GPG setup procedure for rookies

To create a new key for usage with CPM, the following procedure will help you to get started.

$ gpg --gen-key
gpg (GnuPG) 1.4.2; Copyright (C) 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
under certain conditions. See the file COPYING for details.

Please select what kind of key you want:
   (1) DSA and Elgamal (default)
   (2) DSA (sign only)
   (5) RSA (sign only)
Your selection? 1
DSA keypair will have 1024 bits.
ELG-E keys may be between 1024 and 4096 bits long.
What keysize do you want? (2048)
Requested keysize is 2048 bits
Please specify how long the key should be valid.
         0 = key does not expire
      <n>  = key expires in n days
      <n>w = key expires in n weeks
      <n>m = key expires in n months
      <n>y = key expires in n years
Key is valid for? (0)
Key does not expire at all
Is this correct? (y/N) y

You need a user ID to identify your key; the software constructs the user ID
from the Real Name, Comment and Email Address in this form:
    "Heinrich Heine (Der Dichter) <heinrichh@duesseldorf.de>"

Real name: Harry B.
Email address: harry_b@mm.st
Comment: Harry's Testkey
You selected this USER-ID:
    "Harry B. (Harry's Testkey) <harry_b@mm.st>"

Change (N)ame, (C)omment, (E)mail or (O)kay/(Q)uit? o
You need a Passphrase to protect your secret key.

We need to generate a lot of random bytes. It is a good idea to perform
some other action (type on the keyboard, move the mouse, utilize the
disks) during the prime generation; this gives the random number
generator a better chance to gain enough entropy.
12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890
++++++++++++++++++++.+++++.++++++++++.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++.++++++++++..++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++>+++++.+++++............
..................................+++++
gpg: /home/helpme/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created
gpg: key 44924A7E marked as ultimately trusted
public and secret key created and signed.

gpg: checking the trustdb
gpg: 3 marginal(s) needed, 1 complete(s) needed, PGP trust model
gpg: depth: 0  valid:   1  signed:   0  trust: 0-, 0q, 0n, 0m, 0f, 1u
pub   1024D/44924A7E 2006-02-23
      Key fingerprint = 632F 4C01 8DE5 793E EC55  68F9 4BB9 DCB5 4492 4A7E
uid                  Harry B. (Harry's Testkey) <harry_b@mm.st>
sub   2048g/457802D9 2006-02-23

$ gpg --edit harry_b@mm.st
gpg (GnuPG) 1.4.2; Copyright (C) 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
under certain conditions. See the file COPYING for details.

Secret key is available.

pub  1024D/44924A7E  created: 2006-02-23  expires: never       usage: CS
                     trust: ultimate      validity: ultimate
sub  2048g/457802D9  created: 2006-02-23  expires: never       usage: E
[ultimate] (1). Harry B. (Harry's Testkey) <harry_b@mm.st>

Command> trust
pub  1024D/44924A7E  created: 2006-02-23  expires: never       usage: CS
                     trust: ultimate      validity: ultimate
sub  2048g/457802D9  created: 2006-02-23  expires: never       usage: E
[ultimate] (1). Harry B. (Harry's Testkey) <harry_b@mm.st>

Please decide how far you trust this user to correctly verify other users' keys
(by looking at passports, checking fingerprints from different sources, etc.)
 
  1 = I don't know or won't say
  2 = I do NOT trust
  3 = I trust marginally
  4 = I trust fully
  5 = I trust ultimately
  m = back to the main menu

Your decision? 5
Do you really want to set this key to ultimate trust? (y/N) y

pub  1024D/44924A7E  created: 2006-02-23  expires: never       usage: CS
                     trust: ultimate      validity: ultimate
sub  2048g/457802D9  created: 2006-02-23  expires: never       usage: E
[ultimate] (1). Harry B. (Harry's Testkey) <harry_b@mm.st>

Command> save
Key not changed so no update needed.