If you wish to test this script here's the procedure. 1. Download and install 2. Give execute permissions 3. Create a test user account 4. Log-in as the test user 5. Run the script 6. Log-out/in/out as test user 7. Delete the test user account # Download and install $ wget -O - https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ecryptfs-utils/+bug/1195399/+attachment/3716219/+files/ecryptfs-unencrypt-home | sudo dd of=/usr/local/bin # Give execute permissions $ sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/ecryptfs-unencrypt-home # Create a test user account $ sudo adduser --encrypt-home test_e # Log-in as the test user $ su -l test_e test_e@ubuntu:~$ # Run the script. It will check whether /home/ is on a separate file-system test_e@ubunut:~$ ecryptfs-unencrypt-home Found a separate /home/ file-system [sudo] password for test_e: Some commands in this script (mount) will request 'sudo' privileges. Sorry, user test_e may not run sudo. Please use an account with privileges to run the following commands and then re-run this script: sudo mkdir -p /tmp/mnt/home sudo mount /dev/mapper/Ubuntu-Home /tmp/mnt/home # At this point the script has determined that the user doesn't have mount permissions and requires another user account to perform these steps. At another terminal using a sudo-privileged account follow the instructions: $ sudo mkdir -p /tmp/mnt/home $ sudo mount /dev/mapper/Ubuntu-Home /tmp/mnt/home # And now, at the test_e session, re-run the script. It will check the mount has been performed before continuing: test_e@ubuntu:~$ ecryptfs-unencrypt-home Found a separate /home/ file-system [sudo] password for test_e: Contents of the new, unencrypted home, are currently: total 8 dr-x------ 2 test_e test_e 4096 Jun 27 18:33 . drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 4096 Jun 27 18:33 .. lrwxrwxrwx 1 test_e test_e 56 Jun 27 18:33 Access-Your-Private-Data.desktop -> /usr/share/ecryptfs-utils/ecryptfs-mount-private.desktop lrwxrwxrwx 1 test_e test_e 32 Jun 27 18:33 .ecryptfs -> /home/.ecryptfs/test_e/.ecryptfs lrwxrwxrwx 1 test_e test_e 31 Jun 27 18:33 .Private -> /home/.ecryptfs/test_e/.Private lrwxrwxrwx 1 test_e test_e 52 Jun 27 18:33 README.txt -> /usr/share/ecryptfs-utils/ecryptfs-mount-private.txt Copying encrypted home files to unencrypted location, this may take some time... sending incremental file list ./ .bash_logout .bashrc .profile examples.desktop sent 13859 bytes received 91 bytes 27900.00 bytes/sec total size is 13537 speedup is 0.97 Switching to the unencrypted home... INFO: Your private directory has been unmounted. INFO: To see this change in your current shell: cd /home/test_e ...done. Moving but preserving the .ecryptfs links (in case you want to reverse the process) ecryptfs links are now in /home/test_e/.ecryptfs-home/ Your unencrypted files have not been deleted from /home/.ecryptfs/test_e If you really want to delete them (and the .ecryptfs links) re-run this script with: ecryptfs-unencrypt-home --really-delete-encrypted-files Sorry, user test_e may not run sudo. Please use an account with privileges to run the following commands: sudo umount /tmp/mnt/home sudo rmdir /tmp/mnt/home sudo rmdir /tmp/mnt Finished. # Log-out from the test_e session: test_e@ubuntu:~$ exit # With sudo privileges, execute the instructions $ sudo umount /tmp/mnt/home $ sudo rmdir /tmp/mnt/home $ sudo rmdir /tmp/mnt # Try logging in again $ su -l test_e # check files test_e@ubuntu:~$ ls -al total 40 drwx------ 3 test_e test_e 4096 Jun 27 18:41 . drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 4096 Jun 27 18:33 .. -rw------- 1 test_e test_e 29 Jun 27 18:41 .bash_history -rw-r--r-- 1 test_e test_e 220 Jun 27 18:33 .bash_logout -rw-r--r-- 1 test_e test_e 3637 Jun 27 18:33 .bashrc drwxrwxr-x 2 test_e test_e 4096 Jun 27 18:38 .ecryptfs-home -rw-r--r-- 1 test_e test_e 8942 Jun 27 18:33 examples.desktop -rw-r--r-- 1 test_e test_e 675 Jun 27 18:33 .profile # If you wish to permanently delete the encrypted files then re-run the script as it suggested: test_e@ubuntu:~$ ecryptfs-unencrypt-home --really-delete-encrypted-files Deleting encrypted files rm -rf /home/.ecryptfs/test_e rm -rf /home/test_e/.ecryptfs-home Done. No .ecryptfs files or links remain. # Log-out test_e@ubuntu:~$ exit # Remove the test account $ sudo deluser --remove-home test_e