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Migrating from PGP to GPG -> import private key

• Edit

Todd Shipp

25 Feb, 2012 11:40 PM

Now that Symantec owns PGP, I do not have the heart to continue with their product. I've installed GPG and am wondering how I can import my original private key into GPG so that I do not have to create a new one. I have so many encrypted files and messages, I want to seamlessly continue to operate.

I have my .SKR and .PKR files.

1. 1 Posted by Todd Shipp on 25 Feb, 2012 11:44 PM

   

   I forgot to mention in my initial post that I did try to import my original keys and all I got was a window that had the following:

   key DB52A1D5: secret key "(null)" imported.
   key DB52A1D5: public key "(null)" imported.
   1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0

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2. Support Staff 2 Posted by Luke Le on 26 Feb, 2012 12:00 AM

   

   Hi Todd,

   assuming you did import them using GPG Keychain Access you should
   see your keys appearing there. Unfortunately at the moment the window isn't really human readable.
   If you can't see them in there, please try to import them using Terminal.app
   to get more info on why the import failed.

   Type the following command in Terminal.app and press enter:

   gpg2 --import path/to/file

   Please post the output so we can check it for errors.

   Hope that helps

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3. 3 Posted by Todd Shipp on 26 Feb, 2012 12:40 AM

   

   Using terminal worked! Once I entered the data, I received a dialog asking for my passphrase. I entered it and then it worked!

   Here is the data. I edited some of the data to obscure some of my info.

   Could you tell me what I need to do to correct the warnings it output?

   ====

   2010-Mac-Mini:~ Todd$ gpg2 --import "/Users/Todd/Documents/PGP/PGP/PGP Private Keyring.skr"
   gpg: key DB52A1D5: secret key imported
   gpg: key DB52A1D5: public key "Todd Shipp <@.com>" imported
   gpg: WARNING: key DB52A1D5 contains preferences for unavailable
   algorithms on these user IDs:
   gpg: "Todd Shipp <@.com>": preference for cipher algorithm 1
   gpg: "[jpeg image of size 9038]": preference for cipher algorithm 1
   gpg: "Todd Shipp <*@.com>": preference for cipher algorithm 1
   gpg: it is strongly suggested that you update your preferences and
   gpg: re-distribute this key to avoid potential algorithm mismatch problems

   Set preference list to:

    Cipher: AES256, AES192, AES, CAST5, 3DES
    Digest: SHA256, SHA1, SHA384, SHA512, SHA224
    Compression: ZLIB, BZIP2, ZIP, Uncompressed
    Features: MDC, Keyserver no-modify
   

   Really update the preferences? (y/N) y

   You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
   user: "Todd Shipp <@.com>"
   2048-bit RSA key, ID DB52A1D5, created 2010-03-20

   gpg: Total number processed: 1
   gpg: imported: 1 (RSA: 1)
   gpg: secret keys read: 1
   gpg: secret keys imported: 1
   gpg: 3 marginal(s) needed, 1 complete(s) needed, PGP trust model
   gpg: depth: 0 valid: 1 signed: 0 trust: 0-, 0q, 0n, 0m, 0f, 1u
   gpg: next trustdb check due at 2015-08-18

   ====

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4. 4 Posted by cfraire on 29 Feb, 2012 02:00 AM

   

   Todd, that warning is due to the fact that your PGP key announces a preferred PGP "algorithm 1" a.k.a. IDEA. GnuPG has not supported IDEA because of a covering patent—although the patent is probably expired as of this year.

   Anyway, gpg advises what to do: "it is strongly suggested that you update your preferences" (which you did) "and re-distribute this key to avoid potential algorithm mismatch problems."

   If you think there is a chance that you will receive important encrypted content from someone who will have used your announced IDEA preference, then you should proactively redistribute the key. The easier way is to just wait and see if you get any problematic content and then to give the person your updated key.

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5. Support Staff 5 Posted by Luke Le on 29 Feb, 2012 04:55 AM

   

   Hi Todd,

   we're still working on IDEA support and it will be included in the next MacGPG2 release.

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6. 6 Posted by Todd Shipp on 01 Mar, 2012 01:20 AM

   

   I really appreciate all of the help you all are providing. I seem to be working very well with GPG on my Mac now.

   Tomorrow, I hope to be able to import them into my Windows machine at work with gpg4Win.

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7. Support Staff 7 Posted by Steve on 04 Mar, 2012 08:14 AM

   

   Hey Todd, thanks for the feedback. Let us know if you need further assistance on the mac side of things. Should that be the case, simply re-open this discussion. :)

   All the best, steve

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8. Steve closed this discussion on 04 Mar, 2012 08:14 AM.