Creating and Managing a GPG Key Pair

See how to create, edit, revoke, export, backup and restore a GPG key pair.

Hit the subscribe button to receive more videos like this!

---

Timestamps:

0:00 -- What we're going to cover in this video
0:47 -- Using your gpg key for encrypting files, signing commits and password managers
1:58 -- Installing the gpg command line tool
2:27 -- Customizing your gnupg home directory (only for the sake of this video)
3:18 -- Checking to see if you already have a gpg key pair
3:52 -- Generating a secure gpg key pair with an expiration date
7:56 -- Editing your key, specifically updating your expiration date
10:13 -- Changing your gpg passphrase and keeping it safe
11:35 -- Creating a revoke certificate to maybe revoke your key pair on demand
16:34 -- Backing up and restoring your key pair and associated files
18:09 -- Exporting your gpg public key so you can share it with others
19:51 -- Configuring your gpg agent to cache your passphrase for a week
21:42 -- Recap

Cheatsheet:

Reference links:

---

Follow along?

[elrisitas]

thank you youtube algorithm for always finding the best videos for me

[cindrmon]

I think this will now be my official go-to guide for GPG keys! Thanks a lot for making this really in-depth GPG management tutorial! Took me a couple weeks to figure out how to use GPG keypairs properly, and I would so often think it be "that" disposable as like SSH keys, but I only realised how important these are, and how much are they maintained, when I simply deleted my old GPG key, and it left a bad scar on some of my github commits, with unverified commits scattered among some of my repos. I really learned my lesson, and again, thank you for this guide!

[Jordan-hzwr]

I've been using gpg for years and I still refer back to your videos. Good work, Sir!

[lstellway]

Wonderful introduction to GnuPG - thank you!

[simonnjoroge]

This is amazing 👍🌟. I just love the over simplification, it offers a very good general overview of the superficial workings of GPG, a piece of software that has bothered me for weeks. 😃

[Lucas-mdgg]

Subscribed! I'm creating a backup script with GPG and SSH, this tutorial helped a lot!

[MatteoCeccarini]

Thank you so much!!! This is such a detailed, easy to follow explanation. I am new to linux and I was wondering how to setup KDE Wallet. Your video helped me to achieve that and to get a general understanding about how it works. Thank you so much!

[ARPIT]

Thanks a million 😊!
A must watch for beginners like us to understand different gpg commands and their usage!!

[dhruvpatel]

Man your content is great, I hope more people will watch you videos

[et_phonehome_]

The best video I've ever seen on GPG

[vim_usr]

Outstanding video! Any chance you could make a video talking about additional topics such as keyservers, subkeys, etc.?

[aakupsp]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Appreciate it!

[dfgskfw]

I got that 2020 reference. Never forget.

[iGarrettt]

This was a fantastic and helpful video. Thank you!

[raulalegre]

Thank you very much, very well explained, very useful video.

[ojasbhagavath]

Thanks a lot for this!
Can you please make a video on pass?

[zoliky]

Hi, Nick. I've been watching a number of YouTube videos about creating and managing GPG keys, and I must say that your explanations are by far the clearest.
A question: If I choose to update/change the password for my GPG key at some point, will that have any impact on the GPG keys themselves? In other words, will they have a new fingerprint or undergo any other changes?

[guillaumeturgeon]

Great video! Thanks for the detailed explanation

[johnnystaccata]

Excuse me for sayin', but I think you should post more code
for the segments in the timeline/description.
It is difficult sometimes to copy text from a gui screen.

[hedgeearthridge]

Im wondering. If you DID want to digitally store your passphrase, you could create a text file on a flash drive with the password. Then use GPG to encrypt it with AES-256 using an easier password to remember. Then store it to something like a CD, securely erase everything on the flash drive, and reboot your system. That stored in a lockbox or bank safety box would be extremely frustrating for someone to deal with, unlike a piece of paper. Not only would they have to get your keys from your computer, and steal the CD or flash drive, they would have to waste time trying to decrypt the password text file. It would definitely not be worth it, hehe.

Or, just make a database with KeePassXC and put it on a flash drive or CD. That's really easier than the more low-tech process above, and wont result in the plaintext possibly still being on your hard drive.