You need to add your GPG keys in https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/maven/project/KEYS before a release. Here are some useful GnuPG commands to generate your Keys.
>gpg --gen-key gpg (GnuPG) 1.4.5; Copyright (C) 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions. See the file COPYING for details. gpg: keyring `C:/Documents and Settings/Siveton Vincent/Application Data/gnupg\secring.gpg' created gpg: keyring `C:/Documents and Settings/Siveton Vincent/Application Data/gnupg\pubring.gpg' created Please select what kind of key you want: (1) DSA and Elgamal (default) (2) DSA (sign only) (5) RSA (sign only) Your selection? 1 DSA keypair will have 1024 bits. ELG-E keys may be between 1024 and 4096 bits long. What keysize do you want? (2048) 2048 Requested keysize is 2048 bits Please specify how long the key should be valid. 0 = key does not expire <n> = key expires in n days <n>w = key expires in n weeks <n>m = key expires in n months <n>y = key expires in n years Key is valid for? (0) 0 Key does not expire at all Is this correct? (y/N) y You need a user ID to identify your key; the software constructs the user ID from the Real Name, Comment and Email Address in this form: "Heinrich Heine (Der Dichter) <heinrichh@duesseldorf.de>" Real name: Vincent Siveton Email address: vsiveton@apache.org Comment: You selected this USER-ID: "Vincent Siveton <vsiveton@apache.org>" Change (N)ame, (C)omment, (E)mail or (O)kay/(Q)uit? O You need a Passphrase to protect your secret key. You don't want a passphrase - this is probably a *bad* idea! I will do it anyway. You can change your passphrase at any time, using this program with the option "--edit-key". We need to generate a lot of random bytes. It is a good idea to perform some other action (type on the keyboard, move the mouse, utilize the disks) during the prime generation; this gives the random number generator a better chance to gain enough entropy. ++++++++++++++++++++.++++++++++..+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++.+++++++++++++++.++++++++++++++++++++..+++++++++++++++>++++++++++............ .........................+++++ We need to generate a lot of random bytes. It is a good idea to perform some other action (type on the keyboard, move the mouse, utilize the disks) during the prime generation; this gives the random number generator a better chance to gain enough entropy. .+++++++++++++++..++++++++++++++++++++....+++++.++++++++++.++++++++++.++++++++++ +++++.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++.+++++.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++>+ +++++++++>+++++>+++++......................................................>++++ +......<.+++++........................+++++^^^ gpg: C:/Documents and Settings/Siveton Vincent/Application Data/gnupg\trustdb.gpg: trustdb created gpg: key 07DDB702 marked as ultimately trusted public and secret key created and signed. gpg: checking the trustdb gpg: 3 marginal(s) needed, 1 complete(s) needed, PGP trust model gpg: depth: 0 valid: 1 signed: 0 trust: 0-, 0q, 0n, 0m, 0f, 1u pub 1024D/07DDB702 2006-10-10 Key fingerprint = 71F6 F555 8A61 71C4 330D B868 84F4 D470 07DD B702 uid Vincent Siveton <vsiveton@apache.org> sub 2048g/D2814A59 2006-10-10
>gpg --list-sigs "Vincent Siveton" && gpg --armor --export "Vincent Siveton" pub 1024D/07DDB702 2006-10-10 uid Vincent Siveton <vsiveton@apache.org> sig 3 07DDB702 2006-10-10 Vincent Siveton <vsiveton@apache.org> sub 2048g/D2814A59 2006-10-10 sig 07DDB702 2006-10-10 Vincent Siveton <vsiveton@apache.org> -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.5 (MingW32) mQGiBEUrnAsRBACQDiYGc1IQmkENLO9iznBg8otGPEbzqQozT5tsip5mB30f6Mc/ uuLxJkLdna7Ul3goIXDtCeLJq38gHvruNtVNR6S+juJFkd5sLEH8UJ18PbKuo/9I KGlzjtCYUUDC48czRr0efhqd54NH8ydNdpaZ76NGPPYfpXtk7kKgH/nPiwCgxozK IG2frMuWIvdFafbqdAl7y/sD/1Csf0r9jtHEeXOuyhm8jCGrSwzLbHUGKPUQP37P ajECHoWp6HnvHEEEpgVl+UjfZvrcVhzUoP+3r5HAugqERfkzK8AWc7qjIRjf64kU sjvto31G2KYz17Y8K9y4LkRkUspu8uw903pKnW/QELg4vvPVaEYpVVIdS6+cUreu V0hOA/4tW7T/GpzSbQmjvnIRQ7GVHbQeXsANwrS6NmGYIxafN9P9dfHV+eUieTu6 rvMP9coOhTYyEKZksrXw2MmXx5SzgxsXT0g4wDXbwxPYFfIdGUzFMobnVXiZ3G8l JEl9cML0cg3ZL1SoDmVf2iG3e3Yxxsne4AE1SU+0bbq0t7rqALQlVmluY2VudCBT aXZldG9uIDx2c2l2ZXRvbkBhcGFjaGUub3JnPohgBBMRAgAgBQJFK5wLAhsDBgsJ CAcDAgQVAggDBBYCAwECHgECF4AACgkQhPTUcAfdtwLP3gCbB/V1afp8hzxgirCS d2r6zCkJQ2IAoLKD/RIkkerNintYzrubJliJKBsRuQINBEUrnBgQCAD1+Sx+sBDL 1XCDtxQGsrZmMnJJVK/w4TPa/8weJkuZ1GSpINOjInmqESuehvCLoOoyfcuDVXlR PUZhKZLPEKfJlFptGNK19oTO/CoQN+SJLwR41FoumsBaf1YSSRpAukyx2J6cUxqf uWrK/T8PmgDw4YzmY96tev//41eZ5tSOxpoUM8ypnTaShtS9pjgHijEG0b7wBqeU e1OGOiLHgKyjEJUmlTaLm1SxJ84eq0uAvYb+rb/QoWWLpjvr2/mo1kzUvCPgo3fh kgOxCxsC9QD836Mi5HFK6CRYU3yAFu5+/jM+LJzELy3u7uMuOSP6yuiK8WXopdbN WHOiJQfdc2gTAAMFCADdljjAG7L+8de6JzsEduKErKqWlTEWa99n1knaGKzdUUOP WrKxwqgI6PAJbxOfG4vBdDa6M6+nySJDMybQsOCFyNx91/7jYkgkmv8Jkt8CTW4z P4HKlFYMAFpU95ftpTAAMAlr+t+nZRTHi94/VHMv4yLGzB/xapbzToHKuUt1Yqom Ncio5px7RVoicn13/i/GeY72fIdC2LRGo6PXlmmDQemoAnUw0RJoEtzapb0j/tWd BdAtQQX/Ks7qhk4aDDHGgO+CdHAB8PLHDpMpUX5Zc9JX1xhyJcS8d/LPUpXtt9WN eekqDpx+jNmySJr6os7rPAkjx6jDUvHPiuKdT4aviEkEGBECAAkFAkUrnBgCGwwA CgkQhPTUcAfdtwJL9ACgmLuDxE+oZaMhyFSmXWN0fM36Bd8AoLYrvwydB9+nNnhJ 85TjkMPTgjp9 =Hg4C -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
You need to append this result to https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/maven/project/KEYS.
You also need to upload your key to the public server: http://pgp.mit.edu/ by copying the same you appended in the text field and submit. You can ensure by searching your email in key search engine.
You can read more about Checksums And Signatures and How to Generate PGP Signatures With Maven