melamine/README.md

<div align="center">
<img src="melamine.png" alt="melamine logo">

# melamine

**melamine** is a better file shredder

it runs on linux (Ubuntu tested) for now<br/>

[Installation](#installation) •
[Example](#example) •
[Contributing](#contributing) •
[License](#license)
</div>

## Installation

Install using the below command lines to ensure dependencies are met for Ubuntu. `sudo` is currently required.

```bash
sudo apt install --yes --no-install-recommends build-essential python3-dev libzfslinux-dev && \
sudo pip3 install Cython && \
git clone https://github.com/truenas/py-libzfs && pushd py-libzfs && \
./configure --prefix=/usr && sudo make install && popd && \
git clone https://sillyhats.mips.uk/pdf/melamine && pushd melamine && \
sudo python3 -m pip install .
```

Verify the installation with `sudo melamine --help` or `sudo melamine -h` to see:

```bash
usage: melamine [-h] [--recursive] [--yes] [--dryrun] [--exhaustive]
                [--ignoredir IGNOREDIR] [--logfile LOGFILE] [--quiet]
                [--verbose]
                paths [paths ...]

Comprehensive DoD 5220.22-M-compliant file shredder for Linux.

positional arguments:
  paths                 Specify any number of existing files or directories to
                        be processed.

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --recursive, -r       Process directories recursively. Default is false.
  --yes, -y             Skip confirmation prompts. Default is false.
  --dryrun, -d          Provide mock output without deleting anything. Default
                        is false.
  --exhaustive, -e      Exhaustively check local mounts for duplicate files by
                        hash. Default is false.
  --ignoredir IGNOREDIR, -i IGNOREDIR
                        Specify directories to be ignored during the process.
                        This option can be used multiple times.
  --logfile LOGFILE, -o LOGFILE
                        Specify a file to log all output (NOT IMPLEMENTED).
  --quiet, -q           Silence all output (NOT IMPLEMENTED).
  --verbose, -v         Provide extra output for debugging (NOT IMPLEMENTED).

```

## Example

melamine is not yet ready for production use. If you'd like to try it, generate dummy files below. Preferably, do this on a separate mount point than any essential files or in a virtual machine.

Currently, only inode discovery and the beginnings of ext2/3 and zfs support exist.

```bash
rm -rf /tmp/melamine && mkdir -p /tmp/melamine;
rm -rf /tmp/melamine_hardlinks && mkdir -p /tmp/melamine_hardlinks;
for i in $(seq 1 4); do dd if=/dev/urandom of=/tmp/melamine/test_$i bs=1 count=$(( RANDOM % 256 * 256 )); done;
ln /tmp/melamine/test_1 /tmp/melamine_hardlinks/hardlink_1;
ln /tmp/melamine/test_2 /tmp/melamine_hardlinks/hardlink_2;
```

You can then confirm that the two hardlink inodes match using `ls -li`.

```bash
ls -li /tmp/melamine/test_*;
ls -li /tmp/melamine_hardlinks/hardlink_*;
```

Then, run melamine with:

```bash
melamine --recursive /tmp/melamine
```

## Contributing

If you would like to contribute to this project, feel free to submit a pull request or open an issue on GitHub.

This tool was written as part of my coursework for CSC 842 - Security Tool Development at Dakota State University. Consequently, I may choose not to maintain this tool beyond the length of the course, but have selected a license that enables open contributions in any case.

## License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the `LICENSE` file for details.