How to store Kleopatra PGP keys on USB drive?
I'm using Kleopatra (actually gpg4win) on Windows. I've created PGP Private keys, and I would like to store them on my usb stick (e.g. be able to encrypt files only if the private key is available - that is, if the usb stick is in the drive).
How can I do this?
Thanks!
You cannot move single keys or even keypairs, but you can move the entire keyring:
- Move GnuPG data directory (
~/.gnupg
; on Windows%APPDATA%\.gnupg
) to your chosen location.- For extra security, copy and secure-wipe instead of just moving (which does an insecure deletion).
- Set the
GNUPGHOME
environment variable to the new location.- System Properties → Advanced → Environment Variables. Alternatively, in Windows 7, search for "environ" in Control Panel.
- Click Add, enter
GNUPGHOME
as name and the new path as value.- For example,
E:\private\gnupg
orC:\mnt\jwir3 flash drive\GnuPG
or whatever the hell you moved your keys to.
- For example,
- The currently running programs will not see your changes. Exception: Windows Shell (
explorer.exe
), which receives a change notification. So you need to close Kleopatra and restart it from the Start menu.
EDIT: Looks like it's actually the GNUPGHOME
environment variable, rather than GNUPG_HOME
I tried the GNUPGHOME directory and it mostly works but if you ever have another installation of GPG all hell breaks loose and it will create some problems. A better solution I happened upon is to download and install the full gpg4win download, then run mkportable --full [somedir] to create a portable install. Copy that to your USB or truecrypt drive and then uninstall gpg. The home directory is where you copy all your existing keyring files if any.