PGP, Part 1: Getting PGP and Creating your public/secret key pair

• How this assignment works
• Getting PGP
• Creating your public/secret key pair

The way this assignment is going to work:

Here's a general comment/disclaimer: Our instructions are going to cover using PGP using your GSLIS account. You *can* use PGP from your home computer, on your Macs or PCs- the important thing is that you complete the main goals of this assignment. However, we've decided to cover the command-line version from your account for a few reasons:

1. PGP is already on the GSLIS server. You don't have to go download it, install it, or mess with it on your home machine.
2. There are so many versions of PGP on different operating systems that we thought having one set of instructions would be easier to handle. We can both better inform you and better answer questions you might from this view.

That being said, we're going to be doing everything command-line, from the UNIX prompt. We'll be using those commands we covered back in the UNIX tech modules, like pico and cat. (We explain these as we use them, so if you don't quite remember them right now, don't worry about it.) You don't *have* to do the assignment the way that we cover it, but if you do everything should work out all right. If for some reason it doesn't we can answer your questions.

Getting PGP

So how do you get PGP? As we stated, if you use your GSLIS account, it's already there. You don't have to do anything.

If you do want PGP for your own personal home use, there are a couple of places to get it. First, you can purchase the commercial version of PGP from Network Associates at http://www.pgp.com. Alternatively, you can get free versions of PGP for your home Mac, PC, or other operating system from MIT's PGP Freeware Distribution Center.

Creating your public/secret key pair

1. Login to your GSLIS account. You can use telnet, secure shell, whatever you feel comfortable with. (Although I like secure shell, personally- it makes FTP a lot easier. Oh, yeah, and it's secure.)
   
   
2. At your prompt, type: pgp. This command shows you what version of PGP you're using. Additionally, it tells you that you can type: pgp -h for help. That command gives you a list of commands and a brief explanation about each.
   
   
3. To generate your own public/secret key pair, type: pgp -kg.
   
   
4. You will be asked to choose one of two algorithms for you new key. There's an interesting history behind these algorithms that is touched upon in the readings- we recommend using the 2nd option, the RSA algorithm.
   
   
5. You will be asked to pick your RSA key size- 1 for 1024 bit encryption or 2 for 2048. For purposes of this course either is sufficient, so the choice is yours.
   
   

6. Enter an ID for your public key. We suggest you use your name, followed by your Email address enclosed in <angle brackets> in the following format:
   

   yourfirstname yourlastname <yourlogin@gslis.utexas.edu>
   For example, my ID is: Carlos Ovalle <cjovalle@gslis.utexas.edu>
   
   
7. Now, you must choose a pass phrase. Use a phrase or sentence that you will be able to recall. Remember that the pass phrase is case and punctuation sensitive.
   
   
8. You will be asked whether you wish to make this key your default signing key. Go ahead and select Y unless you have a reason not to.
   
   
9. You have just created a public/secret key pair. To make sure that the key was properly generated, type: pgp -kv. This command shows you what keys are in your key ring.
   

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