Jump to content

A cuple of PGP questions


phunni
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 30
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Not able to read it. It did not seem to have any valid encrypted data, only the phrase version 1

 

I am trying to get Kmail to work on ML using my PGP key in gpg... I imported ok but for some reason I cannot select your key. I suspect it is the validity setting is not done yet. Trying to set that now and see if that is the problem.

 

On Kmail, when I set it to send and use gpg, it pops up a key box and asks which key to use. There is where I am not able to select your key. I see it, but the OK is greyed out and not available to use. :roll:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My encryption button was "greyed out" until I set my id in the COMPOSER window. Kmail--HELP (from the menu bar) has a good section on pgp/gpg use. I missed that setting the first time too. :oops:

 

Now, if I can figure out why your key won't get selected I'll be there. you are right.. we will get this figured out. "I hate to get beat by a machine!" We can also go manually and gpg the file and paste it into the email, but not so elegant to do it that way, eh?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have just looked at the emails I sent you in my "Sent" folder and I can't read them because they are decrypted and it is using your key - although the secondary one, not the primary one.

 

I don't know if you get to choose which key to decrypt with or if it is automatic

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My encryption button was "greyed out" until I set my id in the COMPOSER window.  Kmail--HELP (from the menu bar) has a good section on pgp/gpg use.  I missed that setting the first time too.  :oops:  

 

Now, if I can figure out why your key won't get selected I'll be there.  you are right.. we will get this figured out.  "I hate to get beat by a machine!"  We can also go manually and gpg the file and paste it into the email, but not so elegant to do it that way, eh?

 

Not elegant at all! The ideal is if we can both figure out how to read and write encrypted emails with the email clients we use. The odd thing is that if I send myself an encrypted message it works exactly as expected, but not when I get an encrypted message from you - although that may be to do with the email address you used. I guess we can figure that out when you've worked Kmail out! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Phunni,

Not sure where the setting is, but there surely must be one in the interface on Evolution to set your gpg to always encrypt to self or something to that effect. If you don't do that, you cannot reopen / decrypt the emails you have sent in the past! I made that mistake when I first started using pgp on DOS years ago!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kmack, I have found a gpg plugin for outlook. I tried it and fuond it was ok - to a point, maybe you would have better luck.

 

http://www.openpgp.fr.st/courrier_en.html

 

Also, I tried downloading PGP from PGP themselves - and it looked like it might work well - except that to really get anything out of it beyond basic file encryption you would have to buy a license, which seems a little unecessary for this context :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Phunni, I may try the gpg for Outlook later, but my main effort is to get away from using M$ and begin using Open Source solutions only.

 

One problem area so far is that I need a VPN connection to my home office. They use a system that is not available for Linux. Theoretically an open source VPN should work, but it is a pretty baffling thing to setup and the sys admin says he doesn't have time to support only one Linux user out of several hundred. Guess I can understand that from his perspective, but leaves me on my own.

 

Time wise, I have other priorities that keep me very busy, so the amount of time I can spend learning Linux security is limited. Still, I hate unsolved challenges... :wink:

 

Btw, you can still download pgpi 7.0.3 and patch to 7.0.4 free from the pgpi.org site. Doesn't work on XP though if I remember correctly. It has plugins for OL, Eudora, etc too. That is what I use since the pgp.com is again commercial product except for the watered down free version.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We're ROCKING!

 

I got Kmail going using the gpg plugin/menu. The issue was with the key trust. Here's where I found the key info:

 

http://webber.dewinter.com/gnupg_howto/eng...to-3.html#ss3.3 ://http://webber.dewinter.com/gnupg_ho...o-3.html#ss3.3 ://http://webber.dewinter.com/gnupg_ho...o-3.html#ss3.3

 

1) You have to even grant trust to your OWN key as the default does not do this. Since I imported a PGP key instead of making a new one using gpg, this was especially important. The key showed that it had no trust level assigned even though it was self-signed.

2) I had to grant trust to your key for it to work, and like you experienced, the gpg plug to Kmail is not very lenient and if you send to another address/ it won't work automatically so you must select the proper key manually.

3) The real clincher is you have to RESTART gpg to make the trust changes effective. We can test this, or maybe some vet on the board can tell us;

 

To restart gpg, can we just type gpg at the cmd line? OR, do we have to do it the DOS/MS way and reboot?

 

Since I left for church, I shutdown and when I restarted, I checked the keys and the trust had been changed to the new level. Voila! Now Kmail sees them just fine.

 

For info--I am sending via Kmail and gpg, but using my 5 yr old PGP key. I sent test mails to myself from Kmail and can open and decrypt with PGP plugins in Outlook just fine so the cross-platform part works. What seems to be a weak spot is that the sending address must match the key's email, or the Kmail doesn't pick it up properly. (or at least I haven't got my filters configured to do so properly! )

 

Send me something Phunni!

 

:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Phunni,

 

I will also post this because the info may help someone. Just up and

at 'em this am.

 

I downloaded your last two emails in Kmail and left on server and

then downloaded them into outlook too. I could NOT open them in

Kmail unless I did cmd line --decrypt of the file. The format of the

email seems to be the issue. It comes as an attachment, not as the

body of the email. I think the plugin will only work if the

encrypted text is embedded as the normal text of the message.

Normally an email client/pgp/gpg-plugin will do this automatically.

So I suspect a setting in Evo might be the key to getting this to

work.

 

On the messages I sent from Kmail that I cc'ed myself on, my gpg

message was the text and was NOT an attachment. As soon as I click

on it to open it, it prompts for my pwd. That is the way it normally

should work. (or has for me the last 10 yrs in DOS/windoze)

 

Both of your messages that you sent on Sunday were not openable on

Outlook under pgp using the plugins. Same as before, and same as

Kmail, it sees two attached files, but is unable to open them

directly. I copied the two files into the same directory and when I

executed the small one, it prompts for pwd and opened the other one.

So I have figured out how to deal with them, but it is pretty

unhandy, time consuming and lacks style. :-)

 

RE: Case of my email address. I setup that acct back in the days

when case mattered in an email address. The internet standard was

changed and case by convention is ignored, but under *nix of course

case is an issue. Might be part of the problem.

 

So we are making progress, but slowly.

 

RE: PGP plugins for Outlook--PGP package comes with a PGP plugin for Eudora, OL, Netscape, etc and you just need to activate them in the mail client to use them. The plugins add a PGP menu in OL and make using it very simple and convenient.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share


×
×
  • Create New...