~drscream

Now after long time, I would like to revoke my old gpg key (0x732BE57D). I found the documentation on this a little sparse, so here are the steps I took.

gpg --gen-revoke 0x732BE57D

0x732BE57D is the ID for my key. You’re asked if you want to provide a reason for the revocation (key comprised, superseded or no longer used) and an optional free-text description. After supplying your passphrase, an ascii-armoured key block is printed out. Paste this text into a file.

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.9 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: A revocation certificate should follow

QCfaMzd5Aj8iGEEIBECACEFAklx2aMaHQFyZXBsYWNlZCB3aXR
RK8LcYHjvuGqHrZvKoAnRwycNdRFRHFZEg5YLgVpNWi/S9HQ
=xQFS
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

This step could be performed when you first generate your key, and the results stashed in a safe place for later use if you lose it.

gpg --import 0x732BE57D_revoke_cert.asc

Issuing this command imports the revocation into your keyring, revoking your key.

gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --send-keys 0x732BE57D

This send the revoked key to the public keyserver at pgp.mit.edu. If it succeeds, you’ll get the message ‘gpg: success sending to `pgp.mit.edu’ (status=200)‘. If you check your key’s verbose index page on pgp.mit.edu, you’ll see ** KEY REVOKED ** on the first line of the details.

Only for your information, my current (since 2007) gpg key is 0xE80BF2AB.