The State Of TPM2 Support On Linux, Better Support Coming

With Microsoft having begun to mandate TPM2 (Trusted Platform Module 2) support be present in all platforms for newer versions of Windows, these chips are going to become a lot more common to laptops and desktops. Thus veteran kernel developer James Bottomley is looking closely at the current and future support for TPM2 on Linux.

TPM2 patches for the Linux kernel have been baking back to 2014, but with it being radically different from TPM 1.2, not everything is settled yet for supporting these security chips on Linux. Trusted Platform Modules can be used for areas like digital rights management, disk encryption, platform integrity, password protection, and many other use-cases.

James Bottomley's blog post about TPM 2.0 cover how to upgrade recent Dell XPS13 laptops from TPM 1.2 to TPM 2.0 where a software upgrade is supported, the basics of playing with TPM2 on Linux, and the current shortcomings.

One of the current shortcomings is not having a TPM2 in-kernel resource manager, but that along with other changes are expected by Linux 4.11~4.12 time-frame later this year. Those wanting to learn more about TPM 2.0 for Linux can read Bottomley's blog post.