RXTE GOF |
Obtaining and Using PGP/GPG Recipes from the RXTE Cook Book |
RXTE FAQ |
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Introduction
PGP, or Pretty Good (TM) Privacy, is a high-security cryptographic software application that allows people to exchange information with both privacy and authentication. It was written by Philip Zimmermann, and uses an algoritm (IDEA) that has now been patented. GPG is GNU Privacy Guard, a PGP replacement which is free and does not use the patented IDEA algorithm. Each program can unencrypt files encrypted by the other, within certain limitations outlined below.
The RXTE mission makes proprietary data available for download as encrypted tar files. The encryption key is sent to the PI, usually when the observation is scheduled. When electronic distribution of RXTE data began, PGP was used for data encryption. In February 2006, RXTE switched to using GPG for all realtime and full-processing data distribution, due to the greater availability of GPG and its broader support of modern computer platforms. The impact on RXTE users is as follows:
Software for Unencrypting RXTE Proprietary Data
If you have: | You should: |
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GPG 1.06 or higher | do nothing - you will be able to unencrypt both newer and older RXTE data |
GPG < 1.06 | update your version of GPG - your version is too old to unencrypt RXTE data | PGP 6.0 or higher | do nothing - you will be able to unencrypt both newer and older RXTE data | PGP < 6.0 | get GPG - your version of PGP is too old to unencrypt the newer RXTE data (see text, above) |
Neither PGP or GPG | get GPG |
The recipe below tells more about how to obtain and apply GPG to RXTE data. Note that using the recipe below does not absolve you from the responsibility of reading and understanding the documentation provided by GPG at their Web site. Also, bear in mind that for various legal and practical reasons the RXTE mission cannot provide the same complete support for GPG as for our own in-house software like FTOOLS, Xanadu etc.
For Fully Processed datasets (RXTE PGPData area):
For Realtime or Pseudo-production datasets (XTE SOF site):
and when prompted for the pass phrase, use the access key from (1).
Obtaining and Installing GPG
Decrypting your RXTE Realtime or Full-Processing Data
ftp legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov
(give "anonymous" for userid and e-mail address as password)
cd xte/data/archive/PGPData
get obsid.tar.pgp
quit
ftp xgo2.nascom.nasa.gov
(give "anonymous" for userid and e-mail address as password)
cd pub/FITS/
get obsid.tar.pgp
quit
gpg obsid.tar.pgp
If you have a question about RXTE, please send email to one of our
help desks.