Windows Integrity Check
To verify on Windows, you need to download and install GnuPG. Make sure that you scroll down on the page and when you come to download.sig Simple installer for the current GnuPG this is the one you want. Here is a direct link to download it from the site. If they changed it, you may have to go to the site to get the correct one pictured below.
After you have downloaded it you need to install it on your windows operating system. It does not matter if you give it administrative privileges or not.
Performing The Integrity Check In Windows
Now navigate to your downloads folder or the folder where you downloaded your Linux Mint. DO NOT go inside the folder. We just want to see the folder that contains the Linux Mint download, sha256sum & sha256sum.txt.gpg files. Hold the “SHIFT” key down on your keyboard and right click the folder. You will see a menu pop up. Yours will either say, “Open with PowerShell” or “Open command window here”. I included a picture of both menues below.
If PowerShell it will look like this.
You will now see a command line. I am using PowerShell so it looks blue on my computer. Here is the command that you want to enter. NOTE: that if you copy this code and then you go to your terminal and right click it will automatically enter the text. You may have to change the filename of your ISO file.
CertUtil -hashfile filename.iso SHA256
Here is what I had to change it to so that it matches my ISO file. Also note that if you start to type a filename the program may try to auto complete it for you.
CertUtil -hashfile linuxmint-20.2-cinnamon-64bit.iso SHA256
My results were successful. You can see them below. If you did not receive a successful message, then you need to go back and re-download Linux Mint again.
Authenticity Check in Windows
Now let’s perform the Authenticity Check in Windows. In the same PowerShell Window, enter the following commands. We are going to get a key, then verify its authenticity. This may be tricky or may fail, but I included 3 different codes to help you below.
gpg --keyserver hkps://keyserver.ubuntu.com:443 --recv-key 27DEB15644C6B3CF3BD7D291300F846BA25BAE09
The above code may fail for some users, if so, enter the following into your terminal.
gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-key 27DEB15644C6B3CF3BD7D291300F846BA25BAE09
If that one fails, then try this one.
gpg --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-key 27DEB15644C6B3CF3BD7D291300F846BA25BAE09
If it continues to fail, please see more detailed instructions here.
When Successful Look Here
Now, once the above is successful, copy and paste this code into your terminal. Be in the same directory as your ISO and other downloaded files.
gpg --verify sha256sum.txt.gpg sha256sum.txt
You should get a message that looks like this. Don’t worry about what it all says, the only thing we are interested in are the important parts. It is a good signature!
Now that you could authenticate and verify your download, it’s time to burn it to a flash drive and make it bootable with Etcher.
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