill needed sir. I'm not sure what method you are referring to as part of your code? I assume the language you wrote most of Nwipe in.

Another project I worked on was my Killdisk Suite, I have a separate Lsoft Killdisk image and files I tweaked. But after finding out about Nwipe ( ShredOS is I think too bulky for what I need, and complex, as I tried looking at all the code and couldn't figure it out. ) I am thinking I can use a bootable Ubuntu/Debian XFCE/LXQT/KDE ISO, unpack it, add custom Nwipe, and a few other tools, and think about adding IPXE boot to it as well. ( I had a test IPXE mini server setup and working with unmanaged switch) If I can get the ISO configured to do a Certificate email (This is a bit tricky because you have to know what ports are not blocked and test different methods) as well I will be dancing in the rain as the Recycle Life / EOL is such a burden for users, corporations. It is a DREAD in my IT Work I do. It is so clunky and manual work is required, pulling drives out for systems that don't power on or boot, etc...

For Testing if helpful- I have access to about 5 different models of desktops & laptops( Old & newer HDD interfaces) and a hyper-v home lab.

I'll keep a lookout at emails in case in the future I can help in any way.

Thanks so much for your Jet Speed Reply. :)

I want a certificate PDF to validate the wipe/erase and attach to tickets, or upload to sharepoint. I want to use it for easing Recycle / Erase Process

On Sat, Feb 11, 2023 at 3:30 PM Davy Jones @.***> wrote:

This would be fantastic, i'd be happy to help out with any testing and/or documentation

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[PartialVolume]

Well, I may get this completed quicker than I initially thought. I've created a branch, created four extra files in nwipe, create_pdf.c, create_pdf.h, pdfgen.c and pdfgen.h, populated them with the PDF creation code and I'm now designing the layout of the pdf. The layout of the document may take a day or two as in the code it's done with commands like:

    pdf_set_font(pdf, "Times-Roman");
    pdf_append_page(pdf);
    pdf_add_text(pdf, NULL, "Nwipe Erasure Certificate", 12, 50, 100 , PDF_BLACK);
    pdf_add_line(pdf, NULL, 50, 24, 550, 24, 3, PDF_BLACK);
    pdf_add_line(pdf, NULL, 50, 600, 550, 600, 3, PDF_BLACK);
    pdf_save(pdf, "output.pdf");

Fundamentally, the basics are in place. Give me a day or two and I should have an example PDF to show you.

Thanks for the example certificate you provided. It helps to see what other software outputs onto the certificate.

[PartialVolume]

It looks like the United States & Canada and one or two South American countries are still using Letter (8.5 × 11 inches) as opposed to A4 like most of the rest of the world, is that still the case?

If so I'll need to create two slightly different formats for the PDF Erasure Certificate with an option to select the paper size. Are there any other non international paper sizes still being used like Russia or does Russia generally use A4?

[ghost]

Wayne <<< Scratching head, dumbfounded... I'm in USA so I am not sure.

But, looking here.. A Paper Sizes | A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9 (paper-size.com) https://paper-size.com/c/a-paper-sizes.html#:~:text=The%20most%20frequently%20used%20paper%20size%20is%20A4,standard%20dimensions%20are%20rounded%20to%20the%20nearest%20millimetre.

They look almost the same size A4 and US Letter... so with a wide enough margin... would A4 work for US as well?

On Sat, Feb 11, 2023 at 8:43 PM PartialVolume @.***> wrote:

It looks like the United States & Canada and one or two South American countries are still using Letter (8.5 × 11 inches) as opposed to A4 like most of the rest of the world, is that still the case?

If so I'll need to create two slightly different formats for the PDF Erasure Certificate with an option to select the paper size. Are there any other non international paper sizes still being used like Russia or does Russia generally use A4?

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[ghost]

I tried to lookup Russia specifically as asked, but you may be correct that just US, Canada, and a few others use a different sizing than all the rest of the world standard. Kinda like metric vs inches too huh ? :)

I think A4 might work, most serial numbers, vendors, status , etc... should all be pretty short length in characters unless an oddball occurrence happens like testing Virtual Machine hdd's which may come up with a long string,

From recollection most info on a hdd erase certificate is about 1-2 inches, so if on a table with 2 column I think everything should fit. Is there an easy way to code auto-size, shrink-to-fit automatically on pdf generation?

On Sat, Feb 11, 2023 at 9:24 PM Wayne Burlingame @.***> wrote:

Wayne <<< Scratching head, dumbfounded... I'm in USA so I am not sure.

But, looking here.. A Paper Sizes | A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9 (paper-size.com) https://paper-size.com/c/a-paper-sizes.html#:~:text=The%20most%20frequently%20used%20paper%20size%20is%20A4,standard%20dimensions%20are%20rounded%20to%20the%20nearest%20millimetre.

They look almost the same size A4 and US Letter... so with a wide enough margin... would A4 work for US as well?

On Sat, Feb 11, 2023 at 8:43 PM PartialVolume @.***> wrote:

It looks like the United States & Canada and one or two South American countries are still using Letter (8.5 × 11 inches) as opposed to A4 like most of the rest of the world, is that still the case?

If so I'll need to create two slightly different formats for the PDF Erasure Certificate with an option to select the paper size. Are there any other non international paper sizes still being used like Russia or does Russia generally use A4?

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/martijnvanbrummelen/nwipe/issues/426#issuecomment-1426927210, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/A5VWIHKVBVM23A3LIYFKEPLWXBE6RANCNFSM6AAAAAAUY4E3A4 . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: @.***>

[PartialVolume]

would A4 work for US as well

US letter is slightly wider and a bit shorter, so I could size the output to the smallest common denominator in both x & y so it fits on any size.

Trouble is I hate having to print US documents on A4 because the top and bottom margins look too large. I guess On a US printer A4 has left, right margin that are too large and text is reduced in size to fit the shorter page.

Personally I'd like it to look right on both US, A4 and maybe even Chinese D formats.

I'm planning on putting an optional amount of smart data on the certificate, possibly more than on the Blanco and kill disk certificates, along with drive details and user/company/customer/technician details.

Top of the certificate will be a nice big green tick if the erase was successful or a big red cross of the drive failed or was user aborted, along with all the wipe method and details and logo.

I tend to fold the A4 certificate and attach it to the drive with a couple of rubber bands so seeing a nice big green tick or red cross gives a quick indication that the drive has been dealt with.

[ghost]

Martijnvan,

OK, That sounds much more professional looking. I'm not to familiar with all the different formats for paper and print.

I attached a USA NIST PDF, and it might help to let you verify most of what is needed, at least suggested by NIST. My assumption would be that most governments might be similar and want the same information on the erase/wipe certificates. This might guide you a bit.

I used the search feature and 100+ occurrences came up for search "verif" so it would include: Verify, Verified, Verification, etc..." You probably already have most of this based on the other certs, but it might help if needed.

On Sat, Feb 11, 2023 at 9:51 PM PartialVolume @.***> wrote:

would A4 work for US as well

US letter is slightly wider and a bit shorter, so I could size the output to the smallest common denominator in both x & y so it fits on any size.

Trouble is I hate having to print US documents on A4 because the top and bottom margins look too large. I guess On a US printer A4 has left, right margin that are too large and text is reduced in size to fit the shorter page.

Personally I'd like it to look right on both US, A4 and maybe even Chinese D formats.

I'm planning on putting an optional amount of smart data on the certificate, possibly more than on the Blanco and kill disk certificates, along with drive details and user/company/customer/technician details.

Top of the certificate will be a nice big green tick if the erase was successful or a big red cross of the drive failed or was user aborted, along with all the wipe method and details and logo.

I tend to fold the A4 certificate and attach it to the drive with a couple of rubber bands so seeing a nice big green tick or red cross gives a quick indication that the drive has been dealt with.

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[ghost]

FYI... Last Page of PDF has a "Complete Example" of recommended Certificate data fields, but I presume this is overkill, but most of that info it looks like dmidecode or other tools can gather that info dmidecode with other options maybe configurable by user of Nwipe to configure and save to certificate as needed.Some fields could be simplified; EG: Media Destination; Redeploy / Recycle / Resale.

Have you considered this...? All the methods for so many wipe/erase programs are so old and stale, with a few optimized and re-vamped methods for wiping, your old fork of dban could be one of the leading up-to-date wipe tools in the world. :) Just a happy, positive thought. :)

On Sat, Feb 11, 2023 at 10:15 PM Wayne Burlingame @.***> wrote:

Martijnvan,

OK, That sounds much more professional looking. I'm not to familiar with all the different formats for paper and print.

I attached a USA NIST PDF, and it might help to let you verify most of what is needed, at least suggested by NIST. My assumption would be that most governments might be similar and want the same information on the erase/wipe certificates. This might guide you a bit.

I used the search feature and 100+ occurrences came up for search "verif" so it would include: Verify, Verified, Verification, etc..." You probably already have most of this based on the other certs, but it might help if needed.

On Sat, Feb 11, 2023 at 9:51 PM PartialVolume @.***> wrote:

would A4 work for US as well

US letter is slightly wider and a bit shorter, so I could size the output to the smallest common denominator in both x & y so it fits on any size.

Trouble is I hate having to print US documents on A4 because the top and bottom margins look too large. I guess On a US printer A4 has left, right margin that are too large and text is reduced in size to fit the shorter page.

Personally I'd like it to look right on both US, A4 and maybe even Chinese D formats.

I'm planning on putting an optional amount of smart data on the certificate, possibly more than on the Blanco and kill disk certificates, along with drive details and user/company/customer/technician details.

Top of the certificate will be a nice big green tick if the erase was successful or a big red cross of the drive failed or was user aborted, along with all the wipe method and details and logo.

I tend to fold the A4 certificate and attach it to the drive with a couple of rubber bands so seeing a nice big green tick or red cross gives a quick indication that the drive has been dealt with.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/martijnvanbrummelen/nwipe/issues/426#issuecomment-1426935678, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/A5VWIHM4H367AWW4IP6BLCLWXBM4DANCNFSM6AAAAAAUY4E3A4 . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: @.***>

[PartialVolume]

I've completed the code that generates the following Disc Erasure Report template in PDF format. This is in A4 format, but I'll be adding US Letter.

This shows it in it's unpopulated state. Next, I'll be writing the code that populates the Erasure Report.

The tick in the top right corner dynamically changes. A green tick saying erased and when the drive fails or is aborted a red cross will be displayed instead, along with information on what the failure was.

The bar code contains the serial number of the drive, however I could also add some sort of digital signature in the form of an encrypted bar code contents so that a report could be verified.

Here's the pdf with a snapshot image shown below.

Any comments on the content of the report, any additional information that you feel should be there or not there are most welcome.

[mdcato]

Nice!

(Sent from mobile)

---

From: PartialVolume @.> Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2023 3:35:34 PM To: martijnvanbrummelen/nwipe @.> Cc: Subscribed @.***> Subject: Re: [martijnvanbrummelen/nwipe] Feature Request - PDF Erase Certificate (Issue #426)

I've completed the code that generates the following Disc Erasure Report template in PDF format. This is in A4 format, but I'll be adding US Letter.

This shows it in it's unpopulated state. Next, I'll be writing the code that populates the Erasure Report.

The tick in the top right corner dynamically changes. A green tick saying erased and when the drive fails or is aborted a red cross will be displayed instead, along with information on what the failure was.

The bar code contains the serial number of the drive, however I could also add some sort of digital signature in the form of an encrypted bar code contents so that a report could be verified.

Here's the pdfhttps://github.com/martijnvanbrummelen/nwipe/files/10717349/output.pdf with a snapshot image shown below.

Any comments on the content of the report, any additional information that you feel should be there or not there are most welcome.

[Screenshot_20230212_212950]https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/22084881/218338426-4419d59f-b4b0-4451-ac6e-204988206b4b.png

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/martijnvanbrummelen/nwipe/issues/426#issuecomment-1427138475, or unsubscribehttps://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ANGK2PXWHOIUWWVNC7OCCFTWXFJSNANCNFSM6AAAAAAUY4E3A4. You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: @.***>

[ghost]

Hello!

Well, that looks really nice.

I put on my thinking cap for a minute about what you asked... And the bar code for the Hard Drive Serial is very helpful.

After thinking for a minute.. I want to ask about the wipe session, and if it is possible to do these two things when generating a second bar code and the name of the pdf.

I was Thinking "big quantity, corporate, large volume, recyclers", etc...

To have the name of the file auto-generated from several attributes: EG;

----.PDF My thoughts were that if you are doing several or many wipes, and that need to be stored for a duration: SnipeIT, SharePoint or other data storage/ Inventory type tracking... Was wondering if the name of the file could use the attributes with dashes in-between, and then the bar code in the cert contain the same info, if a company stored or racked them in a logical method they could be rather easily found. Just trying to think how to optimize the name with the bard code and make great use of it. Technically, the name of the file having the specific serial number is important or it is a needle in a haystack unless you manually create folders or rename the files later, which is not optimal. Question.... can a barcode be made to separate into csv compatible field so if it is scanned, each attribute would get put in it's appropriate column? I'm not familiar with bar codes much. But if you had: HDDSerial-Method-DateCompleted and had an inventory database or spreadsheet with the same named fields for the column does the attribute get/input itself into each appropriate column? That is a major EXTRA! :) Just getting the logging file cleaned up, and made useful, at it spit out a lot of useless, unorganized data, and the PDF Creation is really important, since one the console log was gone, if logging was setup, you could get the log file but it is ugly and unusable from the stand-point of using for a nice record and proof of wiping. The certificate is looking very nice, professional, concise and clearly identified. It looks really GOOD! Where will it be saved? To a root folder on a USB Drive if booting from a bootable OS/Utility thumb drive? Also, that gives the opportunity for others to extend the feature with possibly doing: Mapped Drives, NFS, Emailing Cert, Cloud Storage if there is internet access, etc... I think it looks really good, and professional. You did a quick job on getting much of this completed already. Great Work! I'm sure ShredOs, and others using NWipe will be glad this is being implemented as an added feature, as it is very helpful. On Sun, Feb 12, 2023 at 1:35 PM PartialVolume ***@***.***> wrote: > I've completed the code that generates the following Disc Erasure Report > template in PDF format. This is in A4 format, but I'll be adding US Letter. > > This shows it in it's unpopulated state. Next, I'll be writing the code > that populates the Erasure Report. > > The tick in the top right corner dynamically changes. A green tick saying > erased and when the drive fails or is aborted a red cross will be displayed > instead, along with information on what the failure was. > > The bar code contains the serial number of the drive, however I could also > add some sort of digital signature in the form of an encrypted bar code > contents so that a report could be verified. > > Here's the pdf > > with a snapshot image shown below. > > Any comments on the content of the report, any additional information that > you feel should be there or not there are most welcome. > > [image: Screenshot_20230212_212950] > > > — > Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub > , > or unsubscribe > > . > You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: > ***@***.***> >

[ghost]

LOL, Did I answer your question?

Yes, I think a digital signature would be a valuable addition. If governments, companies, healthcare, plants, etc... that would require this, it allows them to use NWipe as the tool of choice.

On Sun, Feb 12, 2023 at 2:07 PM mdcato @.***> wrote:

Nice!

(Sent from mobile)

---

From: PartialVolume @.> Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2023 3:35:34 PM To: martijnvanbrummelen/nwipe @.> Cc: Subscribed @.***> Subject: Re: [martijnvanbrummelen/nwipe] Feature Request - PDF Erase Certificate (Issue #426)

I've completed the code that generates the following Disc Erasure Report template in PDF format. This is in A4 format, but I'll be adding US Letter.

This shows it in it's unpopulated state. Next, I'll be writing the code that populates the Erasure Report.

The tick in the top right corner dynamically changes. A green tick saying erased and when the drive fails or is aborted a red cross will be displayed instead, along with information on what the failure was.

The bar code contains the serial number of the drive, however I could also add some sort of digital signature in the form of an encrypted bar code contents so that a report could be verified.

Here's the pdf< https://github.com/martijnvanbrummelen/nwipe/files/10717349/output.pdf> with a snapshot image shown below.

Any comments on the content of the report, any additional information that you feel should be there or not there are most welcome.

[Screenshot_20230212_212950]< https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/22084881/218338426-4419d59f-b4b0-4451-ac6e-204988206b4b.png

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub< https://github.com/martijnvanbrummelen/nwipe/issues/426#issuecomment-1427138475>, or unsubscribe< https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ANGK2PXWHOIUWWVNC7OCCFTWXFJSNANCNFSM6AAAAAAUY4E3A4

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[PartialVolume]

@shiroscout

Well, that looks really nice.

Thanks, compliments to AndreRenaud for the very nice pdf generation library.

After thinking for a minute.. I want to ask about the wipe session, and if it is possible to do these two things when generating a second bar code and the name of the pdf.

Yes, that could be added or even defined from a config file.

Was wondering if the name of the file could use the attributes with dashes in-between, and then the bar code in the cert contain the same info, if a company stored or racked them in a logical method they could be rather easily found. Just trying to think how to optimize the name with the bard code and make great use of it.

Yes, I've not decided on the format of the file but yes it will uniquely identify the drive and when it was wiped.

Question.... can a barcode be made to separate into csv compatible field so if it is scanned, each attribute would get put in it's appropriate column? I'm not familiar with bar codes much. But if you had: HDDSerial-Method-DateCompleted and had an inventory database or spreadsheet with the same named fields for the column does the attribute get/input itself into each appropriate column?

Not quite sure what you mean there, but if you wanted the data that's in the certificate to be output as a csv file, then yes that could be added.

Where will it be saved? To a root folder on a USB Drive if booting from a bootable OS/Utility thumb drive? Also, that gives the opportunity for others to extend the feature with possibly doing: Mapped Drives, NFS, Emailing Cert, Cloud Storage if there is internet access, etc...

On ShredOS it will be written to the USB drive or could be ftp'ed to another computer. With Nwipe running standalone on a linux distro it will get saved to the current directory.

[PartialVolume]

Progress so far... shows certificate after wipe completes successfully and further down the certificate that's produced if you abort the wipe. By using red and green text to show success and failure along with a big red cross or a big green tick leaves the user in doubt whether the wipe was successful or not.

Something to note, the bytes erased is how much of the disc has been obliterated prior to the user abort or I/O error. The bytes erased will match the disc size if the erasure completed successfully and the percentage erased will read 100%.

The percentage is not related to the percentage you see when wiping the drive. The percentage completion shown during a wipe is taking into account the total of all passes and verification.

Personally I thing the bytes erased percentage is very useful when wiping a drive that fails so you can see how much of the drive was wiped and how much wasn't ..

Which brings me to another feature I want to add. A reverse wipe, A wipe that starts at the opposite end of the disc. Useful if you do get a I/O error at a specific point, often the start of the disc you can then tell it to reverse wipe which could result in most of the drive being successfully wiped.

The barcode contains the drive model & serial number and I'm thinking of appending a :A, :E, :F to indicate aborted, erased, failed.

While I'm on a bit of a roll next will be ... HPA DCO detection, pre and post erase followed by the organisation, customer sections which will involve writing some functions to read/write the new /etc/nwipe.conf file.

User aborted wipe after 41 seconds, certificate shows 1.8% of the drive has been wiped and zero rounds completed.

[PartialVolume]

nwipe can now detect a host protected area, currently adding GUI code so the user can see the HPA status from the drive selection screen.

Here's what currently appears in the log when it scans the drives during startup.

Interestingly, as I've been playing around with hdparm I've found that after adding a HPA or disabling the HPA, you really need to power cycle the drive, at least on the drives/host I'm using, anybody else that's familiar with using hdparm for disabling or adding a HPA find that it has it's quirks.

[2023/02/24 12:21:48] info: nwipe 0.34 .. .. [2023/02/24 12:21:48] debug: hpa_dco_status: hdparm command hdparm -N /dev/sda [2023/02/24 12:21:48] info: [GOOD]The host protected area is disabled on /dev/sda [2023/02/24 12:21:48] notice: Found /dev/sda, ATA, WDC WD5000BEVT-0, 500 GB, S/N=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX [2023/02/24 12:21:48] debug: hpa_dco_status: hdparm command hdparm -N /dev/sdb [2023/02/24 12:21:48] warning: [BAD]The host protected area is enabled on /dev/sdb [2023/02/24 12:21:48] notice: Found /dev/sdb, ATA, SAMSUNG HD161HJ, 159 GB, S/N=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX [2023/02/24 12:21:48] debug: hpa_dco_status: hdparm command hdparm -N /dev/sdc [2023/02/24 12:21:48] warning: [BAD]The host protected area is enabled on /dev/sdc [2023/02/24 12:21:48] notice: Found /dev/sdc, ATA, Hitachi HDS72105, 500 GB, S/N=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX [2023/02/24 12:21:48] info: Automatically enumerated 3 devices. [2023/02/24 12:21:48] notice: bios-version = A13 [2023/02/24 12:21:48] notice: bios-release-date = 03/27/2013 [2023/02/24 12:21:48] notice: system-manufacturer = Dell Inc

[ghost]

Hi,

This is an interesting topic, because I had thought myself about the possibility of HPA and if there was a way to to do a hdparm scan/check/initialize before Nwipe loaded, that way when Nwipe loaded and looked for drives it might already see the HPA if there were any. Just a way to possibly pre-check and potential find full correct drive info.

On your previous email I have a question about the pdf... is there also a log/cert directory the cert pdf can be copied to on machine it is running from, if not a usb thumb drive like c:\temp or something similar?

I am still hoping for an SMTP/Mail option as that might be able to be automated for mail sends.

I''ve downloaded latest github code, and saw the pdf files and folders but not had a chance to create usb thumb drive to test out yet if ready.

I work at a plant so I have about 5-10 different desktop and laptop models I can test on, old and new models with different hard drive types, so looking forward to testing.

Awesome improvements on Nwipe!

Thank you for your responsiveness to users feedback on needs or features! :)

On Fri, Feb 24, 2023 at 6:24 AM PartialVolume @.***> wrote:

nwipe can now detect a host protected area, currently adding GUI code so the user can see the HPA status from the driver selection screen.

Here's what currently appears in the log when it scans the drives during startup.

Interestingly, as I've been playing around with hdparm I've found that after adding a HPA or disabling the HPA, you really need to power cycle the drive, at least on the drives/host I'm using, anybody else that's familiar with using hdparm for disabling or adding a HPA find that it has it's quirks.

[2023/02/24 12:21:48] info: nwipe 0.34 .. .. [2023/02/24 12:21:48] debug: hpa_dco_status: hdparm command hdparm -N /dev/sda [2023/02/24 12:21:48] info: [GOOD]The host protected area is disabled on /dev/sda [2023/02/24 12:21:48] notice: Found /dev/sda, ATA, WDC WD5000BEVT-0, 500 GB, S/N=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX [2023/02/24 12:21:48] debug: hpa_dco_status: hdparm command hdparm -N /dev/sdb [2023/02/24 12:21:48] warning: [BAD]The host protected area is enabled on /dev/sdb [2023/02/24 12:21:48] notice: Found /dev/sdb, ATA, SAMSUNG HD161HJ, 159 GB, S/N=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX [2023/02/24 12:21:48] debug: hpa_dco_status: hdparm command hdparm -N /dev/sdc [2023/02/24 12:21:48] warning: [BAD]The host protected area is enabled on /dev/sdc [2023/02/24 12:21:48] notice: Found /dev/sdc, ATA, Hitachi HDS72105, 500 GB, S/N=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX [2023/02/24 12:21:48] info: Automatically enumerated 3 devices. [2023/02/24 12:21:48] notice: bios-version = A13 [2023/02/24 12:21:48] notice: bios-release-date = 03/27/2013 [2023/02/24 12:21:48] notice: system-manufacturer = Dell Inc

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[PartialVolume]

On your previous email I have a question about the pdf... is there also a log/cert directory the cert pdf can be copied to on machine it is running from, if not a usb thumb drive like c:\temp or something similar?

If running nwipe on a linux distro the certificate will be written to the directory you run nwipe from. On ShredOS the certificate will be written to the virtual RAM disc in / and also to the / of the USB device you booted from. In addition you can ftp the certificate to a local server. I can add a path option to nwipe so you could specify where you want it to go, something like sudo nwipe --report-path=/home/james/data/

I am still hoping for an SMTP/Mail option as that might be able to be automated for mail sends.

I'll add a mail send feature to ShredOS or maybe nwipe itself so you can email logs and certificates to an email address. I'll probably also add encryption which can be optionally selected by the user so that the attached log and certificate arrive as encrypted files at the email address and can be de-encrypted using gpg.

I''ve downloaded latest github code, and saw the pdf files and folders but not had a chance to create usb thumb drive to test out yet if ready.

Don't forget the master and any branches are just for testing and development, not for production use as the code is in a state of flux. For production use always go for the most recent release.

I work at a plant so I have about 5-10 different desktop and laptop models I can test on, old and new models with different hard drive types, so looking forward to testing.

Always need plenty of help testing, anything thing that doesn't make sense, doesn't work as it should or is just plain wrong please report as an issue on nwipe or ShredOS. Discussions over on ShredOS is useful for questions about nwipe & ShredOS.

Awesome improvements on Nwipe! Thank you for your responsiveness to users feedback on needs or features! :)

No problem, glad it's useful. Once I'm through with HPA/DSO & the certificate, next on the list is a new method "ATA Secure ERASE" where instead of nwipe doing the wipe, it will issue the secure erase command to the drive and the drives firmware does the wipe, nwipe will still monitor the wipe with a percentage value. You can then select within nwipe the verify option to determine whether the drive did actually erase itself.

So probably going to add two new methods

• Secure Erase, consisting of a secure erase and then you can optionally select ones or zeros or no blanking , plus verification.
• Secure Erase + PRNG, consisting of a secure erase then one pass of a prng, with optional 1/0's blanking & verify.

[PartialVolume]

Currently the log entries for HPA/DCO look as below. A NVMe drive which doesn't have HPA/DSO and a 500GB drive plugged into a SATA to USB adapter which is not recommended to be honest unless it supports full ATA pass through which an awful lot don't, which may explain the message [UNSURE] hdparm reports invalid output, buggy drive firmware on /dev/sda?

For temperature monitoring and HPA/DSO detection and correction to work reliably you probably want to avoid SATA/IDE to USB adapters. Although nwipe will still wipe the drive ok, you just probably won't be able to make use of all of nwipes features including resetting the HPA.

[2023/02/26 22:46:29] warning: [UNSURE] hdparm reports invalid output, buggy drive firmware on /dev/sda?
[2023/02/26 22:46:29]    info: HPA values 976773168 / 976773168 on /dev/sda
[2023/02/26 22:46:29]    info: DCO Real max sectors reported as 976773168 on /dev/sda
[2023/02/26 22:46:29]    info: [GOOD] HPA is disabled on /dev/sda
[2023/02/26 22:46:29]  notice: Found /dev/sda,  USB, WDC WD50 00BPKT-75PK4T0, 500 GB, S/N=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
[2023/02/26 22:46:29]  notice: Found /dev/nvme0n1, NVME, WD Blue SN570 1TB,   1 TB, S/N=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

[gorbiWTF]

SMART data on the PDF would be awesome, because we keep only "good" drives. So having this information right on the certificate would save us a lot of additional work!

[PartialVolume]

SMART data on the PDF would be awesome, because we keep only "good" drives. So having this information right on the certificate would save us a lot of additional work!

I'm planning on putting the smart data on page two and three. I'm thinking of putting the whole lot on the certificate rather than guess what might be useful or not. I'll put an example on here as soon as I've added the code. So if people want to print the certificate they can print all the pages which will pretty tell you everything about the drive or just page 1 which will contain the overall health and the remapped sector count and wipe status, hidden area status etc.

[PartialVolume]

Added a second page to the report, updated the headers, page 1 of 2 - Erasure Status, page 2 of 2 - Smart Data. Managed to squeeze all the data generated by the smartctl -a /dev/sdx command on to page 2 by using 2 columns.

Here's the actual PDF showing an aborted wipe (using the -q option with nwipe to anonymise the data that uniquely identifies the drive for the purposes of public posting).

The icon that normally appears top right, i.e the green tick, yellow exclamation or red cross in a black circle, indicating the status of the wipe, has yet to be added to page 2 but I will add that tomorrow.

[nwipe_report_2023-03-10-22-55-46_Model_ST350031_2CS_Serial_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.pdf] (https://github.com/martijnvanbrummelen/nwipe/files/10946760/nwipe_report_2023-03-10-22-55-46_Model_ST350031_2CS_Serial_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.pdf)

The snapshot of page 2 below, resolution is fairly low in this snapshot so you are better off looking at the actual pdf above.

[Jcroad025]

Has there been any further development in this feature? And do you need any testing to be completed? I have a large pool of drives that need to be erased.

[PartialVolume]

@jcroad025 The only part of PDF report that I need to finish off is the top two sections on page 1, "organisation details" and "customer details". This info will be pulled from the /etc/nwipe.conf file. So I'm hoping to get this done in the next couple of weeks. I think I may do a release after I've completed the PDF code rather than wait any longer to add secure erase. So v0.35 will have PDF reports, HDA/DSO detection and some bug fixes. v0.36 will have secure erase for spinning discs and SSD's/NVME. In that way I can keep to a roughly 6 month release cycle.

I guess that, as maybe is often the case with open source development, my main engineering job takes priority (as that by far pays the bills) and what with life in general, as much as I love working on nwipe I can't devote as much time as I would like, which would probably be 5 days a week. However, having said that I do appreciate you letting me know that you are waiting for a feature. It does help me to prioritise things and get things moving, knowing people are waiting.

[ghost]

Hi All,

I am still interested in the PDF Creation as well and features we had previously talked about.

I just have been pulled into other work duties and had to switch gears away from recycling/lifecycle duties but will be returning my focus to it and doing hard drive wipes soon.

I'll test once the features are completed with Nwipe.

I can use and test shreadedOS as well, but looking forward to Nwipe as it is more suited to my end goals, which is how small and ligh-weight it is and possibly using as a mini PXE boot option.

I'm still here...just got distracted as mentioned by you are well to bill-paying $$ life duties.

Thank You,

Wayne

On Fri, May 19, 2023 at 2:37 AM PartialVolume @.***> wrote:

@Jcroad025 https://github.com/Jcroad025 The only part of PDF report that I need to finish off is the top two sections on page 1, "organisation details" and "customer details". This info will be pulled from the /etc/nwipe.conf file. So I'm hoping to get this done in the next couple of weeks. I think I may do a release after I've completed the PDF code rather than wait any longer to add secure erase. So v0.35 will have PDF reports, HDA/DSO detection and some bug fixes. v0.36 will have secure erase for spinning discs and SSD's/NVME. In that way I can keep to a roughly 6 month release cycle.

I guess that, as maybe is often the case with open source development, my main engineering job takes priority (as that by far pays the bills) and what with life in general, as much as I love working on nwipe I can't devote as much time as I would like, which would probably be 5 days a week. However, having said that I do appreciate you letting me know that you are waiting for a feature. It does help me to prioritise things and get things moving, knowing people are waiting for a feature.

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[Jcroad025]

Thank you @PartialVolume & @shiroscout. Please let me know if you need any testing to be done. I've got around 72 drives to shred so plenty to test on.

[FreeMinded]

@PartialVolume any news on releasing this? I just started using nwipe and this PDF feature would be very much appreciated!

[PartialVolume]

@PartialVolume any news on releasing this? I just started using nwipe and this PDF feature would be very much appreciated!

Hopefully it shouldn't be too much longer, there is only really the /etc/nwipe.conf coding I need to complete so that the organisation details and technician details can be stored and retrieved. I keep getting side tracked by work/life. It's currently at the top of my list for nwipe coding. But I'll try and get it finished and released as soon as I can.

[ghost]

Hello All,

I'm still with you all and I know @PartialVolume is busy, and I too want the PDF Certificate feature because for most USA Businesses, corporations and enterprise level it is often mandatory... but luckily for @PArtialVolume ( LOL ) I am sooo swamped with so many tasks at my job, and DOD wipes are one of the lowest in priority ( They just stack up and accumulate though ;( ) that I have not gotten back to needing to start the HDD Wipes Yet.

If I knew how to code @PartialVolume I would offer help. As mentioned in past emails I can only offer to do wipes on 5-6 different models and types of HDD's and give feedback if there were any issues.

Have a good day everyone! :)

Wayne

On Sat, Jun 24, 2023 at 4:02 PM PartialVolume @.***> wrote:

@PartialVolume https://github.com/PartialVolume any news on releasing this? I just started using nwipe and this PDF feature would be very much appreciated!

Hopefully it shouldn't be too much longer, there is only really the /etc/nwipe.conf coding I need to complete so that the organisation details and technician details can be stored and retrieved. I keep getting side tracked by work/life. It's currently at the top of my list for nwipe coding. But I'll try and get it finished and released as soon as I can.

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[golebiewsky]

Wow, I didn't know you were working on this, I've written a small script that changes the log file to a PDF, but it is very barebones...

I would like to help program this, but I don't know C. I can help any other way, though, I would also appreciate this feature :)

[ghost]

Hi Everyone,

Your certificate is looking great @PartialVolume. I'll test it out when completed or ready for beta testers/pilot testers.

@PartialVolume Do you work on other coding projects? Do you know Linux well, and/or know web developers interested in possible projects? I have an idea, a project from older code and app to rebuild but I need help and am looking for a one to a few people. The goal is to revamp the whole app with new OS Version, New updated HTML code, combine another web app into use that is very similar in code, but adds features. Add project to github, with pipelines,CICD, automated licensing. a generated key code mechanism, and possible use of the tool over the internet (Currently used in isolated LAN environment.)

Also, a server maintenance dashboard I have been looking into since there is : DHCP, NFS, TFTP, IPXE, FTP, and several other tools running so a graphical tool to know status/stop/start processes would be very handy to have.

It is a very do-able project but trying to find the people with the right skills to get all the parts working together.

The project , finished project is for profit. A skimmed down free version can be made as open source or free.

I think I need: A Linux person (Ubuntu, or maybe embedded Linux with GUI person), a web developer, and someone familiar with remote licensing keys, and PHP.

It is a server, a db, frontend and backend web server dashboards, with pdf/print capabilities, reporting on dashboard, status, and a few other features.

I have creative-tim : HTML/Bootstrap/Vuejs templates/dashboards for use that have been purchased.

The html/PHP code is pretty simple, but there are snippets of code that are doing stuff like reading/monitoring processes. Also, there is a MySQL/Maria db.

Please let me know in a private message. I can send you screenshots and explain what it is, and what it is doing, etc..

Thank You,

Wayne

[PartialVolume]

@golebiewsky

I would like to help program this, but I don't know C. I can help any other way, though, I would also appreciate this feature :)

Thanks, it also good to know there are others that want this feature apart from myself. If you don't code in C, then testing that ShredOS works on as many different systems as possible is always useful.

Detail in reports is key of course. If possible I always would like to see the output of lspci, lsusb and the dmesg which provide a wealth of information when trying to diagnose a issue, however sometimes that's just not possible without some help in obtaining it.

I'm just finishing off a big upgrade to the very latest kernel v6.3, drivers and programs which I'll publish in the next day or so. I can then get back to finishing off the PDF certificates and getting the code released.

[PartialVolume]

Hi Everyone,

Your certificate is looking great @PartialVolume. I'll test it out when completed or ready for beta testers/pilot testers.

Thanks

@PartialVolume Do you work on other coding projects? Do you know Linux well, and/or know web developers interested in possible projects?

Yes, mainly ShredOS and nwipe in the open source world, but I've coded in C and assembler for 40 years on various in house closed source projects. Have also worked on HTML & PHP a bit.

I have an idea, a project from older code and app to rebuild but I need help and am looking for a one to a few people. The goal is to revamp the whole app with new OS Version, New updated HTML code, combine another web app into use that is very similar in code, but adds features. Add project to github, with pipelines,CICD, automated licensing. a generated key code mechanism, and possible use of the tool over the internet (Currently used in isolated LAN environment.)

Also, a server maintenance dashboard I have been looking into since there is : DHCP, NFS, TFTP, IPXE, FTP, and several other tools running so a graphical tool to know status/stop/start processes would be very handy to have.

It is a very do-able project but trying to find the people with the right skills to get all the parts working together.

Yep, that's always going to be a difficult one.

The project , finished project is for profit. A skimmed down free version can be made as open source or free.

I think I need: A Linux person (Ubuntu, or maybe embedded Linux with GUI person), a web developer, and someone familiar with remote licensing keys, and PHP.

It is a server, a db, frontend and backend web server dashboards, with pdf/print capabilities, reporting on dashboard, status, and a few other features.

I have creative-tim : HTML/Bootstrap/Vuejs templates/dashboards for use that have been purchased.

The html/PHP code is pretty simple, but there are snippets of code that are doing stuff like reading/monitoring processes. Also, there is a MySQL/Maria db.

Please let me know in a private message. I can send you screenshots and explain what it is, and what it is doing, etc..

Thank You,

Wayne

I once had much the same idea about 5 years ago when I started fixing the bugs in nwipe. Trouble is for me it's almost a full time job just maintaining ShredOS & nwipe, so I just don't have the time at the moment.

My focus is currently on keeping the kernel & drivers up to date in ShredOS and getting the PDF feature published, after that it's adding ATA secure erase to nwipe specifically for SSD/NvMe drives

[PartialVolume]

My first C compiler that I bought myself, 1988 and I still have it somewhere in a box https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/10940/Zortech-C/ :-)

Before that I was coding in assembly language on one of these things .. https://www.1000bit.it/ad/bro/perkin/Perkin-Elmer-Series3200.pdf

Not sure anybody wants to know that, but there you go. :-)

[ghost]

WOW! It is amazing how BIG, HUGE the first types of computers were.

I think of a mobile phone and it's capabilities now-a-days, and just in that small device how powerful it is.

We've certainly progressed pretty far with all types of virtualization, and some of the new languages like Golang, etc...

I'm not good with programming and coding, I never really found one that I grasped the concepts of very easily. I should have taken courses, as the do-it/learn it on your own did not work for me.

It's amazing, but arcane to my brain. Hard to grasp.

Wayne

On Wed, Jul 5, 2023 at 12:21 PM PartialVolume @.***> wrote:

My first C compiler that I bought myself, 1988 and I still have it somewhere in a box https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/10940/Zortech-C/ :-)

Before that I was coding in assembly language on one of these things .. https://www.1000bit.it/ad/bro/perkin/Perkin-Elmer-Series3200.pdf

Not sure anybody wants to know that, but there you go. :-)

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[mightyteja]

Thanks @PartialVolume for your work. I really appreciate your efforts. I would love to contribute the project but I don't know C programming, if you need any help with Linux, html / php. And please let me know if you need any testing to be done. I have a supermicro server and couple of desktops / laptops lying around here. As of now I am using ShredOS in my supermicro to wipe the disks. I am also waiting for the PDF feature

[PartialVolume]

@mightyteja Thanks, I'm working on the PDF this week, so I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of the week, subject to any issues I might come across.

[ghost]

Martijnvanbrummelen,

I downloaded the script file you have provided, and decided to make things much easier on myself for installs. :) That really helps if someone is testing stuff for quick setup! :)

I did not get a chance yet to do a wipe of hdd on new version yet, but I wanted to comment about the TEXT Output back at the prompt when exiting Nwipe. It looks really nice and the formatting is much cleaner and readable than it used to be in previous versions. I looked , but could not find log file. Does it mabe do a last log file or create logs for each execution of nwipe and save the data by chance for reference? I do not know how to autosave the screen output back at the prompt.

I also have one other question.. I was poking around in some of the source files... and what are the main files I would use to just do 2 main things, ok three; Adjust the main and background and foreground colors of the app? Insert and embed logo header possibly ( From looking at source it looks like you are possibly already working with shredos people on this feature already) Or a nearly transparent image over the whole frame of app possibly? alternative: Enlarge the top header mask bar to be wider and put larger text ( Like where it has Nwipe Name, but make that area about 3 lines high and info on how to either compile a custom defacto wipe selection with a certificate auto-print out/save to location or creating a .config file Nwipe would look for to know default wipe setting to use.

• I'll look more at the docs for that, but was not sure if was already possible.

Thanks for your responsiveness, openness to features.

I have 2-3 laptops I just got and will test out Nwipe wipes on those, and a few on HyperV lab machines I have. I'll only do the 1 pass on the laptops due to them not really needing the wipes, but since I am only doing it for testing.

I'll try and find and new features and try them out as well, and give feedback soon.

Sorry again for the delayed replies, but life demands attention. :)

Wayne

On Sat, Jun 24, 2023 at 4:02 PM PartialVolume @.***> wrote:

@PartialVolume https://github.com/PartialVolume any news on releasing this? I just started using nwipe and this PDF feature would be very much appreciated!

Hopefully it shouldn't be too much longer, there is only really the /etc/nwipe.conf coding I need to complete so that the organisation details and technician details can be stored and retrieved. I keep getting side tracked by work/life. It's currently at the top of my list for nwipe coding. But I'll try and get it finished and released as soon as I can.

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[PartialVolume]

I downloaded the script file you have provided, and decided to make things much easier on myself for installs. :) That really helps if someone is testing stuff for quick setup! :)

Glad it's useful. Does save on all the typing.

I did not get a chance yet to do a wipe of hdd on new version yet, but I wanted to comment about the TEXT Output back at the prompt when exiting Nwipe. It looks really nice and the formatting is much cleaner and readable than it used to be in previous versions. I looked , but could not find log file. Does it mabe do a last log file or create logs for each execution of nwipe and save the data by chance for reference? I do not know how to autosave the screen output back at the prompt.

The logfile doesn't automatically get created, you need to specify that option on the command line if you are running nwipe in a terminal on a Linux distribution. However if you are running ShredOS, that's automatically taken care of so ShredOS always generates the log file.

To generate a logfile, i.e a copy of the text that's written to the terminal when nwipe exits you would type something like:

sudo nwipe --logfile=nwipelog.txt

In the ShredOS nwipe_launcher script, nwipe gets called with the following command: /usr/bin/nwipe --logfile=nwipe_log_$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).txt

Therefore ShredOS creates a logfile that's date & time stamped.

I also have one other question.. I was poking around in some of the source files... and what are the main files I would use to just do 2 main things, ok three; Adjust the main and background and foreground colors of the app? Insert and embed logo header possibly ( From looking at source it looks like you are possibly already working with shredos people on this feature already)

I'll get back to you on that, I need to look at the source

Or a nearly transparent image over the whole frame of app possibly?

You can't do that in ncurses, that's a function of the terminal you are running nwipe in. I don't remember which terminals support semi transparent background images but that's how you would achieve that.

or creating a .config file Nwipe would look for to know default wipe setting to use.

I've recently added a config file to nwipe in the latest master. /etc/nwipe/nwipe.conf

[PartialVolume]

@shiroscout

I downloaded the script file you have provided, and decided to make things much easier on myself for installs. :) That really helps if someone is testing stuff for quick setup! :)

I just updated that script, it now includes a couple of extra dev libraries, libconfig-dev libconfig++-dev which are used when handling the access to the nwipe configuration file /etc/nwipe/nwipe.conf.

Without these two files the build will fail. So you will need to copy and paste the script rather than download the link which I'm removing.

[ghost]

@martijnvanbrummelen/nwipe @.***>

I did decide to not rebuild the wheel, and am taking what you mentioned and using Shredos repo. Shredos has a good buildroot build already setup, and compile completes, and I just added NFS support. Shredos has the Nwipes help section listed on github but I have a question on the "Autonuke" for clarification.

• I'm looking at shredos code trying to figure out how I would launch nwipe as they do but with command line parameters and switches to make autonuke as default, and a 180 second countdown timer

What is the command I use to perhaps do a 180 second countdown on "Autonuke" and then run autonuke? Shredos does not do much modifications to your Nwipe code so I think it is in Nwipe code I would need to make the changes. I am also wondering where I can put additional "Message" type text in center of screen as additional info. It is just a MESSAGE WARNING, that user has 180 seconds, to shutoff pc if they don't want to wipe/erase drive. I think in the GUI.C file somewhere, but not sure...

I am using shredos and can get with them, but I need to know how to get my command options set at a default which is a " Autonuke" option DODOShort and some other commands, but I want the "Autonuke dodoshort to be the default, with the other options and parameters, and when Nwipe is launched, if nothing is done in 180 seconds it will start a dod short wipe automatically.

• Is any of the cert or pdf features working yet? I used a shredos iso and HyperV and booted and tested a wipe and I did not see anything in menus that offered print out, logs, etc...

I was not sure if this was because I used iso file, and hyperV, and did not create usb flash drive and boot from it, or just because the additional features are just not ready yet.

I also tried adding a line that gave your name/repo/nwipe info for credit but did something wrong and it crashed with some buffer error message, but I would like to add that in the message info as well if possible, and reference to shredos as well. If I cannot figure out how to do that on-screen, I'll just have to put it in a file instead, but I thought the screen reference would look nice.

I will look at the code more closely, but only had time to do the schredos build after work last night which took several hours to complete.

Please do feel free to divert me for anything that is not to do with Nwipe and your code, but I wanted to try and give you a more complete view of how I am doing the build, and using nwipe, and ultimate goal, which is to use shredos code ( slightly modified), use Nwipe code ( Slightly modified), do an USB or NFS boot, with Nwipe autolaunching, 180 second warning, and then autonuke dodshort the drive with PDF print option.

I have not had time to look at all the nwipe and shredos code more closely, so if I seem lazy, by my questions above, it is possibly true , LOL, but I will look at it more closely this week/weekend.

On Tue, Aug 8, 2023 at 5:09 AM PartialVolume @.***> wrote:

@shiroscout https://github.com/shiroscout

I downloaded the script file you have provided, and decided to make things much easier on myself for installs. :) That really helps if someone is testing stuff for quick setup! :)

I just updated that script, it now includes a couple of extra dev libraries, libconfig-dev libconfig++-dev which are used when handling the access to the nwipe configuration file /etc/nwipe/nwipe.conf.

Without these two files the build will fail. So you will need to copy and paste the script rather than download the link which I'm removing.

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[FreeMinded]

@PartialVolume just checking if there is news on this (or a little reminder to let you know I'm eagerly waiting for this feature :blush:). Let me know if I can help with something (I have many different disks waiting to be wipped).

[PartialVolume]

Unfortunately there is too much going on with my job at the moment so I've had to delay the release as I'm having trouble finding the time to work on it. I'm not sure for how long the delay will be but will try to release as soon as I can.

[ggruber]

Originally posted by @PartialVolume in https://github.com/martijnvanbrummelen/nwipe/issues/488#issuecomment-1747524971

Wanted to keep the ascii layout from smartctl by using Courier font. Did not yet understand how the two column layout was created. Could be prettier to have a one column layout which flows to page 3 if needed?

When I initially wrote the PDF report, it didn't look right as a single column as there was a lot of empty space on the page, the 2 columns just looked better, although I agree about having a fixed width font. I wanted to add a graph on the 3rd page showing MB/s speed during the wipe. I also want to add the option where you can select how many pages you actually want. Some people may only want the first page.

I'm adding a enable/disable option in the /etc/nwipe.conf file that allows you to enable a preview of organisation/customer/date/time prior to the drive selection screen. It will default to no preview but will be useful to verify and change prior to starting a wipe.

As I'm adding that feature I just wondered if you wanted me to go ahead and add the enable disable PDF to the config too, as you mentioned earlier.

[ggruber]

When I initially wrote the PDF report, it didn't look right as a single column as there was a lot of empty space on the page, the 2 columns just looked better, although I agree about having a fixed width font. I wanted to add a graph on the 3rd page showing MB/s speed during the wipe. I also want to add the option where you can select how many pages you actually want. Some people may only want the first page.

A graph on a third page seems to me like "jewellery on the nightdress" (literally translated joke from German, dunno if this works or has an equivalent in English). But other peoples mileage may vary. I suggest to introduce verbosity levels for the report/certificate:

• noDetail (level 0): no page 2 at all
• simple (level 1): output of smartctl -i and smartctl -A for SATA, smartctl -a for SAS
• full (level 2): smartctl -x
• extended (level 3): smartctl -x plus statistics of the erasure (the suggested graph, e.g.)

[ggruber]

what do others think about a consolidated report of the nwipe run? that lists in a table the erased disks (vendor, model, S/N) and the erasure result

[PartialVolume]

I suggest to introduce verbosity levels for the report/certificate: noDetail (level 0): no page 2 at all simple (level 1): output of smartctl -i and smartctl -A for SATA, smartctl -a for SAS full (level 2): smartctl -x extended (level 3): smartctl -x plus statistics of the erasure (the suggested graph, e.g.)

I think the verbosity level sounds like a good idea, however I want to leave that for a 0.36 release, as I really need to get 0.35 published ASAP.

One or more graphs showing throughput over time for read and write passes would prove useful if you do unattended wipes. I've come across two drives that had very subtle faults that did not generate pass, sync or verify errors but did show a reproducible 50% reduction in write performance at a specific point on the disc that lasted for a good 15 minutes, that wasn't due to anything on the computer itself. If I hadn't been looking at the throughout at the time this occured I would have missed it and the disc would have gone back into production. A graph on the report would have shown that fault very nicely. Usually the graph would be a straight line ramp, depending on the disc starting at 70MB/s and ramping steadily down to 50MB/s with no drop offs.

[ggruber]

OK, I'm with you. For sure such a graph is really nice. Similar considerations lead to the beforementioned wrapper program in perl that allowed us a prequalification: any disk with reallocated sectors went to the physical shredder. What you describe sounds even more sophisticated. If you have more than one disk per model you could compare the overall wipe rate between the disks, so it could be an idea to add this value to the suggested "consolidated report".

[ggruber]

Do you have a timeframe for the 0.35 release?