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Ok so I tried for the first time to use PGP keys for email encryption in Evolution. I followed some instructions online, created a key, but coz I encountered some problems I decided to delete the key and restart the proces. (This fact is probably irrelevant, because I got similar errors when doing it.)

Now I have no key and I go to Remote: Sync and publish keys. Firstly it says that there are 6 keys selected for synchronisation. Why? I do have some passwords saved in here, will it sync those too??

And last, when I click sync I first get two errors:

Couldn't retrieve keys from server: pool.sks-keyservers.net

Couldn't communicate with server 'pool.sks-keyservers.net': Internal Server Error

and

Couldn't retrieve keys from server: keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371

Couldn't communicate with server 'keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371': Internal Server Error

Than the progress stops and no progress is made, it just says:

Synchronising keys... Exporting data

Any help?

Community
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Janez Fouclait
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    Can you post the `keyservers` available in seahorse , through the same sync option menu. – atenz Jul 25 '12 at 14:58
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    hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371, hkp://pool.sks-keyservers.net and ldap://keyserver.pgp.com these are the keyservers i have by default. – Janez Fouclait Jul 25 '12 at 15:33
  • They are right , have you tried revoking them. do you have any firewall like UFW installed and enabled. – atenz Jul 25 '12 at 15:53
  • Because I wanted to start over(and some error in evolution about public key), I deleted all keys in preferences. Regarding the firewall- I have a pretty much clean install and have not messed with firewall preferences, but I think it is on by default in ubuntu? – Janez Fouclait Jul 25 '12 at 16:05
  • Then not a firewall issue. have you integrated pgp to evolution mail. – atenz Jul 25 '12 at 16:36
  • Evolution is not a problem, I added a key, however when tried to send an encrypted mail I got an error saying that this is not a public key. So I deleted it and started over. – Janez Fouclait Jul 25 '12 at 17:16
  • It's 2020 and I also run into this problem, but there does not seem to be a solution. Is there anyone that can help out here? – Axe Apr 15 '20 at 05:58

4 Answers4

4

I had the same problem. I fixed it by:

  1. Remove all existing keyservers from the Sync box (by default hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371, hkp://pool.sks-keyservers.net, and ldap://keyserver.pgp.com).
  2. Add them over again (keeping the same settings).
  3. Press Sync.

Don't know why this works, but it does.

Eliah Kagan
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Pranesh Prakash
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0

Another workaround is to go directly to https://keyserver.ubuntu.com/ and submit the ASCII-armored version of your key.

You can generate it like this:

gpg --armor --export [email protected]
ConorSheehan1
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One of the following approaches worked for me, I'm not sure if the first will fix it but I will certainly encourage for the 2 approach.

This anwer was inspired by both @Pranesh-Prakash and @ConorSheehan1 answers.

  1. Using Password & Keys GUI app, go to Preferences, and activate the checkbox for Automatically synchronize modified keys with key servers. Retry sync

If the synchronization fails then try this:

  1. Using Password & Keys GUI application, go to Preferences.
    • In the Keyservers section, add a new one using the Add keyserver button
      • Select HTTPS as the Key Server Type.
      • Add keyserver.ubuntu.com (no protocol, no port) as HOST
    • (My current version of Password&Keys doesn't update automatically to reflect the changes so I have to close Preferences and re-open it for the next step)
    • In the Key Synchronization section, from the Publish keys to drop down list select the new keyserver you just added.
    • Close preferences and try sync
Karmavil
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-1

Try this solution from ubuntuforums. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1726418

gpg --gen-key --enable-dsa2

Hope this helps!

spaceghost
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