The revocation certificate in gpg

Gins · 05-27-2007, 03:14 AM

I am running Fedora Core5. I want a new pair of keys in gpg.
I created a new pair of keys. It worked fine.
I saved the the keys on to a USB module. I just copied the entire 'gnupg' folder on to a USB module.

I want to save the revocation certificate.

The following is my revocation certificate which I saved as a file using the 'gedit' program.

--------------------------------
iGkEIBECACkFAkZUOIciHQBJIHdhbnQgdGhlIHJldm9jYXRpb2 4gY2VydGlmaWN0
ZQAKCRD9LhUma+4aBqWoAJ9QFGq/ViLXqpGF+ZmYBhdNk3CeDACeLnuXiOBMssGw
m6cCMzcwHttKS1Y=
=z71u
------------------------------------
I am not sure about how to copy the revocation certificate. I can just copy the above on to the USB module.

Is that enough?
I just want to copy the revocation certificate on to the USB module.
Please advice me.
Should it be a 'txt' file?

bsdunix · 05-27-2007, 08:01 PM

Quote:

I just want to copy the revocation certificate on to the USB module.
Please advice me.
Should it be a 'txt' file?

The .txt suffix is OK, but I recommend .asc suffix. In a perfect world your revocation certification should be stored in a different place other than your private key location and accessible only to you when you really need it. And now that you've publicly shown your revocation certificate you'd be well advised to generate a new key.

http://www.gnupg.org/gph/en/manual/c14.html

Gins · 05-28-2007, 08:22 AM

Thanks bsdunix for the reply.
To show your revocation key is not a good thing. I did some changes before pasting here.

So this one is not the correct revocation certificate.

Gins · 05-28-2007, 02:09 PM

How do I save a file as .asc one?
It is possible to save as a .txt one using the notepad.

I tried in vain to save as .asc file. How do I do it?

bsdunix · 05-28-2007, 02:23 PM

Quote:

How do I save a file as .asc one?
It is possible to save as a .txt one using the notepad.

Oh, using Windows?

I'm a command line junkie so after you save the file.txt, use DOS to change the suffix.

Start -> Run
Enter cmd
Click OK

Code:

C:\Documents and Settings\%username%>
cd Directory_where_file.txt_lives
dir
file.txt
rename file.txt file.asc
dir
file.asc
exit

You could also do this from within the Windows Explorer by unchecking "Hide extensions for known file types" in Folder Options..., then rename the file with the different suffix.
And in Notepad, Save As..., click pull-down Save as type:, set to All Files, then in File name block put the filename.suffix (file.asc), click Save.

Gins · 05-28-2007, 03:27 PM

I am not sure about the way of doing this.
I can send this file to a Windows computer. This is a very small file so I can send as an attached file. Do you mean in Windows one could change to the .asc ?

I can't run Windows on this computer. I am running Fedora Core5.

bsdunix · 05-28-2007, 05:27 PM

Quote:

I can't run Windows on this computer. I am running Fedora Core5.

Oh, sorry I misunderstood what you were asking.

The link I provided has an example of how to create an .asc file using gpg and a Un*x box.

Code:

$ gpg --output revoke.asc --gen-revoke mykey

or just use the mv (move) command to rename the .txt file.

Code:

$ mv file.txt file.asc

Gins · 05-29-2007, 03:55 AM

Thanks bsdunix for the reply. The following command worked.

[Nissanka@ ~]$ su root
Password:
[root@ Nissanka]# mv Revoation22.txt Revocation22.asc
[root@ Nissanka]#

I gave the name 'Revocation22.txt' at the beginning.
Now it is 'Revocation22.asc'
I just looked at the properties of this file. It says a plain text file.
I am not sure whether it has converted to an '.asc' file.
Please tell me.

There is a 'File Browser' on your system. You can look at the nature of your files using the 'File Browser'.

bsdunix · 05-29-2007, 08:33 AM

Quote:

I just looked at the properties of this file. It says a plain text file.
I am not sure whether it has converted to an '.asc' file.
Please tell me.

When you generate a revocation using the example I provided with either output of file.txt or file.asc, the file contents are the same. The .asc suffix means ASCII armored text (i.e. Clear Text). Using the .asc suffix helps .asc aware application software how to handle the file.
This article has good information about what ASCII armored text is and what it's used for:
http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT3341468184.html