# Unlock a LUKS root over SSH on Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux

DevFeed: [Unlock a LUKS root over SSH on Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/unlock-a-luks-root-over-ssh-on-fedora-and-red-hat-enterprise-linux-12355.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://developers.redhat.com/articles/2026/09/11/unlock-a-luks-root-over-ssh-on-fedora-and-red-hat-enterprise-linux>)

Author: Josephine Pfeiffer

Published: 2026-09-11T13:01:51Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Red Hat](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/red-hat.md>), [Red Hat Developer](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/red-hat-developer.md>)

Topics: [Fedora](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/fedora.md>), [Linux](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/linux.md>), [OpenSSH](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/openssh.md>), [ssh](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ssh.md>), [systemd](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/systemd.md>), [datacenter](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/datacenter.md>), [Network](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/network.md>), [Server](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/server.md>)

Tags: [config](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/config.md>), [datacenter](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/datacenter.md>), [developer](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/developer.md>), [how-to](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/how-to.md>), [linux](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/linux.md>), [network](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/network.md>), [red-hat](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/red-hat.md>), [remote](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/remote.md>), [rhel](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/rhel.md>), [server](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/server.md>), [ssh](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ssh.md>), [systemd](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/systemd.md>)

## AI overview

This tutorial explains how to unlock an encrypted LUKS root remotely over SSH on Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It describes adding NetworkManager and an SSH server to the dracut initramfs, configuring networking, rebuilding the initramfs, and using the rd.neednet=1 kernel argument.

## Source excerpt

An encrypted server in a datacenter reboots and stops in the initramfs, waiting for a passphrase at a console nobody is sitting at. 3 commands and a kernel argument get NetworkManager and sshd into a Fedora or Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) initramfs, so a remote server with an encrypted root can be unlocked over the network. The post Unlock a LUKS root over SSH on Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux appeared first on Red Hat Developer.