Documentation about File→Export is misleading and incomplete

[peterzay]

Binary package hint: gnupg

- create a gnu pgp key
- encrypt a file with this key
- export this key to an asc file
- destroy the key (original)
- import the asc key from backup (result goes to Other Keys and not My Personal Keys)
- decrypt the file with Other Keys asc restore key and fail

How do you recreate a key from a backup?

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: gnupg 1.4.10-2ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-25.44-generic 2.6.32.21+drm33.7
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-25-generic i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Thu Sep 30 22:43:54 2010
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release i386 (20100429)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: gnupg

[Michael Bienia (geser)]

How did you export the key? If you used only --export then you only exported the public part of your key.
You are probably missing the secret part of your key which gets *only* exported with --export-secret-keys. Without the secret part of the key your key is now useless.

[peterzay (peterzay)]

Michael,

I used Applications/Accessories/Passwords and Encryption Keys, clicked on My Personal Keys and clicked on my key, and then clicked on File/Export.

If that export is incomplete (public only, not private), please fix that bug.

In the meantime, please give me the complete instructions required to do this from the command line of a non-admin user.

Thanks.

[Daniel Leidert (dleidert-deactivatedaccount)]

1. Exporting the secret key will never be the default.
2. Seahorse has the capabilities to export the secret key via Properties > Details.
3. This is a *bug*-tracker and not a users list, so read the seahorse documentation.

[peterzay (peterzay)]

Daniel,

Thanks for the feedback.

May I suggest you change the menu from File/Export to File/Export Public.

[peterzay (peterzay)]

Daniel,

The Seahorse documentation available to a laptop user not always connected to the internet is attached as a screenshot.

It is very misleading and incomplete.

Misleading: The documentation should make it clear that only the public portion of a key pair is exported.

Incomplete: A second section is missing that would explain that if you double click on your key and select the Details tab, you can then export the entire key pair (both public and private) into one file.

[Michael Bienia (geser)]

Re-assigning to seahorse as the documentation bug is there and not in gnupg.

[Pedro Villavicencio (pedro)]

Thanks for the report, it has been some time without any response or feedback in this bug report and we are wondering if this is still an issue for you with the latest release of Ubuntu the Natty Narwhal, May you please test with that version and comment back if you're still having or not the issue? Please have a look at http://www.ubuntu.com/download to know how to install that version. Thanks in advance and sorry for the late response.

[peterzay (peterzay)]

There has been no change in 11.04, the misleading and incomplete documentation is the same as in 10.04.

[peterzay (peterzay)]

This is still unresolved in Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric.

[Savvas Radevic (medigeek)]

I would file this bug upstream:
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/browse.cgi?product=seahorse
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=seahorse

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.