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Linux => Server Security & Hardening => Topic started by: sajugovind on January 25, 2014, 11:11:15 am
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About GnuPG
The GNU Privacy Guard, also known as GnuPG or GPG, is an open-source implementation for public-key cryptography. Public-key cryptography systems use public and private keys (keypairs) to encrypt and decrypt e-mail messages, files, and so on. Senders use recipients' public keys to encrypt items, and recipients use their own private keys to decrypt the items.
You can easily create, import, view, and delete keys by using cPanel.
Creating a new key:
To use GnuPG encryption, you must first create a new keypair.
To create a new GnuPG keypair, follow these steps:
- In the Security section of the cPanel home screen, click GnuPG Keys.
- Under Create a New Key, type your name in the Name text box.
- In the Your Email text box, type your e-mail address.
- In the Comment/Nickname text box, type a comment or nickname for the key.
Typically, this field is used to differentiate between different keys. You can also leave this field empty if you prefer.
- In the Key Password text box, type the password that you want.
- In the Password (Again) text box, retype the password.
You can click Password Generator and cPanel generates a random, strong password for you
- In the Expire Date text box, type an expiration date for the key. The default expiration date is one year.
- In the Key Size list box, select a key size.
Larger key sizes are more secure. However, encryption and decryption with larger key sizes is slower. In practice, key sizes of 1024 bits or 2048 bits are adequate.
It may take several minutes to generate the keypair. When the process is complete, the message The Key has been successfully created appears.
Importing a key:
If you already have a keypair, you can import your public key.
Make sure that you import your public key! Do not try to import your private key.
To import a public key, follow these steps:
- In the Security section of the cPanel home screen, click GnuPG Keys.
- Click Import Key.
- Copy and paste the key text into the text box.
When you copy and paste the key text, make sure that you include the key's beginning and ending lines:
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Key data
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Viewing or deleting a key:
You can view or delete keys that you have created or imported.
To view or delete a key, follow these steps:
- In the Security section of the cPanel home screen, click GnuPG Keys.
- Locate the key that you want to view or delete.
- To view the key, click View.
- To delete the key, click Delete GnuPG Key, and then click Yes to confirm the deletion.
More Information
About GnuPG: please visit http://www.gnupg.org/documentation/index.en.html.
About public-key cryptography: please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-key_cryptography.[/list]