Manage OpenPGP Keys

OpenPGP is a tool used for secure online communication, it's a non-proprietary protocol used to encrypt email using public key cryptography. OpenPGP is based on PGP which was originally developed by Phil Zimmermann. cPanel utilizes GnuPG (Gnu Privacy Guard) for its public-key cryptography.

Traditional methods of in encryption only use one key. Basically a user would encrypt a message using this one key and in order for the receiving party to be able to read the message, the key used to encrypt the message had to be given to them in a way that no one else could obtain it. This method wasn't very un-reliable because if the key was released, anyone that had it could open any message encrypted with it.

Using so called Public Keys can solve this issue. This method works because it utilizes two keys instead of one. The first is a “Public Key” which can be spread through all sorts of media and can be obtained by anyone. The other type of key is a “Private Key”. Which works how the name implies, it's private and can not be spread. Now a sender can encrypt a message using the receivers “Public Key” and the receiver can decrypt the message using their private key.

Currently there is very little support for Windows users that would like to use GnuPG. There are plenty of programs out there today that will do a very similar thing as the GnuPG program on UNIX will.

For more information and instructions on using GnuPG in UNIX, please visit: GnuPG.org - Documentation Sources

click image for better view

Adding a Key

Adding or setting up a new key is very simple. Simple go to the OpenPGP Keys section of cPanel and locate the “Add Key” link at the bottom of the page. Once a user has clicked this link, a new window will appear with a few simple boxes to fill in.

click image for better view

Your Name: This will be the user's name or the name of the person using the key.

Your Email: This will be the user's Email or the Email of the person using the key.

Comment/NickName: Anything can go here, this is used to mark the key, so it's easier to locate.

Key Password (blank for none): This will be the password for the key, if no password is required or desired, leave this section blank.

Expire Date: This will be the expiration date of the key, or when it will no longer be usable.

The expiration date can be anything from one year to one day.

y – Yeah
w – Week
d – Day

So if we wanted the key to expire in one year, we'd use 1y in this Expire Date box.

Key Size: This will be the size of the key generated. 1024 bytes is the most common size to choose, but there are two other sizes to pick from. The large the key size, the more secure it will be.

Once all this information has been entered in correctly, simply hit “Generate Key”. This process normally takes a minute. A successful status will appear if the key was generated correctly.

Now that we have a key generated successfully, we can go back to the main page and the new key will be located there. From this section we have a little bit of information about the key, and options to delete or edit the key.

Sample

click image for better view

1024D/9AA7E02F 2005-02-19 Chris Baldwin (Chris) <chris@freecpanels.com>

Above is a sample of a GnuPG key.

1024D/9AA7E02F – This is the file size of the PGP key and the ID for the key.

2005-02-19 – This is the date the key was created on.

Chris Baldwin – The name associated with the key.

(Chrise) – The comment or nick name associated with the key.

<chris@freecpanels.com> - The email address the key is assigned to.

In this section we have a “Public Key” and a “Private Key”. Remember to never give your Private Key away, only the Public Key.

If we click on “Edit” we can get the actual key output. This is what most programs will use to encrypt and decrypt messages.

Importing Keys

Importing keys are as simple as creating new keys. Simple go to the OpenPGP Management section of cPanel and select “Import” from the links located at the bottom of the main page.

click image for better view

Once there simply past the GPG/PGP key into the available box, and click on “Import” and that's it. Once a key has been added, it will become visible on the main page of the OpenPGP Management section of cPanel. From here it can be edited or deleted.

Deleting Keys

Deleting GnuPG keys is very simple, but has to be done in a certain order for it to be deleted correctly the first time.

Simple locate the key needing to be deleted, and then find the Private counter part and remove it first. If the Private Key isn't removed, the Public Key cannot be removed. So remember to remove the Private Key first, then the Public Key.

Once the delete button has been click, the user will be brought to a confirmation page where they are asked if they are sure they'd like to remove the key. Simple click on “Yes” and the key will be deleted.

A confirmation saying the key was removed successful will let the user know it was removed with no problems. Now that the Private Key has been removed, simple go back and find the Public Key that corresponded to the Private Key and remove it. Now that the Private Key is gone, the Public Key will delete with no problem.