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<chapter id="management" xreflabel="3">
<docinfo>
<date>
$Id$
</date>
</docinfo>
<title>
Key Management
</title>
<para>
Key tampering is a major security weakness with public-key cryptography.
An eavesdropper may tamper with a user's keyrings or forge a
user's public key and post it for others to download and use.
For example, suppose Chloe wants to monitor the messages that Alice
sends to Blake.
She could mount what is called a <firstterm>man in the
middle</firstterm> attack.
In this attack, Chloe creates a new public/private keypair.
She replaces Alice's copy of Blake's public key with the new public key.
She then intercepts the messages that Alice sends to Blake.
For each intercept, she decrypts it using the new private key, reencrypts
it using Blake's true public key, and forwards the reencrypted
message to Blake.
All messages sent from Alice to Blake can now be read by Chloe.
</para>
<para>
Good key management is crucial in order to ensure not just the integrity
of your keyrings but the integrity of other users' keyrings as well.
The core of key management in &gnupg; is the notion of signing keys.
Key signing has two main purposes: it permits you to detect tampering
on your keyring, and it allows you to certify that a key truly belongs
to the person named by a user ID on the key.
Key signatures are also used in a scheme known as the <firstterm>web of
trust</firstterm> to extend certification to keys not directly signed by you
but signed by others you trust.
Responsible users who practice good key management can defeat key
tampering as a practical attack on secure communication with &gnupg;.
</para>
<sect1>
<title>
Managing your own keypair
</title>
<para>
A keypair has a public key and a private key.
A public key consists of
the public portion of the master signing key,
the public portions of the subordinate signing and encryption subkeys, and
a set of user IDs used to associate the public key with a real person.
Each piece has data about itself.
For a key, this data includes its ID, when it was created, when it
will expire, etc.
For a user ID, this data includes the name of the real person it identifies,
an optional comment, and an email address.
The structure of the private key is similar, except that it contains only
the private portions of the keys, and there is no user ID information.
</para>
<para>
The command-line option
<link linkend="edit-key"><option>--edit-key</option></link>
may be used to view a keypair.
For example,
<screen width="80">
<prompt>chloe%</prompt> <userinput>gpg --edit-key chloe@cyb.org</userinput>
Secret key is available.
pub 1024D/26B6AAE1 created: 1999-06-15 expires: never trust: -/u
sub 2048g/0CF8CB7A created: 1999-06-15 expires: never
sub 1792G/08224617 created: 1999-06-15 expires: 2002-06-14
sub 960D/B1F423E7 created: 1999-06-15 expires: 2002-06-14
(1) Chloe (Jester) &lt;chloe@cyb.org>
(2) Chloe (Plebian) &lt;chloe@tel.net>
<prompt>Command></prompt>
</screen>
The public key is displayed along with an indication of whether
or not the private key is available.
Information about each component of the public key is then listed.
The first column indicates the type of the key.
The keyword <literal>pub</literal> identifies the public master signing key,
and the keyword <literal>sub</literal> identifies a public subordinate key.
The second column indicates the key's bit length, type, and ID.
The type is <literal>D</literal> for a DSA key, <literal>g</literal> for an
encryption-only
ElGamal key, and <literal>G</literal> for an ElGamal key that may be used for
both encryption and signing.
The creation date and expiration date are given in columns three and four.
The user IDs are listed following the keys.
</para>
<para>
More information about the key can be obtained with interactive commands.
The command <link linkend="toggle"><command>toggle</command></link>
switches between the public and private
components of a keypair if indeed both components are available.
<screen width="80">
<prompt>Command></prompt> <userinput>toggle</userinput>
sec 1024D/26B6AAE1 created: 1999-06-15 expires: never
sbb 2048g/0CF8CB7A created: 1999-06-15 expires: never
sbb 1792G/08224617 created: 1999-06-15 expires: 2002-06-14
sbb 960D/B1F423E7 created: 1999-06-15 expires: 2002-06-14
(1) Chloe (Jester) &lt;chloe@cyb.org>
(2) Chloe (Plebian) &lt;chloe@tel.net>
</screen>
The information provided is similar to the listing for the public-key
component.
The keyword <literal>sec</literal> identifies the private master signing key,
and the keyword <literal>sbb</literal> identifies the private subordinates keys.
The user IDs from the public key are also listed for convenience.
</para>
<sect2>
<title id="integrity">
Key integrity
</title>
<para>
When you distribute your public key, you are distributing the public
components of your master and subordinate keys as well as the user IDs.
Distributing this material alone, however, is a security risk since
it is possible for an attacker to tamper with the key.
The public key can be modified by adding or substituting keys, or by
adding or changing user IDs.
By tampering with a user ID, the attacker could change the user ID's email
address to have email redirected to himself.
By changing one of the encryption keys, the attacker would
also be able to decrypt the messages redirected to him.
</para>
<para>
Using digital signatures is a solution to this problem.
When data is signed by a private key, the corresponding public key
is bound to the signed data.
In other words, only the corresponding public key can be used to
verify the signature and ensure that the data has not been modified.
A public key can be protected from tampering by using its corresponding
private master key to sign the public key components and user IDs, thus
binding the components to the public master key.
Signing public key components with the corresponding private master
signing key is called <firstterm>self-signing</firstterm>, and a public key that has
self-signed user IDs bound to it is called a <firstterm>certificate</firstterm>.
</para>
<!--
%\begin{figure}
%Blank
%\caption{This should depict how self-signatures bind information to
%a public key.}\label{fig:selfsignedkey}
%\end{figure}
%
%As an example, Figure~\ref{fig:selfsignedkey} illustrates Chloe's public
%key, which has been self-signed to bind the user IDs and public subkeys
%to the public master key.
%The signatures on the user IDs can be checked with the \texttt{check}
%command from the key edit menu.
-->
<para>
As an example, Chloe has two user IDs and three subkeys.
The signatures on the user IDs can be checked with the command
<link linkend="check"><command>check</command></link> from the key edit menu.
<screen width="80">
<prompt>chloe%</prompt> <userinput>gpg --edit-key chloe</userinput>
Secret key is available.
pub 1024D/26B6AAE1 created: 1999-06-15 expires: never trust: -/u
sub 2048g/0CF8CB7A created: 1999-06-15 expires: never
sub 1792G/08224617 created: 1999-06-15 expires: 2002-06-14
sub 960D/B1F423E7 created: 1999-06-15 expires: 2002-06-14
(1) Chloe (Jester) &lt;chloe@cyb.org>
(2) Chloe (Plebian) &lt;chloe@tel.net>
<prompt>Command></prompt> <userinput>check</userinput>
uid Chloe (Jester) &lt;chloe@cyb.org>
sig! 26B6AAE1 1999-06-15 [self-signature]
uid Chloe (Plebian) &lt;chloe@tel.net>
sig! 26B6AAE1 1999-06-15 [self-signature]
</screen>
As expected, the signing key for each signature is the master signing
key with key ID <literal>0x26B6AAE1</literal>.
The self-signatures on the subkeys are present in the public key, but
they are not shown by the &gnupg; interface.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>
Adding and deleting key components
</title>
<para>
Both new subkeys and new user IDs may be added to your keypair after
it has been created.
A user ID is added using the command
<link linkend="adduid"><command>adduid</command></link>.
You are prompted for a real name, email address, and comment just
as when you create an initial keypair.
A subkey is added using the command
<link linkend="addkey"><command>addkey</command></link>.
The interface is similar to the interface used when creating an initial
keypair.
The subkey may be a DSA signing key, and encrypt-only ElGamal
key, or a sign-and-encrypt ElGamal key.
When a subkey or user ID is generated it is self-signed using your
master signing key, which is why you must supply your passphrase
when the key is generated.
</para>
<para>
Additional user IDs are useful when you need multiple identities.
For example, you may have an identity for your job and an identity
for your work as a political activist.
Coworkers will know you by your work user ID.
Coactivists will know you by your activist user ID.
Since those groups of people may not overlap, though, each group
may not trust the other user ID.
Both user IDs are therefore necessary.
</para>
<para>
Additional subkeys are also useful.
The user IDs associated with your public master key are validated by
the people with whom you
communicate, and changing the master key therefore requires recertification.
This may be difficult and time consuming if you communicate with
many people.
On the other hand, it is good to periodically change encryption subkeys.
If a key is broken, all the data encrypted with that key will be
vulnerable.
By changing keys, however, only the data encrypted with the one broken
key will be revealed.
</para>
<para>
Subkeys and user IDs may also be deleted.
To delete a subkey or user ID you must first select it using the
<link linkend="key"><command>key</command></link> or
<link linkend="uid"><command>uid</command></link> commands respectively.
These commands are toggles.
For example, the command <command>key <parameter>2</parameter></command>
selects the second subkey,
and invoking <command>key <parameter>2</parameter></command> again
deselects it.
If no extra argument is given, all subkeys or user IDs are deselected.
Once the user IDs to be deleted are selected, the command
<link linkend="deluid"><command>deluid</command></link>
actually deletes the user IDs from your key.
Similarly, the command <link linkend="delkey"><command>delkey</command></link>
deletes all selected subkeys from both your public and private keys.
</para>
<para>
For local keyring management, deleting key components is a good way
to trim other people's public keys of unnecessary material.
Deleting user IDs and subkeys on your own key, however, is not always
wise since it complicates key distribution.
By default, when a user imports your updated public key it will be merged
with the old copy of your public key on his ring if it exists.
The components from both keys are combined in the merge, and this
effectively restores any components you deleted.
To properly update the key, the user must first delete the old version
of your key and then import the new version.
This puts an extra burden on the people with whom you communicate.
Furthermore, if you send your key to a keyserver, the merge will
happen regardless, and anybody who downloads your key from a keyserver
will never see your key with components deleted.
Consequently, for updating your own key it is better to revoke key
components instead of deleting them.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>
Revoking key components
</title>
<para>
To revoke a subkey it must be selected.
Once selected it may be revoked with the
<link linkend="revkey"><command>revkey</command></link> command.
The key is revoked by adding a revocation self-signature to the key.
Unlike the command-line option <option>--gen-revoke</option>, the effect of
revoking a subkey is immediate.
</para>
<screen width="80">
<prompt>Command></prompt> <userinput>revkey</userinput>
Do you really want to revoke this key? y
You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
user: "Chloe (Jester) &lt;chloe@cyb.org>"
1024-bit DSA key, ID B87DBA93, created 1999-06-28
pub 1024D/B87DBA93 created: 1999-06-28 expires: never trust: -/u
sub 2048g/B7934539 created: 1999-06-28 expires: never
sub 1792G/4E3160AD created: 1999-06-29 expires: 2000-06-28
rev! subkey has been revoked: 1999-06-29
sub 960D/E1F56448 created: 1999-06-29 expires: 2000-06-28
(1) Chloe (Jester) &lt;chloe@cyb.org>
(2) Chloe (Plebian) &lt;chloe@tel.net>
</screen>
<para>
A user ID is revoked differently.
Normally, a user ID collects signatures that attest that the user ID
describes the person who actually owns the associated key.
In theory, a user ID describes a person forever, since that person will
never change.
In practice, though, elements of the user ID such as the email address
and comment may change over time, thus invalidating the user ID.
</para>
<para>
The OpenPGP
<comment>First reference to OpenPGP</comment>
specification does not support user ID revocation, but
a user ID can effectively be revoked by revoking the self-signature
on the user ID.
For the security reasons described
<link linkend="integrity">previously</link>,
correspondents will not trust a user ID with no valid self-signature.
</para>
<para>
A signature is revoked by using the command
<link linkend="revsig"><command>revsig</command></link>.
Since you may have signed any number of user IDs, the user interface
prompts you to decide for each signature whether or not to revoke it.
</para>
<screen width="80">
<prompt>Command></prompt> <userinput>revsig</userinput>
You have signed these user IDs:
Chloe (Jester) &lt;chloe@cyb.org>
signed by B87DBA93 at 1999-06-28
Chloe (Plebian) &lt;chloe@tel.net>
signed by B87DBA93 at 1999-06-28
user ID: "Chloe (Jester) &lt;chloe@cyb.org>"
signed with your key B87DBA93 at 1999-06-28
Create a revocation certificate for this signature? (y/N)n
user ID: "Chloe (Plebian) &lt;chloe@tel.net>"
signed with your key B87DBA93 at 1999-06-28
Create a revocation certificate for this signature? (y/N)y
You are about to revoke these signatures:
Chloe (Plebian) &lt;chloe@tel.net>
signed by B87DBA93 at 1999-06-28
Really create the revocation certificates? (y/N)y
You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
user: "Chloe (Jester) &lt;chloe@cyb.org>"
1024-bit DSA key, ID B87DBA93, created 1999-06-28
pub 1024D/B87DBA93 created: 1999-06-28 expires: never trust: -/u
sub 2048g/B7934539 created: 1999-06-28 expires: never
sub 1792G/4E3160AD created: 1999-06-29 expires: 2000-06-28
rev! subkey has been revoked: 1999-06-29
sub 960D/E1F56448 created: 1999-06-29 expires: 2000-06-28
(1) Chloe (Jester) &lt;chloe@cyb.org>
(2) Chloe (Plebian) &lt;chloe@tel.net>
</screen>
<para>
A revoked user ID is indicated by the revocation signature on
the ID when the signatures on the key's user IDs are listed.
</para>
<screen width="80">
<prompt>Command></prompt> <userinput>check</userinput>
uid Chloe (Jester) &lt;chloe@cyb.org>
sig! B87DBA93 1999-06-28 [self-signature]
uid Chloe (Plebian) &lt;chloe@tel.net>
rev! B87DBA93 1999-06-29 [revocation]
sig! B87DBA93 1999-06-28 [self-signature]
</screen>
<para>
Revoking both subkeys and self-signatures on user IDs adds revocation
self-signatures to the key.
Since signatures are being added and no material is deleted, a
revocation will always be visible to others when your updated public
key is distributed and merged with older copies of it.
Revocation therefore guarantees that everybody has a consistent
copy of your public key.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>
Updating a key's expiration time
</title>
<para>
The expiration time of a key may be updated with the command
<link linkend="expire"><command>expire</command></link> from the key edit menu.
If no key is selected the expiration time of the primary key
is updated.
Otherwise the expiration time of the selected subordinate key
is updated.
</para>
<para>
A key's expiration time is associated with the key's self-signature.
The expiration time is updated by deleting the old self-signature
and adding a new self-signature.
Since correspondents will not have deleted the old self-signature, they
will see an additional self-signature on the key when they update
their copy of your key.
The latest self-signature takes precedence, however, so all correspondents
will unambiguously know the expiration times of your keys.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<title>
Validating other keys on your public keyring
</title>
<para>
In Chapter <xref linkend="intro"> a procedure was given to validate your
correspondents' public keys: a correspondent's key is validated by
personally checking his key's fingerprint and then signing his public
key with your private key.
By personally checking the fingerprint you can be sure that the
key really does belong to him, and since you have signed they key, you
can be sure to detect any tampering with it in the future.
Unfortunately, this procedure is awkward when either you must validate
a large number of keys or communicate with people whom you do not
know personally.
</para>
<para>
&Gnupg; addresses this problem with a mechanism popularly known
as the <firstterm>web of trust</firstterm>.
In the web of trust model, responsibility for validating public
keys is delegated to people you trust.
For example, suppose
<itemizedlist spacing="compact">
<listitem>
<para>
Alice has signed Blake's key, and
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Blake has signed Chloe's key and Dharma's key.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
If Alice trusts Blake to properly validate keys that he signs, then
Alice can infer that Chloe's and Dharma's keys are valid without
having to personally check them.
She simply uses her validated copy of Blake's public key to
check that Blake's signatures on Chloe's and Dharma's are good.
In general, assuming that Alice fully trusts everybody to properly
validate keys they sign, then any key signed by a valid key is also
considered valid.
The root is Alice's key, which is axiomatically assumed to be valid.
</para>
<sect2>
<title>
Trust in a key's owner
</title>
<para>
In practice trust is subjective.
For example, Blake's key is valid to Alice since she signed it, but she
may not trust Blake to properly validate keys that he signs.
In that case, she would not take Chloe's and Dharma's key as valid
based on Blake's signatures alone.
The web of trust model accounts for this by associating with each
public key on your keyring an indication of how much you trust the
key's owner.
There are four trust levels.
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>
unknown
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Nothing is known about the owner's judgement in key signing.
Keys on your public keyring that you do not own initially have
this trust level.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
none
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
The owner is known to improperly sign other keys.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
marginal
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
The owner understands the implications of key signing and
properly validates keys before signing them.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
full
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
The owner has an excellent understanding of key signing,
and his signature on a key would be as good as your own.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
A key's trust level is something that you alone assign to the
key, and it is considered private information.
It is not packaged with the key when it is exported; it is even
stored separately from your keyrings in a separate database.
</para>
<para>
The &gnupg; key editor may be used to adjust your trust in a key's owner.
The command is <link linkend="trust"><command>trust</command></link>.
In this example Alice edits her trust in Blake and then updates
the trust database to recompute which keys are valid based on her new
trust in Blake.
<screen width="80">
<prompt>alice%</prompt> <userinput>gpg --edit-key blake</userinput>
pub 1024D/8B927C8A created: 1999-07-02 expires: never trust: q/f
sub 1024g/C19EA233 created: 1999-07-02 expires: never
(1) Blake (Executioner) &lt;blake@cyb.org>
<prompt>Command></prompt> <userinput>trust</userinput>
pub 1024D/8B927C8A created: 1999-07-02 expires: never trust: q/f
sub 1024g/C19EA233 created: 1999-07-02 expires: never
(1) Blake (Executioner) &lt;blake@cyb.org>
Please decide how far you trust this user to correctly
verify other users' keys (by looking at passports,
checking fingerprints from different sources...)?
1 = Don't know
2 = I do NOT trust
3 = I trust marginally
4 = I trust fully
s = please show me more information
m = back to the main menu
<prompt>Your decision?</prompt> <userinput>3</userinput>
pub 1024D/8B927C8A created: 1999-07-02 expires: never trust: m/f
sub 1024g/C19EA233 created: 1999-07-02 expires: never
(1) Blake (Executioner) &lt;blake@cyb.org>
<prompt>Command></prompt> <userinput>quit</userinput>
[...]
</screen>
Trust in the key's owner and the key's validity are indicated to the
right when the key is displayed.
Trust in the owner is displayed first and the key's validity is
<!-- HERE, need to fix quotation marks -->
second<footnote>
<para>
&Gnupg; overloads the word "trust" by using it to mean
trust in an owner and trust in a key.
This can be confusing.
Sometimes trust in an owner is referred to as
<firstterm>owner-trust</firstterm> to
distinguish it from trust in a key.
<!-- HERE, need to fix quotation marks -->
Throughout this manual, however, "trust" is used to
mean trust in a key's
<!-- HERE, need to fix quotation marks -->
owner, and "validity" is used to mean trust that a key
belongs to the human associated with the key ID.
</para>
</footnote>.
The four trust/validity levels are abbreviated: unknown (<literal>q</literal>),
none (<literal>n</literal>), marginal (<literal>m</literal>), and
full (<literal>f</literal>).
In this case, Blake's key is fully valid since Alice signed it herself.
She initially has an unknown trust in Blake to properly sign other keys
but decides to trust him marginally.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>
Using trust to validate keys
</title>
<para>
The web of trust allows a more elaborate algorithm to be used to
validate a key.
Formerly, a key was considered valid only if you signed it personally.
<!-- HERE, math -->
A more flexible algorithm can now be used: a key <emphasis>K</emphasis> is considered valid
if it meets two conditions:
<orderedlist spacing="compact">
<listitem>
<para>
it is signed by enough valid keys, meaning
<itemizedlist spacing="compact">
<listitem>
<para>
you have signed it personally,
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
it has been signed by one fully trusted key, or
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
it has been signed by three marginally trusted keys; and
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<!-- HERE, math -->
the path of signed keys leading from <emphasis>K</emphasis> back
to your own key is five steps or shorter.
</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
The path length, number of marginally trusted keys required, and number
of fully trusted keys required may be adjusted.
The numbers given above are the default values used by &gnupg;.
</para>
<para>
<xref linkend="wot-examples"> shows a web of trust rooted at Alice.
The graph illustrates who has signed who's keys.
The table shows which keys Alice considers valid based on her
trust in the other members of the web.
<comment>Potential bug: <option>--completes-needed</option> on command
line seems to be ignored when combined with <option>--update-trustdb</option>.
Value is taken correctly if put in options file, however.</comment>
This example assumes that two marginally-trusted keys or one
fully-trusted key is needed to validate another key.
The maximum path length is three.
</para>
<para>
When computing valid keys in the example, Blake and Dharma's are
always considered fully valid since they were signed directly
by Alice.
The validity of the other keys depends on trust.
In the first case, Dharma is trusted fully, which implies
that Chloe's and Francis's keys will be considered valid.
In the second example, Blake and Dharma are trusted marginally.
Since two marginally trusted keys are needed to fully validate a
key, Chloe's key will be considered fully valid, but Francis's
key will be considered only marginally valid.
In the case where Chloe and Dharma are marginally trusted,
Chloe's key will be marginally valid since Dharma's key is
fully valid.
Francis's key, however, will also be considered marginally
valid since only a fully valid key can be used to validate
other keys, and Dharma's key is the only fully valid key
that has been used to sign Francis's key.
When marginal trust in Blake is added, Chloe's key becomes
fully valid and can then be used to fully validate Francis's
key and marginally validate Elena's key.
Lastly, when Blake, Chloe, and Elena are fully trusted, this is
still insufficient to validate Geoff's key since the maximum
certification path is three, but the path length from Geoff
back to Alice is four.
</para>
<para>
The web of trust model is a flexible approach to the problem of safe
public key exchange.
It permits you to tune &gnupg; to reflect how you use it.
At one extreme you may insist on multiple, short paths from your
<!-- HERE, math -->
key to another key <emphasis>K</emphasis> in order to trust it.
On the other hand, you may be satisfied with longer paths and
<!-- HERE, math -->
perhaps as little as one path from your key to the other
key <emphasis>K</emphasis>.
<!-- HERE, math -->
Requiring multiple, short paths is a strong guarantee
that <emphasis>K</emphasis> belongs to whom your think it does.
The price, of course, is that it is more difficult to validate keys
since you must personally sign more keys than if you accepted fewer
and longer paths.
</para>
<figure id="wot-examples" float=1>
<title>
A hypothetical web of trust
</title>
<!--
The graph indicates who has signed who's keys.
The table, in which names have been abbreviated, shows which keys are
valid depending on how Alice trusts other members in the web.
Alice considers different keys valid depending on how she trusts
the members of the web.
-->
<graphic fileref="signatures.jpg"></graphic>
<informaltable frame="all">
<tgroup cols="4" rowsep="1" colsep="1">
<colspec colname="one" colnum="1">
<colspec colname="two" colnum="2">
<colspec colname="three" colnum="3">
<colspec colname="four" colnum="4">
<spanspec spanname="lefthalf" namest="one" nameend="two" align="center">
<spanspec spanname="righthalf" namest="three" nameend="four" align="center">
<thead>
<colspec
<row>
<entry spanname="lefthalf">trust</entry>
<entry spanname="righthalf">validity</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry align="center">marginal</entry>
<entry align="center">full</entry>
<entry align="center">marginal</entry>
<entry align="center">full</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row>
<entry></entry>
<entry>Dharma</entry>
<entry></entry>
<entry>Blake, Chloe, Dharma, Francis</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>Blake, Dharma</entry>
<entry></entry>
<entry>Francis</entry>
<entry>Blake, Chloe, Dharma</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>Chloe, Dharma</entry>
<entry></entry>
<entry>Chloe, Francis</entry>
<entry>Blake, Dharma</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>Blake, Chloe, Dharma</entry>
<entry></entry>
<entry>Elena</entry>
<entry>Blake, Chloe, Dharma, Francis</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry></entry>
<entry>Blake, Chloe, Elena</entry>
<entry></entry>
<entry>Blake, Chloe, Elena, Francis</entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</informaltable>
</figure>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<title>
Distributing keys
</title>
<para>
Ideally, you distribute your key by personally giving it to your
correspondents.
In practice, however, keys are often distributed by email or some
other electronic communication medium.
Distribution by email is good practice when you have only a few
correspondents, and even if you have many correspondents, you can use
an alternative means such as posting your public key on your World Wide
Web homepage.
This is unacceptable, however, if people who need your public key do
not know where to find it on the Web.
</para>
<para>
To solve this problem public key servers are used to collect
and distribute public keys.
A public key received by the server is either added to the server's
database or merged with the existing key if already present.
When a key request comes to the server, the server consults its
database and returns the requested public key if found.
</para>
<para>
A keyserver is also valuable when many people are frequently signing other
people's keys.
Without a keyserver, when Blake sign's Alice's key then Blake would send
Alice a copy of her public key signed by him so that Alice could
add the updated key to her ring as well as distribute it to all of her
correspondents.
Going through this effort fulfills Alice's and Blake's responsibility
to the community at large in building tight webs of trust and thus
improving the security of PGP.
It is nevertheless a nuisance if key signing is frequent.
</para>
<para>
Using a keyserver makes the process somewhat easier.
When Blake signs Alice's key he sends the signed key to the key server.
The key server adds Blake's signature to its copy of Alice's key.
Individuals interested in updating their copy of Alice's key then consult
the keyserver on their own initiative to retrieve the updated key.
Alice need never be involved with distribution and can retrieve signatures
on her key simply by querying a keyserver.
<comment><option>--keyserver</option> must come before
<option>--send-key</option> or <option>--recv-key</option>.
This appears to be a bug.</comment>
</para>
<para>
One or more keys may be sent to a keyserver using the command-line
option <link linkend="send-keys"><option>--send-keys</option></link>.
The option takes one or more key specifiers and sends the specified
keys to the key server.
The key server to which to send the keys is specified with the
command-line option <link linkend="keyserver"><option>--keyserver</option></link>.
Similarly, the option
<link linkend="recv-keys"><option>--recv-keys</option></link> is used
to retrieve keys from a keyserver, but the option <option>--recv-keys</option>
requires a key ID be used to specify the key.
In the following example Alice sends her public key to the keyserver
<parameter>certserver.pgp.com</parameter> and then updates her copy
of Blake's key from the same keyserver.
<screen width="80">
<prompt>alice%</prompt> <userinput>gpg --keyserver certserver.pgp.com --recv-key 0xBB7576AC</userinput>
gpg: requesting key BB7576AC from certserver.pgp.com ...
gpg: key BB7576AC: 1 new signature
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg: new signatures: 1
<prompt>alice%</prompt> <userinput>gpg --keyserver certserver.pgp.com --send-key blake@cyb.org</userinput>
gpg: success sending to 'certserver.pgp.com' (status=200)
</screen>
There are several popular keyservers in use around the world.
The major keyservers synchronize themselves, so it is fine to
pick a keyserver close to you on the Internet and then use it
regularly for sending and receiving keys.
</para>
</sect1>
</chapter>

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