Q: After having installed GNU Privacy Guard, I have the following error when invoking it on the command-line:
Welcome to Darwin!
[localhost:~] joe% gpg
gpg: /Users/joe/.gnupg/secring.gpg: can't create keyring: Permission denied
gpg: keyblock resource `/Users/joe/.gnupg/secring.gpg': file open error
gpg: /Users/joe/.gnupg/pubring.gpg: can't create keyring: Permission denied
gpg: keyblock resource `/Users/joe/.gnupg/pubring.gpg': file open error
gpg: Go ahead and type your message ...
A: You probably copied your keyrings from MacOS 9, and didn't take care of file permissions. Open the Terminal and type the following:
sudo chown -R $LOGNAME $HOME/.gnupg
chmod 600 $HOME/.gnupg/*
Q: After having exported my MacOS 9 keyrings (in ASCII), gpg is unable to import them.
A: End-of-line characters are different on MacOS 9 and MacOS X. Execute the following command in the Terminal to correct the problem:
tr -d '\r' < myMacOS9ExportedKeyring > myMacOSXImportableKeyring
Q: GPGMail is unable to find gpg, which has been installed via fink. How can I make it aware that gpg is in another location?
A: GPGMail expects gpg to be located in /usr/local/bin, but there is a hidden user default that you can override to give it another location. To do this, quit Mail, launch Terminal and type:
defaults write com.apple.mail gpg /sw/bin/gpg
Note that you could instead create a soft link:
sudo ln -s /sw/bin/gpg /usr/local/bin/gpg
If you use GPGPreferences, it will do this for you.
Q: I can't open any new compose windows, or reply to any message. Mail doesn't do anything or crashes each time.
A: There is a problem with toolbar items added by GPGMail, on some occasions. To correct the problem, quit Mail, launch Terminal and type:
defaults delete com.apple.mail "NSToolbar Configuration ComposeNewOrDraft"
defaults delete com.apple.mail "NSToolbar Configuration ComposeReplyOrForward"
defaults delete com.apple.mail "NSToolbar Configuration MessageViewer"
defaults delete com.apple.mail "NSToolbar Configuration TornOffViewer"
Q: Since I installed GPGMail, all Mail characters have different weird colors.
A: This is a known problem... Unfortunately we didn't find the cause, nor a remedy to it. Anyway, Mail continues to work. You need to live with it.
Q: I can't send an encrypted message to my friend, despite I have her public key, with the corresponding email address.
A: Check that the public key has been signed by your key. You can sign a key locally like this:
gpg --lsign-key myFriendKeyID
Read GnuPG documentation to know more about signing keys. Note that this problem will not happen if you use gpg 1.0.7: GPGMail forces gpg to accept unsigned keys.
Q: I work in an environment where my home directory is on a
network, so the directory ~/.gnupg is implicitly insecure. It would be
great if there were an easy way to specify "--homedir
/Volumes/LocalSecureDisk/GPGStuff" for instance in a preference field.
A: There are two ways to do this currently: the first solution would be to write a shell script which would invoke gpg with the --homedir argument, and tell GPGMail to use this script instead of gpg. The second solution is to set the environment variable GNUPGHOME: create or modify the file $HOME/.MacOSX/environment.plist with /Developer/Applications/PropertyListEditor and add a new key-value entry named GNUPGHOME; you need to log out and log in again for this change to apply. Note that you can also use GPGPreferences for this.
Q: Is it possible to extend the passphrase session timeout?
A: Currently there is no way to set the timeout from the user interface, but it is possible from the command-line: quit Mail, launch /Applications/Utilities/Terminal and type:
defaults write com.apple.mail GPGPassphraseFlushTimeout valueInSeconds
where valueInSeconds is a number; currently, the default value is 60. The ability to change this value from the user interface will be added in a future release.
Q: I guess I installed GPGMail correctly, but the buttons don't appear in the toolbar. What's wrong?
A: GPGMail buttons don't appear (yet) magically in Mail toolbars; you need to customize the different toolbars to add the buttons Encrypt and Sign, or Decrypt and Authenticate. There are in fact four different toolbars, and each one must be customized independantly.
Q: I installed GPGMail correctly, but the buttons don't appear in the toolbar, and there is no menu, however I executed the command defaults write com.apple.mail EnableBundles YES. What's wrong?
A: You probably executed the command as user root, didn't you?! Each user wanting to use GPGMail must execute the command with her own account, not root's. BTW, you should never work as user root!
Q: I use now GnuPG 1.0.7, and I can no longer encrypt any message. I always get the message
1234ABCD: There is no indication that this key really belongs to the owner
no valid addressees
[stdin]: sign+encrypt failed: no such user id
What's wrong?
A: Starting with GnuPG 1.0.7, keys always need to be signed by their owner. You're probably trying to use a public key which has not been signed by its owner.
Q: I am trying to use the GPGMail plugin, but I keep getting this cryptic error.
skipped `myname@mac.com': duplicated
What does this mean and how do I fix it?
GPGMail automatically includes your own public key (i.e. the one define in GPGMail preferences) when encrypting. You asked explicitely GPGMail to use that key again by putting your email address in the To: or CC: fields. Just remove it.
Q: When I reply to an encrypted message, the reply quotes the encrypted message, not the decrypted message that I'm reading. How can I force Mail to use the decrypted message?
GPGMail does not allow you to do this automatically. To workaround the problem, select the decrypted content before clicking the 'Reply' button.
Q: How can I uninstall GPGMail?
To uninstall GPGMail, you need to delete the file GPGMail.mailbundle located in $HOME/Library/Mail/Bundles. You also need to type the following commands in the Terminal (quit Mail first):
defaults delete com.apple.mail "NSToolbar Configuration ComposeNewOrDraft"
defaults delete com.apple.mail "NSToolbar Configuration ComposeReplyOrForward"
defaults delete com.apple.mail "NSToolbar Configuration MessageViewer"
defaults delete com.apple.mail "NSToolbar Configuration TornOffViewer"
defaults delete com.apple.mail NSPreferencesSelectedIndex
Q: How can I tell GPGMail to automatically retrieve public keys needed when encrypting or verifying a message?
You can configure gpg to automatically retrieve keys when verifying messages. Modify file $HOME/.gnupg/options (or use GPGPreferences) with TextEdit and add the following lines:
keyserver x-hkp://wwwkeys.us.pgp.net
keyserver-options auto-key-retrieve include-disabled include-revoked
There is no way yet to automatically retrieve public keys when encrypting a message, but the feature will probably be added to GPGMail in a future revision.
Q: How can I participate to your beta testing program?
Subscribe to GPGMail's mailing list by sending an email to gpgmail-users-on@sente.ch. This is a very low traffic mailing list that I will use to give information about the development of GPGMail. Archives are accessible on-line at http://kgwgk.sente.ch/Lists/gpgmail-users/List.html.
Q: I'm exchanging encrypted emails with a friend who uses Ximian Evolution, and his mailer doesn't recognize the mails I send. My friend needs to copy-paste the contents of the email to the Terminal to be able to decrypt it. Why?
Ximian Evolution recognizes only the new MIME format for PGP emails, whereas GPGMail recognizes both old (inline) and new (MIME) formats. By defaults, GPGMail uses the old format if your mail is plain text only (no rich text attributes, no attachment). If you want GPGMail to always use the new format, quit Mail and type the following command in the Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.mail GPGOpenPGPStyleOnly YES
In a future release of GPGMail, you'll be able to decide this on a message-basis.
Q: I cannot install GPGMail, because when I type in the Terminal the following command:
defaults write com.apple.mail EnableBundles YES
I get the following error:
default: Too many arguments.
A: You need to have the BSD package installed. It is provided by MacOS X installation CD.
GPGMail의 FAQ 한글번역
(Korean translation)
Foire aux questions (French translation)
