Using the Cauliflower Vest GUI application after encryption

One aspect to Cauliflower Vest is the Cauliflower Vest GUI application, which works with csfde to enable FileVault 2 encryption on the client Mac, obtains the recovery key, and sends it to the App Engine-based escrow service. It can also be used to manage FileVault 2 encryption by providing access to the recovery key for the specific Mac it’s running on, unlocking the encrypted volume or even decrypting the Mac. See below the jump for details.

You can launch the Cauliflower Vest GUI application by running the following command in Terminal:

/usr/local/bin/cauliflowervest

Once the application launches, the user is prompted to log in with the user’s network and local accounts’ username and password.

Once authenticated, you can choose from the options presented to get your recovery key, unlock an encrypted volume, or even decrypt the Mac by selecting the Revert Volume option.

If you choose to decrypt, you can monitor the decryption progress from the FileVault preference pane in System Preferences.