To get started you will need to create a gpg key and put it on a key server. There are many key servers available, so choose one that people will be able to use. My key is available on the https://sks-keyservers.net/i/
There are some GUI or point and click programs available and here are two common ones. These programs will allow you to create, export, update, sign, send and sync with the servers. In Linux Mint there are three servers configured by default: Ubuntu, SKS, and PGP.com.
Seahorse is a GNOME application for managing encryption keys. It also integrates with nautilus, gedit, and in other places for encryption operations.
* install on a Debian based system
sudo apt-get install seahorse
KGPG is a simple, free, open source KDE frontend for gpg.
* install on a Debian based system
sudo apt-get install kgpg
CLI gpg tools
or if you would rather use the command line then here is the process
Using GnuPG to generate a key
gpg –gen-key
The prompts are fairly self explanatory, it will ask what kind of key (first one is a good option), Enter your name, email, and comment like a nick name. It will also ask for a pass phrase, Don’t forget it.
Once the key is created then you want to have your key available for applications in the terminal. add this line to your ~/.bashrc
export GPGKEY=[key-id]
to find your key-id use the numbers after 2048R/
gpg –list-keys
—————————–
pub 2048R/DB47TTEE 2013-09-24
uid Anthony Bemus (Tony the Gray)
Send your key to the server. In this case its the Ubuntu server
gpg –send-keys –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com $GPGKEY
Backup your keys:
Public Key
gpg -ao _something_-public.key –export $GPGKEY
Secret Key
gpg -ao _something_-private.key –export-secret-keys $GPGKEY
Restore your key
To restore your keys – copy the two files created above to the machine and type:
gpg –import _something_-public.key
gpg –import _something_-private.key
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