GENERATE KEY PAIR
Generate personal key pair (private and public)
gpg --gen-key
You will be prompted for a password for private key
LISTING / VIEWING KEYS IN KEYRING
List public keys in your gpg keyring
gpg --list-keys [key_reference]
example output:
/home/jondoe/.gnupg/pubring.gpg ----------------------------- pub 1024D/1A2B3C4D 2013-09-10 uid Jon Doe (a user) <jon.doe@example.com> sub 2048g/F5E4D3C2 2013-09-10
The “1A2B3C4D” is the key reference for the key listed above. The appropriate key reference should be used where any example on this page writes “key_reference”
List secret keys in your gig keyring
gpg --list-secret-keys
PUBLIC KEYS
Export a public key to a file ‘public.key’
gpg --export -a key_reference > public.key
Import a public key in the file ‘public.key’
gpg --import public.key
Delete a public key
gpg --delete-key -a key_reference
NOTE – if the public key has a private key in the keychain it cannot be deleted until the private key is deleted
PRIVATE KEYS
Export a private key
gpg --export-secret-key -a key_reference > private.key
Import a private key in file ‘private.key’
gpg --allow-secret-key-import --import private.key
Delete a private key
gpg --delete-secret-key -a key_reference
ENCRYPTING FILES
Encrypt a file with a public key
gpg -e -r key_reference file.ext
NOTE – a new file file.ext.gpg is created, but the original file.ext still exists and needs to be deleted manually if so wished
DECRYPT FILES
You will be prompted for the password for the private key related to the public key used for encryption. If you do not have the private key you cannot decrypt the file
gpg -d file.ext.gpg > file.ext