Fresh OS installation

[Robert J. Hansen]

> What is the best way to use my keys and settings I've already configured
on
> my old OS? Do I back things up, or make a copy from the config. file?

Good question: there really isn't a good, standardized way to do this.
There are three different branches of GnuPG that are in common use (1.4,
2.0, 2.1), and it's possible that your old keys were set up on 1.4, your new
machine will be a 2.1 install, and so on.

The easiest way will not necessarily be the best way.  It will probably be
good enough for your purposes.

On your old machine:

	$ cd ~
	$ tar cf gnupg-backup.tar .gnupg/

Copy the tarfile to your new installation.  Place it in your home directory.
Then, on your new machine:

	$ cd ~
	$ rm -rf .gnupg
	$ tar xf ./gnupg-backup.tar
	$ rm -f .gnupg/random_seed
	$ gpg --list-secret-keys
	$ gpg --list-keys

If you can list your secret keys and public keys OK, then you're probably
good to go.  Let us know if you have any problems.