Seahorse (formerly GNOME Keyring Manager) is an open source application that provides users with a modern and easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) for the GNOME Keyring command-line program of the GNOME desktop environment.
Features at a glance
The application can be used to graphically manage PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) and OpenSSH keys that are captured by the GNOME Keyring software through any application that stores passwords.
In addition, it can manage normal passwords that are used to login to various websites or specific applications (e.g. Twitter client), as well as system certificates. It is based on the GPG (GNU Privacy Guard) and GPGME (GnuPG Made Easy) projects.
Integrates well with many GNOME apps
While it integrates well with several GNOME applications, such as Nautilus (Files) or Gedit, the software offers an easy-to-use and uncluttered user interface for basic encryption and decryption operations. It uses a plugins package for users who want extra functionality from it.
The application is designed to allow users to create and import PGP keys, find remote keys, publish and sync keys with key servers, create and manage SSH or OpenSSH keys, backup keys and keyrings, as well as to cache password, so you don’t have to keep typing them all the time.
Designed for GNOME
The application’s name, at least under the GNOME desktop environment, is Passwords and Keys, which may be confusing for users. Its interface is very simple, comprised of a white area where you can view encrypted entries (passphrases, certificates, keys), as well as a sidebar, from where you can choose which type of items to view.
A standard search functionality is provided on top of the item view area, as well as a plus button that allows users to easily and quickly add a password keyring, a PGP key, a private key, a SSH key, or a stored password or secret.
Bottom line
Overall, the Seahorse application provides a very good GUI front-end for the GNOME Keyring program. While it is mainly designed to be used under the GNOME desktop environment, it can be easily ported to other open source window managers.
