Encrypting files using PGP/GPG
Posted on Sun 08 November 2020 in programming
This past week I had to encrypt several sensitive files before transmitting
them to a third party vendor we were working with. It being my first time doing
such a thing, I read up on the PGP encryption algorithm and and learned how to work with
GnuPG (gpg), the open source implementation of PGP. My first impression: gpg is a
mature software with an easy-to-use interface, provided you read the first few
pages of the GNU Privacy
Handbook
Cheatsheet
| description | command |
|---|---|
| create a key pair | gpg --gen-key |
| list keys | gpg --list-keys |
| export a public key | gpg --export --armor > pubkey.asc |
| import a public key | gpg --import pubkey.asc |
| encrypt a file | gpg --encrypt --recipient 'name/email/sha' file.txt |
| decrypt a file | gpg [--decrypt] file.txt.gpg |
When encrypting a file, you may specify more than one --recipient.
When decrypting a file, passing --decrypt will print to stdout instead of
saving to a file.