Silk Road forums

Discussion => Security => Topic started by: ellisD7 on March 30, 2012, 07:57 am

Title: Text to PGP Key?
Post by: ellisD7 on March 30, 2012, 07:57 am

I must admit I am an extreme noob when it comes to this PGP stuff. I downloaded the program PortablePGP for my Mac OS10.5 since the standard PGP tools won't run all the programs on lower than 10.6. I figured out how to use the program, but my question is, how do I import a seller's public key? Do I save the text as a certain type of file extension?

Title: Re: Text to PGP Key?
Post by: cache on March 30, 2012, 08:08 am

I use Linux but I imagine the process is similar on OSX.

You need to save the seller's key as a text file and then from your PGP program you should have an "Import" option. Just navigate to where you saved the text file and select it for import. You should then get a confirmation box pop up box and the key will appear in your keyring.

Title: Re: Text to PGP Key?
Post by: ellisD7 on March 30, 2012, 08:13 am

Thank you, I've tried doing that but maybe I am saving it as the wrong file extension? I tried .rtf and .doc and when I try to import I get the error: "public key ring doesn't start with public key tag: tag 0xxfffffff

Title: Re: Text to PGP Key?
Post by: cache on March 30, 2012, 08:19 am

It sounds like your keyring might be corrupted for some reason, can you reinstall it?
It could be worth downloading it again and starting from scratch.
I do not believe the filetype will affect anything, I save mine without an extension and it works just fine.

Title: Re: Text to PGP Key?
Post by: ellisD7 on March 30, 2012, 08:26 am

I just tried to import it into the standard GPGTools Keychain application, (not the PGPPortable App) and it wouldn't accept file extensions of .rtf or .doc. :/

Title: Re: Text to PGP Key?
Post by: cache on March 30, 2012, 08:32 am

Try it with no extension, or just .txt

Title: Re: Text to PGP Key?
Post by: greencrayon on March 30, 2012, 11:09 am

I had the exact same problem. It was because I didn't copy the whole key (missed the BEGIN/ END).

I can't figure out what to do after I encrypt. Do I just paste the encrypted text into the vendor's private message box?

Title: Re: Text to PGP Key?
Post by: cache on March 30, 2012, 11:16 am

Yup, that's all there is to it.

Title: Re: Text to PGP Key?
Post by: vlad1m1r on March 30, 2012, 04:45 pm

Yep, their program will do the rest!

Quote from: greencrayon on March 30, 2012, 11:09 am

I had the exact same problem. It was because I didn't copy the whole key (missed the BEGIN/ END).

I can't figure out what to do after I encrypt. Do I just paste the encrypted text into the vendor's private message box?

Title: Re: Text to PGP Key?
Post by: ellisD7 on March 31, 2012, 02:58 am

I did include the begin/end and no dice. My GPG Keychain Access program that comes with PGPTools won't import it unless its a certain GPG file extension because it won't even let me click it when I try to import it. My tool that I used to generate my key still gives me the error message. I think I might just give up on my old mac and use my PC. It seems a lot more straightforward than going through all this bs

Title: Re: Text to PGP Key?
Post by: vlad1m1r on March 31, 2012, 07:25 pm

My advice to you is to set up a virtual machine on your Mac running Windows or Linux, on which you can store your PGP keys and Bitcoin info. If you need help setting one up, I can give you some links with instructions.

V.

Quote from: ellisD7 on March 31, 2012, 02:58 am

I did include the begin/end and no dice. My GPG Keychain Access program that comes with PGPTools won't import it unless its a certain GPG file extension because it won't even let me click it when I try to import it. My tool that I used to generate my key still gives me the error message. I think I might just give up on my old mac and use my PC. It seems a lot more straightforward than going through all this bs