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Building FreeOTFE

FreeOTFE comes in three parts:
  1. A frontend GUI, written in Delphi
  2. A number of kernel drivers, written in C
  3. A number of command line decryption utilities, also written in C

Building the GUI

This is a description for Delphi newbies of the basic steps involved in compiling the FreeOTFE GUI.

To build the GUI, the following software is required:
  • Delphi (Borland Developer Studio 2006 or later, though v5 - v7 may well be used with minimal changes, though probably wouldn't look as nice under Windows Vista)
  • The SDeanComponents package (v2.00.00 or later)
The binary release of this software was built with Borland Developer Studio 2006, but you should well be able to use any later version.
  1. With each of the packages in the SDeanComponents archive,
    1. Build each package
    2. Install each package
    3. Ensure that the correct path to each package is added to your Delphi environment ("Tools | Environment Options...", "Library" tab)
  2. Add the path to the modified Delphi files included in SDeanComponents to fix various bugs relating to Delphi 2006's Windows Vista support to the top of Delphi's standard library paths. (This step probably won't be needed with later versions of Delphi, and shouldn't be carried out with older versions of Delphi, which will have different source)
  3. Open the FreeOTFE project ("FreeOTFE.dpr")
  4. Build the application.
  5. You should now find a file called "FreeOTFE.exe" in the directory above the "src" directory
You have now successfully built the GUI frontend!

If required, the compiler definition "FREEOTFE_TIME_CDB_DUMP" may be set, in which case the time take to dump a CDB ("Tools | Critical data block | Dump to human readable file...") will be shown after the dump completes.

Building the Kernel Drivers

The kernel mode drivers implement the actual hash, encryption/decryption and main FreeOTFE drivers.

To build these drivers, the following software is required:
  • Visual C++ .NET
  • The MS Windows SDK (February 2003 version)
  • The MS Windows DDK (Windows Server 2003 version)
At time of writing, the MS Windows SDK can be downloaded from the Microsoft WWW site. The MS Windows DDK is not available as a download, but can be ordered from the Microsoft WWW site as a free CD, for the cost of delivery.

It should be noted that if you are unable to source the exact versions listed above, earlier versions may well be substituted, although I cannot guarantee success. Later versions should operate correctly. The above list describes the development environment as used to build the binary release of FreeOTFE.

Setting up the Build Environment

Installation and Configuration of MS Build Environment
The following list comprehensively describes the configuration used to build the binary release of FreeOTFE. Feel free to adjust according to taste - a number of the options listed are not necessary, and are only included for completeness...
  1. Install VC++ .NET
  2. Put a copy of "vcvars32.bat" into one of the directories in your path
  3. Configure the VC++ editor:
    • To use spaces, not tabs
    • To indent braces
  4. Install the MS Windows SDK with the following options:
    • Install in C:\MSSDK
    • Install the "Core SDK"
    • Then install the debugging tools for windows
    • Do not register environment variables (we'll use "Setenv.bat" from the command line)
  5. Install the MS Windows DDK with the following options:
    • Install in C:\WINDDK\3790
    • Include the "Illustrative Driver Samples"
    • Include the "Input Samples"
    • Include the "Storage Samples"
    • Include the "Virtual Device Driver Samples"
    • Include the "WDM Samples"
    • Build Environment\Windows Driver Development Kit AMD64 Additional Build Tools
    • Build Environment\Windows Server 2003 AMD64 Libraries
    • Build Environment\Windows XP Headers
    • Build Environment\Windows XP x86 Libraries
    • Build Environment\Windows XP IA86 Libraries
      • needed if the build .BAT files (see later) use "chk WXP" - if that's skipped it'll default to WNET (windows .NET)
    • Build Environment\Windows 2000 Headers
    • Build Environment\Windows 2000 Build Environment
      • needed if the build .BAT files (see later) use "chk <something>" - if that's skipped it'll default to WNET (windows .net)
FreeOTFE Build Configuration
  1. Edit "setup_env_common.bat" (located under src\drivers\Common\bin), and ensure that the following variables are set appropriately:

    2. Variable
    		 Description
    		 Default value
    FREEOTFE_DEBUG
    		 Build type flag; set to 1 for debug build, or 0 for release
    		 0
    FREEOTFE_TARGET
    		 Target OS to build for; e.g. WXP/W2K/WNET; note that W2K builds will not operate correctly under Windows XP (e.g. when formatting a volume)
    		 WXP
    PROJECT_DRIVE The drive on which you have stored the FreeOTFE source E:
    PROJECT_DIR The full drive and path where the "drivers" directory is located <see file>
    MSSDK_DIR The directory in which you installed the MS SDK
    		 C:\MSSDK
    MSDDK_DIR The directory in which you installed the MS DDK
    		 C:\WINDDK\3790

  2. Edit "setup_env_driver.bat" (in the same directory), and ensure that "SETENV.BAT" is called with the parameters appropriate to the type of build you wish to create, and that "FREEOTFE_OUTPUT_DIR" is set to the appropriate directory under the src dirs where the build executable places the files it creates (this shouldn't be needed as it will happen automatically if the above are configured correctly)
3rd Party Source Code
Some of the FreeOTFE drivers (the hash/encryptions drivers in particular) are dependant on certain 3rd party software being installed. FreeOTFE's source code comes complete with 3rd party included in the"src\3rd_party" directory and should be preconfigured, ready for use.

Alternatively, you may wish to download this 3rd party source from the original authors in order to verify the integrity of this software. For this reason, details of where this software was obtained from are included in the above directory.

Please note that should choose the latter option, it is important that you review the individual driver notes (see separate driver directories; "_notes.txt" files) to ensure that this software is configured correctly. Additionally, you may well have to modify the "my_build_sys.bat" files, directing them to the location where you installed said 3rd party source code, as the build process requires that certain files are copied over into the FreeOTFE src directories. (Annoying, but this is a requirement of the MS "build.exe" command)
Building the FreeOTFE Drivers
Either:
  1. Open "FreeOTFE.sln" using Visual C++
  2. Rightclick on each project in turn, and select "Build"
or:
  1. Enter each of the separate driver directories in turn and launch each project's "my_build_sys.bat"
In either case, a copy of the binary which is built will be copied into the directory above your "src" directory.

After reaching this stage, you should have successfully built your own version of the FreeOTFE drivers!

Notes:
  1. If FREEOTFE_TARGET is set to W2K, the resulting binary may not operate correctly under MS Windows XP as a number of functions what are only needed under Windows XP and later are #ifdef'd out. As a result, a "W2K" binary may not operate correctly under Windows XP (e.g. Trying to format a volume may result in... Nothing happening). If you want a binary which will operate under both Windows 2000 and Windows XP, set this to WXP.
  2. Windows XP migrated a couple of the previous Windows 2000 macros to be functions. In order to allow the above "WXP" builds to work under Windows 2000, "IFSRelated.h" includes a copy of these macros, and uses them regardless - see comments in code for an explanation.

Building the Command Line Decryption Utilities

To build the command line decryption utilities, the following software is required:
  • A C compiler (Visual C++ .NET was used to write and test this software)
Please follow the following steps:
  1. Install and configure up the build environment, as described as per building the backend drivers, you may omit the SDK and DDK.
  2. Modify the software as appropriate for your test
    • Please see the command line decryption utility documentation
  3. Launch the relevant "my_build_exe.bat" file
The executable should be built in the same directory.