You will be asked to tap on the keyboard (or do any of the things you normally do) in order for randomization to take place. Note: forgetting your passphrase will result in your key being useless. Usually, a short sentence or phrase that isn't easy to guess can be used.
You need a Passphrase to protect your secret key. Make sure that the name on the key is not a pseudonym, and that it matches the name in your passport, or other government issued photo-identification! You can add extra e-mail addresses to the key later.
You need a user ID to identify your key the software constructs the user IDįrom the Real Name, Comment and Email Address in this form: If you do this don't forget to revoke the key when you no longer use it (see below). Most people make their keys valid until infinity, which is the default option. Specify how long the key should be valid for.A keysize of 2048 (which is the default) is a good choice. We will generate an encryption subkey later.Įnter the keysize. (5) RSA (sign only) We suggest you select (5). If you are using an older version, the selection screen will have the following options: Please select what kind of key you want:.(4) RSA (sign only) Select (1), which will enable both encryption and signing. If you are using GnuPG version 1.4.10 or newer, this will lead to a selection screen with the following options: Please select what kind of key you want:.
Kleopatra is another KDE frontend for gpg that is integrated with the KDE PIM (although you need to install it separately for now). KGPG is a simple, free, open source KDE frontend for gpg. It is called "Passwords and Keys" in Ubuntu. Note: seahorse is installed by default on Ubuntu. It also integrates with nautilus, gedit, and in other places for encryption operations. Seahorse is a GNOME application for managing encryption keys. GNU Privacy Assistant is a graphical user interface for the GnuPG (GNU Privacy Guard). There are several programs which provide a graphical interface to the GnuPG system.Įnigmail, an OpenPGP plugin for Mozilla Thunderbird. For further information on GnuPG, see this Wikipedia article. GnuPG (aka GPG) is an acronym for GNU Privacy Guard, another computer program which provides cryptographic privacy and authentication. For more information, see this Wikipedia article. PGP is an acronym for Pretty Good Privacy, a computer program which provides cryptographic privacy and authentication. PGP and GnuPG are computer programs that implement the OpenPGP standard. OpenPGP is not a program, and shouldn't be referred to as such. OpenPGP is technically a proposed standard, although it is widely used. This is a common mistake, since they are distinctly different. The terms "OpenPGP", "PGP", and "GnuPG / GPG" are often used interchangeably.
In contrast to the version 2 series, shipped with the gnupg2 package, it comes with no support for S/MIME and some other tools useful for desktop environments, but also with less dependencies." This page mainly describes how to use the gpg command. The package description says in part: "GnuPG 1.4 is the standalone, non-modularized series. The package gnupg (including the command gpg) is installed on all Ubuntu systems. For a brief description of what OpenPGP is see the next section. This page describes how to use OpenPGP keys. The public key may be given to anyone with whom the user wants to communicate." From The GNU Privacy Handbook A user's private key is kept secret it need never be revealed. In a public-key system, each user has a pair of keys consisting of a private key and a public key. "GnuPG uses public-key cryptography so that users may communicate securely. Making an ASCII armored version of your public key.