question about hkp protocol

[kurt c]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

John Clizbe wrote:
> kurt c wrote:
>> Hello. I have a beginner question, I hope you guys don't mind.
>>
>> I'd like to know why it is that when the key server website is in the
>> hkp protocol, I can never access it through my web browser. For example,
>> if I type the url hkp://random.sks.keyserver.penguine.de
>> <http://random.sks.keyserver.penguine.de> into my Firefox browser, it
>> will say: Firefox doesn't know how to open this address because it's not
>> associated with any program. I similarly can never export my public key
>> through my GPA if the key server is in the hkp protocol. Can anyone
>> enlighten me as to the reason for this? How can I access hkp sites?
> 
> HKP is implemented with HTTP over port 11371. It is not itself a browser protocol.
> 
> However, many keyservers operate web interfaces as well as the automated
> responses. These web interfaces also operate on port 11371.
> 
> For restrictive firewalls, I know of several modern SKS keyservers that also
> listen on port 80. And three that will accept commands via email.
> 
> hkp://pool.sks-keyservers.net is equivalent to http://pool.sks-keyservers.net:11371
> 
> Web server interfaces are primarily used for searching.
> 
> It's easiest to let GnuPG handle the details of submitting your key:
> 
>   gpg --keyserver keyserver.gingerbear.net --send-key 0xdecafbad
> 
> If you /really/ need to use the web interface, just don't type hkp:// as part of
> the URL (you may type http://, but it's not needed) and be sure to add :11371 to
> the host name
> 
>   keyserver.gingerbear.net:11371
> 
> Most browsers will automatically prefix http:// if it is absent
> 
> BTW, pool.sks-keyservers.net should be used as a replacement for
> random.sks.keyserver.penguin.de. It is no longer regularly being updated.
> 
> 
Thanks John. My next question is then: why is it that when I tried to
send my public key to a key server (whether it starts with hkp or http)
using my GPA, the popup said: "there is no plugin available for this
protocol". What plugin am I missing?

(Excuse me for the PGP signature. I'm using Enigmail/Thunderbird and I
don't feel like turning off the signature now.)
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (MingW32)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

iD8DBQFIfWLuE7PX/Y51jV8RAoFzAKDN63RdgmfgGtxJtsvzEmvElF/h/QCfa0SJ
WArDE5xObrqkqaDvSozC6BE=
=BiiO
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----