Building a Persistent BitLocker Key List on MetaDefender Drive

Overview

MetaDefender Drive can automatically unlock BitLocker-encrypted disks if the corresponding recovery keys are pre-loaded into the tools/bitlocker/ folder on the Drive partition. This article explains how to collect keys and deploy them across one or multiple Drives for scanning multiple machines.

How It Works

At boot time, MetaDefender Drive reads all key files from tools/bitlocker/ and attempts to match them against any BitLocker-encrypted disks it finds. If a match is found, the disk is unlocked automatically — no manual input required.

Step 1: Collect BitLocker Keys

Use any of these methods to obtain recovery keys from each target machine. You only need to do this once per machine:

Unlock BitLocker Manually

Unlock BitLocker Automatically Using OPSWAT's Tool

Unlock BitLocker Automatically Using Windows Recovery Key

Step 2: Consolidate Keys on the Drive

Once you have keys from all target machines, place them all in one folder on the Drive:

xxxxxxxxxx

MetaDefender Drive (E:\)

  └── tools/

       └── bitlocker/

            ├── BitLocker Recovery Key ABC123.txt   (from Machine A)

            ├── BitLocker Recovery Key DEF456.txt   (from Machine B)

            ├── BitLocker Recovery Key GHI789.txt   (from Machine C)

            └── ...

That’s it. Boot any of those machines from this Drive and the encrypted disks unlock automatically.

Multiple Drives

If your organization uses multiple MetaDefender Drives, simply copy the same set of key files to each Drive’s tools/bitlocker/ folder. Each Drive becomes capable of unlocking all the machines whose keys it carries.

Removing Keys

To revoke: delete the corresponding .txt or .key file from tools/bitlocker/. Rotate the BitLocker recovery key on the target machine for full security.

Security Reminder

• Treat any Drive carrying keys as a sensitive asset — lock it up when not in use.
• If a Drive is lost: rotate all BitLocker keys that were stored on it immediately.
• Keep an inventory of which keys live on which Drives.