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\input texinfo |
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|
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@setfilename WinPT |
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|
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This file describes the Windows Privacy Tray program and its main functions |
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This file is free under the terms of the GNU General Public License v2. |
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|
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Copyright (C) 2006 Timo Schulz |
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|
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Version 0.0.0 |
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|
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@settitle WinPT - The Windows Privacy Tray; a free GPG front-end for Windows |
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|
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@section Requirements for WinPT |
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|
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First you need to have a working GnuPG 1.4 installtion on the machine you |
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plan to install WinPT. If you don't have GPG in your machine, please |
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visit http://www.gnupg.org and download the latest GPG version there. |
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It comes with a graphical installer so there is no need to do this |
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step manually. |
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|
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You need at least Windows 98/2K/XP, but Windows XP or better is |
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recommend. The program also works on NT/95/ME but there is no support |
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for these OS versions any longer. |
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|
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@section A short Introduction |
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|
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WinPT is a graphical GnuPG front-end which resides in the task bar. |
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It is divided into several, so-called, managers. There is a manager |
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for the keyring, for files and for smart cards. The aim of the program |
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is to secure email communication and to perform file encryption. |
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|
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@subsection What is GnuPG |
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GnuPG is a tool for secure communication and data storage. |
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It can be used to encrypt data and to create digital signatures. |
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It includes an advanced key management facility and is compliant |
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with the proposed Internet standard as described in RFC2440. |
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|
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@subsection The Web of Trust |
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For a detailled description of these and other GnuPG topics, I |
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recommend the available literature at http://www.gnupg.org. But |
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at least a general overview should be given here. |
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|
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The certification scheme of OpenPGP does not base on a hirachical |
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approach. Instead it uses a combination of ownertrust and direct |
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key certification. Here is an example with Alice, Bob, Carol and Dave. |
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|
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Alice knows Bob and checked the fingerprint of Bob's key when he |
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met him personally. Thus she knows that the key really belongs to |
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its owner and he trusts Bob to certify other keys. Then she issued |
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a signature on Bob's key. Bob knows Carol and also checked her identity. |
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Then he signed her key. Alice does not know Carol, but he knows Bob |
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and Bob trusts Carol. And because Alice trusts Bob, at a level she |
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decided before, he also trusts Carol. It's a transitiv relation. |
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Dave is isolated and does not know anybody from the mentioned persons, |
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thus he is not in the WoT. |
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Another very important point is, that the signer can decide, |
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after the certification, how much he trusts the key owner to |
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certify other keys. |
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|
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It is very important to check the identify of a key owner. Mostly |
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this is done by comparing the fingerprint, which were submitted |
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by phone or written down at a personal meeting, with the fingerprint |
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of the key in the keyring. Please bear in mind that anybody can create |
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a key with an email address and a specific name. Thus it is not |
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recommend to sign keys without doing this check before! |
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|
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The fingerprint of the key is hexadecial (160-bit) sequence divided |
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into 10 groups of 4 hex digits. You can get the fingerprint of a key |
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by opening the key property dialog. There you can mark the fingerprint |
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and copy it to the clipboard. |
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|
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Example: 1D75 8108 5BC9 D9FB E78B 2078 ED46 81C9 BF3D F9B4 |
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|
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@section Installation of the Program |
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|
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It is always recommend to use the latest version of the program. You |
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can download it from http://wald.intevation.org/projects/winpt. |
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Download the zip file with the binaries inside and unpack them in |
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a folder. All files need to be in the same folder, so if you change |
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the folder don't forget to move all files. |
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You should also download and verify the signature of the packet to |
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make sure that the release is really authentic. |
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|
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To activate the program you just need to start WinPT.exe. You should |
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now see a little (golden key) icon in the taskbar which indicates that |
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the program is running. If you want to quit the program, right click |
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on the symbol and select "Exit". |
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|
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Alternative, you may use one of the graphical GPG installers which |
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are available on the internet. I recommend to use Gpg4Win which |
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includes a set of very useful privacy tools, beside WinPT and it |
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is very easy to use with an average size (~4MB). For non-German |
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speaking users, I recommend the light version because it does not |
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contain the 2 German PDF manuals. |
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|
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@subsection Getting the Source of the Program |
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As free software, according to the GNU General Public License, |
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WinPT also offers the source code for the program. It can be used |
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for reviews, to compile your own binary and/or to modify and/or |
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redistribute it or just to learn how it works. The source is available |
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at the same place you downloaded the binary. If not, you should |
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contact the author of the site. |
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The entire program can be build with free software; the default |
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environment is a cross-compiler hosted on a Linux box. All you |
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need is the mingw32 packages, a working autoconf environment |
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and the libs WinPT depends on (currently gpgme and libgpg-error). |
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It is also possible to build the binary with cygwin/mingw32 on |
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Windows but this environment is not actively supported and propably |
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needs adjustment of the source. |
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|
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@subsection Configure the Program |
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After the installation not much of the default settings need to |
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be changed. If you prefer a special keyserver, it is propably a good |
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idea to open the keyserver dialog and to set one of the existing |
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keyservers as the default or create a new entry and mark it as the |
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new default. The default keyserver is subkeys.pgp.net, which is |
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the best choice for most users. |
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|
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@subsection GPG Options |
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For expert users, the GPG preference dialog might contain some |
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interesting options. For example to set the expiration date of |
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a signature and/or to set the signing level for key signing. |
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It also allows to set a default 'encrypt-to' key and to set |
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the comment in ASCII armored files. |
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|
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@subsection Preferences |
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In the WinPT preference dialog, the user can modify and/or disable |
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the default options. For new users it is suggested to leave the |
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default values as they are, except when there are problems related |
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to the hotkeys. |
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|
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To enable keyring backups, the user can either decide to use the |
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GPG home directory as the backup folder or any other folder. In |
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the latter case, a folder needs to be chosen. |
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|
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|
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@section The First Start |
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|
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This section is only important for people who never installed |
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and/or used WinPT before. |
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|
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When the program is started the first time, it offers two choices. |
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The one is to generate a key pair and the other is to copy |
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existing GPG keyrings into the current installation. |
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|
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We assume the user will select the first entry. |
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|
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Now a new dialog is shown which requests some information from |
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the user to allow a meaningful association between the key and |
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the user. If the user prefer RSA keys, the check box should be marked. |
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If the entered data is OK, WinPT then generates a new key pair. As long |
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as this step takes, a progress dialog is shown to indicate the |
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enduring process. When the generation of the keypair is done, WinPT |
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offers the chance to backup the existing keyrings. This is definitely |
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an important decision because if the keyring will get corrupted |
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or lost, there is no way to recover the encrypted data. That is |
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why it is also important to store the backup, at least of the |
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secret keyring, at a @strong{safe} place. |
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|
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@section Keyserver Access |
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|
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An easy way to retrieve keys is the keyserver. You can think of |
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it like a huge database with a lot of keys as its content. It is |
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possible to search keys by a pattern, a keyid or even a fingerprint. |
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WinPT allows to access different kind of keyservers. For example |
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LDAP, HKP, Finger and HTTP. But the focus will be set on HKP because |
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this is the common case. |
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|
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In some situations WinPT asks the user whether to retrieve keys |
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automatically. One example is the signature verification when the |
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key that issued the signature was not found in the keyring. |
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|
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The main keyserver dialog allows to fetch one or more keys directly |
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or to search for a given pattern. |
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|
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@subsection Retrieve a key by Key ID |
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The best way to fetch a key from the server is by the key ID. |
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Just enter the key ID, it is always a good idea to prefix it |
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with 0x and click the "Receive" button. |
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|
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An example: |
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|
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pattern: 0xBF3DF9B4 |
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[Receive] |
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|
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|
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@subsection Retrieve a key by its email address |
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If you only know the email address from your partner, you can |
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enter it instead of the key ID. It is unlikely but possible |
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that there are more keys with the same address. In this situation, |
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WinPT will warn you that multiple keys were imported. The difference |
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to the search function is, that the keys were dirctly fetched and |
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not displayed as a key result list. |
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|
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|
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An example: |
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|
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pattern: name_of_friend@@gmx.net |
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[Receive] |
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|
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|
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@subsection Search for a key by pattern |
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If you want to communicate with a new mail partner and you are |
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not sure about the key ID, it can be useful to search for his |
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email address. This address is considered as quite unique. |
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|
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An example: |
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|
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pattern: winpt@@windows-privacy-tray.com |
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[Search] |
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|
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Now a dialog is opened with a list of all keys which matched |
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the search string. If the name @strong{and} the email address |
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is known, the matching key should be selected and "Receive" |
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should be clicked. Then the key will be downloaded and added |
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to your keyring. Now you can encrypt data with this key, for |
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example an email. |
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|
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@subsection Sending a Key to the Keyserver |
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After you generated a new key pair, it is a good idea to send your |
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key to the keyserver to make it available for other users. If you |
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issue a signature, the key ID is part of the signature and people can |
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automatically retrieve your key when they try to verify the signature. |
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|
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Actually, the action is performed in the Key Manager and not in the |
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keyserver dialog. Just open the Key Manager, select the key you want |
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to send right-click on it and chose "Send to Keyserver" in the popup |
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menu. Then a message box with the result is shown. |
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|
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@subsection Add, Delete or Edit a Keyserver Entry |
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The keyserver dialog allow to change the existing keyserver entries, |
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to delete them or to add new entries. Just right click on a selected |
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item and a popup menu will be shown with ("Edit", "Remove" and "New"). |
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|
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@section Using the Clipboard |
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|
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A major aim from the first day was, that the program does not |
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depend on a special mailer client. For this reason it uses the |
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clipboard to encrypt and/or sign data. |
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For the examples, let's assume that you want to write a new |
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mail or that you received a mail protected by GnuPG. |
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|
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@subsection Encrypt Data in the Clipboard |
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Just copy the text from the mailer window into the clipboard. |
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This is usually done by CTRL+C, make sure you really selected |
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all portions of the text. Then right-click on the tray icon |
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and select Clipboard->Encryption. Now a dialog is shown to |
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select the recipients. This means you need to select all |
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keys which should be able to decrypt the mail. Confirm with "OK". |
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GnuPG now encrypts the data with the selected recipients. At the |
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end a message box with the result is shown. Now the clipboard should |
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contain the encrypted data. Just paste it into the mailer window. |
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The output should contain a header and a footer |
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"BEGIN PGP MESSAGE" and "END PGP MESSAGE. |
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|
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@subsection Decrypt/Verify Data from the Clipboard |
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|
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@subsection Sign the Clipboard |
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|
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@section The Key Manager |
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This part of the program is propably most important for many users. |
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It contains function to manage your keyring and to perform actions |
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which are required and/or useful in the OpenPGP environment. |
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|
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@subsection Tips |
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|
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@itemize @bullet |
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|
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@item |
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If you want to import quickly a key from a into the keyring, just |
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drag and drop the file into the Key Manager window. Then the import |
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procedure will be automatically started. |
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|
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@item |
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Key which were fetched from keyservers often contain a lot of, |
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maybe obsolete, self signatures, if you want to get rid of them |
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you can use the Key Edit->Clean feature. Just start the edit |
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dialog and select the clean command. That's it. |
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|
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@item |
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The keyserver dialog does not allow to import a key directly |
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via an URL, as an alternative you may use the "Import HTTP..." |
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feature in the Key Manager. With it you can directly fetch keys |
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from the web (Example: http://www.users.my-isp.de/~joe/gpg-keys.asc). |
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|
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@item |
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To customize the parameters of the generated key, you can use |
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the expert key generation. It allows you to set the public key |
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algorithm and/or the size of the key directly. |
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|
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@item |
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Most of the list view based dialogs allow to use the right |
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mouse button, to show popup menus with available commands. |
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|
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@end itemize |
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|
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@subsection Create a Revocation Certificate |
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|
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It is very important to do this step early as possible. With this |
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certificate, you can revoke your entire key. The reason for this |
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can be for example, that your key is no longer used or even compromised. |
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After you generated the revoc cert, you should move it to a secure place |
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because anybody who gets access to it, can render your key unuseable. |
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|
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Just right-click on your key and select "Revoke Cert". If you do this |
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step directly after key generation, there is no need to change the |
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default values. Just select a file name and enter the passphrase. |
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The program issues a warning which should be read carefully. |
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|
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@subsection Adding a new secondary key |
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|
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For most users the existing keys in the key pair are enough |
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and no extra key is needed. But there are some exceptions. |
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@itemize @bullet |
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|
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@item |
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The primary key has no secondary key and the primary key is not |
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able to encrypt data. In this case it can be a good idea to |
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add a secondary encryption key. |
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|
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@item |
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A lot of people use secondary encryption keys with an expiration |
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date. Usually the key is valid for 1-2 years. After the key is expired, |
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a new key is needed in order to encrypt data. |
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|
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@end itemize |
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|
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What kind of public key algorithm should be selected is a matter |
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of taste. RSA and ElGamal are both capable for encryption. For most |
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users it's a good idea to let the program chose the key size (in bits). |
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The default settings should be secure enough for most purposes. |
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|
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@subsection Adding a new user ID |
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If you got a new email account, it's propably a good idea to |
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add these new account to your key also. For example: |
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A new account was registed at gmail.com (john.doo@@gmail.com). |
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Then you should create a new user ID with the following fields: |
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name: John Doo |
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email: john.doo@@gmail.com |
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|
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comment: (optional) |
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|
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Now email programs are able to associate this address with your |
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key when somebody wants to send you a protected mail to this account. |
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|
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@subsection Adding a photographic ID |
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With this function you can add a photo to your public. It will be |
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displayed in the key property dialog. |
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|
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You just need to select a JPEG file which contains the photo and |
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enter your passphrase and confirm with OK. Please read the note |
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in the dialog carefully to make sure the photo has a proper size |
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(file, height and weight). |
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|
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@subsection Adding a new designated revoker |
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If you want to allow another key to revoke your own key, this |
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might be useful if you lost your secret or a simliar situation, |
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you can use this function to add a designated revoker to your key. |
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|
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All you need to do is to select the key you want to add as a desig |
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revoker. But please bear in mind that this procedure cannot be undone |
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and that this person really has the power to make your public key |
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unuseable. You really should trust the selected key, in case it is |
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not a key owned by yourself. |
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|
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@bye |