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Next, you’ll be prompted to select a key size.

(If you choose DSA, you can’t use the keys for encryption if you choose the other option, ElGamal, you’ll be using the less efficient public key encryption algorithm for all encryption purposes.) The best choice is the default, so just press. You can choose DSA and ElGamal (the default), DSA (sign only), or ElGamal (sign and encrypt). You’ll see a prompt asking you to select the kind of key you want.

Open a terminal window, type gpg –gen-key, and press.

Log on to your ordinary user account and switch to your home directory, if necessary.

Once you’ve chosen a suitable passphrase, you’re ready to generate your key pair. If you choose to write down your passphrase, be sure to keep it in a secure place-preferably, in a location separate from that of the computer that’s running GnuPG. In practice, most people will do so, fearing that they’ll forget it. Bear in mind, too, that you won’t be able to access your files if you encrypt them and then forget your passphrase! Ideally, you shouldn’t write down your passphrase. There’s a tradeoff involved in coming up with a good passphrase: The worst ones are easy to remember, while the best ones are close to impossible to remember. You shouldn’t use dictionary words, which are easily guessed by passphrase-cracking programs. Each of them should contain a mixture of numeric and alphabetical letters. A good passphrase consists of several strings separated by spaces.

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In brief, a passphrase is a multiword password of unlimited length. GnuPG’s technology won’t give you much protection if you choose an easily guessed passphrase. Generating a key pair is a simple process, as you’ll see, but you should give some thought to your passphrase before starting.

Your correspondents use your public key to encrypt messages to you, and you use your private key to decode these messages. Your first task with GnuPG involves creating your key pair, including the private key that you never divulge to anyone and the public key that you make available to others. If you’re new to the basic concepts of encryption technology, be sure to read “GNU Privacy Guard brings industrial-strength encryption to Linux systems.” In particular, note that use of GNU Privacy Guard isn’t legal in some countries for more information, see “UsingGnuPG Legally.” Specifically, here’s what I’ll cover in this Daily Drill Down:

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By the time you’ve finished working through this step-by-step approach to GnuPG, you’ll be ready to take full advantage of all the benefits strong encryption technology can give you, including secure, confidential storage and transmission of sensitive documents, as well as digital signatures that can reveal whether anyone has altered an important file.

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In this Daily Drill Down, you’ll learn how to get started with GNU Privacy Guard (abbreviated GnuPG) by using the program’s text-mode interface. GNU Privacy Guard implements public-key encryption based on the OpenPGP protocol.

In this introduction to using GNU Privacy Guard, Bryan Pfaffenberger describes all the benefits strong encryption technology can give you, including secure, confidential storage and transmission of sensitive documents.