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Gpg4win - encryption tools
Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 5:20 pm
by webfork
Note: I haven't tested this yet. I'm mainly posting this because I'm thrilled one of the primary Windows GPG project is finally addressing portability.
synopsis wrote:Gpg4win enables users to securely transport emails and files with the help of encryption and digital signatures. Encryption protects the contents against an unwanted party reading it. Digital signatures make sure that it was not modified and comes from a specific sender.
Gpg4win supports both relevant cryptography standards, OpenPGP and S/MIME (X.509), and is the official GnuPG distribution for Windows. It is maintained by the developers of GnuPG. Gpg4win and the software included with Gpg4win are Free Software (Open Source; among other things free of charge for all commercial and non-commercial purposes).
(source:
http://gpg4win.org/about.html)
Making it portable:
To create a portable Gpg4win version use the included tool mkportable.exe.
HOWTO: Install Gpg4win with all components and then run from the command line (cmd) in install directory: mkportable.exe [OPTIONS] TARGETDIR. Use mkportable.exe --help to get all options. The portable version does not include GpgOL (Outlook plugin) and GpgEX (Shell Extensions)! Your certificates and settings are saved in the directory 'home' of portable version.
Please note: Does not use portable applications - especially crypto applications - on potentially infected systems
(
http://www.gpg4win.org/download.html)
System Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8. Both 32 and 64bit systems are supported.
Re: Gpg4win - encryption tools
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:18 am
by webfork
There are some good security tools in here, especially if you need to use certificates, but the setup process is overly tedious and program needs some usability work.
- Download and run setup program (gpg4win-[version number].exe)
- Install options you want (ignore GpgOL and GpgEX since these won't go into the portable version anyway)
- When prompted to make Claws-Mail your default client, select "No"
- Create an empty folder c:\gpg4win
- Open a command prompt window and navigate to C:\Program Files\GNU\GnuPG
- Enter mkportable.exe --full c:\gpg4win
- Uninstall gpg4win
- Launch one of the following programs:
- gpa.exe - GNU Privacy Assistant - includes text (clipboard) and file encryption options
- kelopatra.exe Kleopatra - Certificate manager
- claws-mail.exeClaws-mail - basic email client with included GPG tools
Pros
- Lots and lots of functionality, tools, and tweaks for power users
Cons
In short, I suspect that no one outside of those very concerned with security are ever going to use this.
- Not nearly as smooth and easy as gpg4usb nor Thunderbird+Enigmail
- By default is set to 1024 bit keys and doesn't support generation of 4096 keysizes (gpg4usb supports VERY high keysizes). For reference, security expert Shneier uses 2048.
- Claws-mail is some distance behind Thunderbird (feels very 1998)
Re: Gpg4win - encryption tools
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 2:04 am
by Midas
Thanks for posting portabilizing instructions, I'll be looking into it soon, I hope.
webfork wrote:- Claws-mail is some distance behind Thunderbird (feels very 1998)
FYI, while I don't much care for lumbering
Thunderbird, I really like
Claws-mail (which is highly configurable and can be easily themed for a more updated look --
viewtopic.php?t=21324); I just wish it got portable separate from
Gpg4win integration, I'd adopt it in a flash...
Re: Gpg4win - encryption tools
Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2014 11:18 am
by webfork
Update: So Clawsmail saves to User\AppData\Roaming - so it's not portable. Whoops.
Moving this thread to the Not Portable section and, unless the portable version install process is radically simplified, I likely won't update this thread.
Re: Gpg4win - encryption tools
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 4:43 am
by Midas
Re: Gpg4win - encryption tools
Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 5:22 pm
by smaragdus
Gpg4win 2.2.5 has been released.
Re: Gpg4win - encryption tools
Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 7:43 am
by webfork
I might retry the GPG4Win portability process in the near future ... I noticed this in the GPG4Win changelog from back in November:
The mkportable process can be used again to create a portable Gpg4win variant.
http://www.softpedia.com/progChangelog/ ... 35240.html
Re: Gpg4win - encryption tools
Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 1:51 pm
by JohnTHaller
This appears to just copy the C:\Program Files\GnuPG directory to the location you specify, create an empty HOME directory, and create a text file called gpgconf.ctl within the bin directory containing some comments about the file's presence trigger portable mode for GPG. I'm not sure if this prevents the GPG agent process from running indefinitely and preventing ejects when used. This doesn't appear to include any gpg4win tools in the 'portable' copy, just GPG.
Re: Gpg4win - encryption tools
Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 2:16 pm
by webfork
JohnTHaller wrote: ↑Sat Jan 13, 2018 1:51 pmThis doesn't appear to include any gpg4win tools in the 'portable' copy, just GPG.
That's frustrating. Of *all* the programs out there you'd want to be portable, GPG has one of the strongest use cases. As a security professional, I need my security software to fit on a small device I can keep on my person at all times and easily discard.
Thanks for the heads-up.
Re: Gpg4win - encryption tools
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 8:58 pm
by webfork
Old thread update: this saw a lot of updates since it was last posted:
https://www.gpg4win.org/change-history.html ... I didn't see anything to address portability, so I likely won't retest, but it's still a good free, open source security program.
Re: Gpg4win - encryption tools
Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2021 11:34 am
by Midas
GpgWin v3.1.15 released 2021-01-12 (changelog at
https://www.gpg4win.org/change-history.html).
Re: Gpg4win - encryption tools
Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2022 8:36 am
by Midas