Problems with the beta

Pertinax77's Avatar

Pertinax77

07 Nov, 2014 02:21 PM

I’d like to report a problem with GPG Keychain Access on my system (I am running Yosemite on a Macbook Air).

The following functions fail because of a server timeout (keys.gnupg.net):

  • Send public key to Keyserver
  • Retrieve from Keyserver
  • Search for Key
  • Update from Keyserver

Here is an error message for Search for Key:

Search keys failed!
Code = 0

Error text:
gpg: searching for "mykolab" from hkp server keys.gnupg.net
gpg: keyserver timed out
gpg: keyserver search failed: Keyserver error

Another issue is that for some emails whose public keys I have imported the message encryption
on my mail client is not showing a lock (blue) when I compose a message to them.

  1. 1 Posted by Pertinax77 on 11 Nov, 2014 05:34 PM

    Pertinax77's Avatar

    Hi,

    I haven't had any feedback to my question. Recently some of the functions I mentioned like the key search and update functions did work, but now they don't work again - timeout issues.

    Could someone please respond?

    Thanks, Sandeep

  2. Support Staff 2 Posted by Luke Le on 11 Nov, 2014 05:41 PM

    Luke Le's Avatar

    Hi Sandeep,

    this looks a lot like it might be a problem of the keyserver you're querying.
    You can change the keyserver in GPG Keychain -> Preferences
    We've had the best experience with the sks-keyserver hkp://pool.sks-keyservers.net
    Unfortunately some keyserver are in fact kinda flakey and we're trying to find a way to ask multiple key servers for a key.

  3. 3 Posted by Pertinax77 on 11 Nov, 2014 05:51 PM

    Pertinax77's Avatar

    Thanks, well at the moment none of the key servers listed in the dropdown box work, they are all apparently unavailable.

    I use a VPN on my internet connection, can that affect GPG in any way?

    Also, I have another problem, I am unable to send encrypted emails from my address using my key to addresses whose public keys I have already imported into the keychain. I use Apple Mail and when I try to compose a message to one of these addresses, the encryption lock symbol is grayed out and the message displayed is that there are no public keys available for these addresses, even though they are listed in the keychain.

    Could you please investigate this issue? I am running Yosemite.

  4. 4 Posted by Pertinax77 on 11 Nov, 2014 08:43 PM

    Pertinax77's Avatar

    Another possible issue is that I am unable to sign keys imported into the Keychain with my own key, the message is

    NO_SECRET_KEY_TITLE

    NO_SECRET_KEY_MESSAGE

  5. Support Staff 5 Posted by Luke Le on 14 Nov, 2014 12:33 AM

    Luke Le's Avatar

    Hi,

    it sounds like your private key is missing from the keychain which is necessary to sign keys. It's easiest to check if it's available by clicking on "Only scecret keys" in the bottom right corner of GPG Keychain.

  6. 6 Posted by Pertinax77 on 14 Nov, 2014 09:29 AM

    Pertinax77's Avatar

    No it does appear when i do that. The most recent key was generated on Nov. 11. I have used different keys with the same email address, but it is possible that an earlier key I used (which expired Sep. 16) has been deleted. That should't affect signing with the current key though.

    Would appreciate your help.

  7. 7 Posted by RookieLuke on 14 Nov, 2014 10:45 AM

    RookieLuke's Avatar

    The sks-keyserver hkp://pool.sks-keyservers.net -advice helped in my case. Thanks!

  8. 8 Posted by Pertinax77 on 18 Nov, 2014 09:48 AM

    Pertinax77's Avatar

    Hi,

    the issue seems to have fixed itself - so messages composed to addresses in my GPG keychain are being encrypted.

  9. Pertinax77 closed this discussion on 21 Dec, 2014 03:47 PM.

  10. Steve re-opened this discussion on 21 Dec, 2014 04:08 PM

  11. Support Staff 9 Posted by Steve on 21 Dec, 2014 04:08 PM

    Steve's Avatar

    Hi Pertinax,

    well if you have more than one key for a single mail address that might cause odd behavior. It's best to store unused keys outside of GPG Keychain to avaid that problem until we implement a better solution to deal with these kind of situations.

    All the best,
    steve

  12. Steve closed this discussion on 21 Dec, 2014 04:08 PM.

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