pgp key search, how-to

[Eric]

Hi,

This as short as I could make my question:

Using PGP 6.5.8, I want to  search for public keys at
<ldap://certserver.pgp.com> and <http://pgpkeys.mit.edu:11371>, and add the
results of particular searches to my pubring.

In Windows, this is self-explanatory.  But in RH Linux, the documentation is
confusing.

In the *PGPCmdLineGuide* (which came with my Windows pgp zip file), it is
stated:

"Get a key from the key server and put the key on your keyring (requires two
commands)
pgp -kx <userid><keyfile><URL>
pgp -ka <keyfile>
An example of a URL: ldap://certserver.pgp.com"

But the man page in RH for pgp states that "-kx" "[i]nstructs pgp to copy a
key from your public or secret key ring."

So the first instruction says "-kx" gets keys from the key server, but the
second instruction says that "-kx" copies "from" MY public or secret ring.

These are two different actions, no?

Because of a search from PGP for Windows, I know that a key exists at for
the following person at ldap://certserver.pgp.com:

Louis Freeh, former FBI director

I am able, if I want to, to easily add this key to my pubring in Windows.

But from Linux, the commands "pgp -kx Freeh ldap://certserver.pgp.com" or
"pgp -kx 'Louis Freeh' ldap://certserver.pgp.com" return the following type
of result:

"Extracting from keyring '/root/.pgp/pubring.pkr', userid "Freeh".
Key not found in key ring '/root/.pgp/pubring.pkr'."

This output suggests the second insturction above is correct.  But...

I also did a search for my girlfriend using the same type of syntax, and
somehow I managed to download all keys with a userid that contained either
her first name OR her last.  This would suggest the first instruction above
is correct???

I am a bit confused here:

Could someone take me through an example?

What does "pgp -kx" do?
How do I search for keys on the MIT server or Certserver?
Once I find them, does "pgp -ka" add them to my pubring?  If not, what does?



Thanks a lot,

Eric