Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Generating the key
Now you can generate your GPG key. Follow the on screen instructions and don't include a
comment. Depending on your entropy source, this could take a while. This example took
10 minutes using
haveged
as the entropy collector. There are various opinions on what to
set as the expiration date. If this is your first GPG, try one year at first. You can always
make a new key or extend the same one. If you set the key to never expire and you lose the
key, by forgetting the passphrase, people will still think it's valid unless you revoke it. Also,
be sure to set the user ID to a name that matches some sort of identification, which will
make it easier for people to verify that the holder of the private key is the same person as a
certified piece of paper. The command to create a new key is
gpg --gen-key
:
Please select what kind of key you want:
(1) RSA and RSA (default)
(2) DSA and Elgamal
(3) DSA (sign only)
(4) RSA (sign only)
Your selection? 1
RSA keys may be between 1024 and 4096 bits long.
What keysize do you want? (2048) 4096
Requested keysize is 4096 bits
Please specify how long the key should be valid.
0 = key does not expire
<n> = key expires in n days
<n>w = key expires in n weeks
<n>m = key expires in n months
<n>y = key expires in n years
Key is valid for? (0) 1y
Key expires at Sat 06 Jun 2015 10:07:07 PM UTC
Is this correct? (y/N) y
You need a user ID to identify your key; the software
constructs the user ID
from the Real Name, Comment and Email Address in this form:
"Heinrich Heine (Der Dichter) <heinrichh@duesseldorf.de>"
Real name: Tyrone Slothrop
Email address: tyrone.slothrop@yoyodyne.com
