- GPG command line tools - https://www.gnupg.org/download/
- Git (Windows only) - https://gitforwindows.org/
- Open Terminal. On windows: Open Git Bash terminal.
- Generate a GPG key pair. Your GPG key must use RSA with a key size of 4096 bits.
- If you are on version 2.1.17 or greater, paste the text below to generate a GPG key pair.
$ gpg --full-generate-key - If you are not on version 2.1.17 or greater, the gpg --full-generate-key command doesn't work. Paste the text below and skip to step 6.
$ gpg --default-new-key-algo rsa4096 --gen-key
- If you are on version 2.1.17 or greater, paste the text below to generate a GPG key pair.
- At the prompt, specify the kind of key you want, or press Enter to accept the default "RSA and RSA".
- Enter the desired key size. We recommend the maximum key size of "4096".
- Enter the length of time the key should be valid. Press Enter to specify the default selection, indicating that the key doesn't expire.
- Verify that your selections are correct.
- Enter your user ID information.
- Full name
- Comments
- Type a secure passphrase.
- Done!
- Use the "gpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format LONG" command to list all GPG keys installed in the system.
$ gpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format LONG - From the list of GPG keys, copy the GPG key ID you'd like to use. In this example, the GPG key ID is 3AA5C34371567BD2:
$ gpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format LONG /Users/hubot/.gnupg/secring.gpg ------------------------------------ sec 4096R/3AA5C34371567BD2 2016-03-10 [expires: 2017-03-10] uid MyName (mycomment) <[email protected]> ssb 4096R/42B317FD4BA89E7A 2016-03-10
- Use this command to export the the public part of a key:
$ gpg -a --export [email protected] > MyName-public-gpg.key - Use this command to export the the private part of a key:
$ gpg -a --export-secret-keys [email protected] > MyName-secret-gpg.key- At the prompt type the key's passphrase.
- Copy the exported keys to a safe place.
- Done!
## Import public and secret GPG keys
- To import a public key use this command:
$ gpg --import ~/MyName-public-gpg.key - To import a secret key use this command:
$ gpg --allow-secret-key-import --import ~/MyName-secret-gpg.key- At the prompt type the key's passphrase.
- Done!
Since the keys are imported in to the system, remember to delete the original keys files from your home folder.
$rm ~/MyName-secret-gpg.key ~/MyName-public-gpg.key
## References
Thanks, it was very helpful.