Generating A New Key Pair - Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 10 SP2 - KDE 08-05-2008 Manual

10.2 Generating a New Key Pair

To be able to exchange encrypted messages with other users, first generate your own
key pair. One part of it—the public key—is distributed to your communication partners,
who can use it to encrypt the files or e-mail messages they send. The other part of the
key pair—the private key—is used to decrypt the encrypted contents.
IMPORTANT: Private Key versus Public Key
The public key is intended for the public and should be distributed to all your
communication partners. However, only you should have access to the private
key. Do not grant other users access to this data.
Start KGpg from the main menu or press Alt + F2 and enter kgpg. When you start the
program for the first time, an assistant appears to guide you through the configuration.
Follow the instructions up to the point where you are prompted to create a key. Enter
a name, an e-mail address, and, optionally, a comment. If you do not like the default
settings provided, also set the expiration time for the key, the key size, and the encryption
algorithm used. See
When you start KGpg in later sessions, only a small icon with a padlock appears in the
system tray. Click that icon to display the main KGpg window on your desktop.
176 KDE User Guide
Figure 10.1, "KGpg: Creating a Key" (page 177).