1 This is gnupg.info, produced by makeinfo version 6.5 from gnupg.texi.
3 This is the 'The GNU Privacy Guard Manual' (version 2.3.0-beta1658,
6 (C) 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
7 (C) 2013, 2014, 2015 Werner Koch.
8 (C) 2015, 2016, 2017 g10 Code GmbH.
10 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
11 document under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
12 published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the
13 License, or (at your option) any later version. The text of the
14 license can be found in the section entitled "Copying".
15 INFO-DIR-SECTION GNU Utilities
17 * gpg2: (gnupg). OpenPGP encryption and signing tool.
18 * gpgsm: (gnupg). S/MIME encryption and signing tool.
19 * gpg-agent: (gnupg). The secret key daemon.
20 * dirmngr: (gnupg). X.509 CRL and OCSP server.
21 * dirmngr-client: (gnupg). X.509 CRL and OCSP client.
25 File: gnupg.info, Node: Top, Next: Installation, Up: (dir)
27 Using the GNU Privacy Guard
28 ***************************
30 This is the 'The GNU Privacy Guard Manual' (version 2.3.0-beta1658,
33 (C) 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
34 (C) 2013, 2014, 2015 Werner Koch.
35 (C) 2015, 2016, 2017 g10 Code GmbH.
37 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
38 document under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
39 published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the
40 License, or (at your option) any later version. The text of the
41 license can be found in the section entitled "Copying".
43 This manual documents how to use the GNU Privacy Guard system as well
44 as the administration and the architecture.
48 * Installation:: A short installation guide.
50 * Invoking GPG-AGENT:: How to launch the secret key daemon.
51 * Invoking DIRMNGR:: How to launch the CRL and OCSP daemon.
52 * Invoking GPG:: Using the OpenPGP protocol.
53 * Invoking GPGSM:: Using the S/MIME protocol.
54 * Invoking SCDAEMON:: How to handle Smartcards.
55 * Specify a User ID:: How to Specify a User Id.
56 * Trust Values:: How GnuPG displays trust values.
58 * Smart Card Tool:: Tool to administrate smart cards.
59 * Helper Tools:: Description of small helper tools.
60 * Web Key Service:: Tools for the Web Key Service.
62 * Howtos:: How to do certain things.
63 * System Notes:: Notes pertaining to certain OSes.
64 * Debugging:: How to solve problems.
66 * Copying:: GNU General Public License says
67 how you can copy and share GnuPG.
68 * Contributors:: People who have contributed to GnuPG.
70 * Glossary:: Short description of terms used.
71 * Option Index:: Index to command line options.
72 * Environment Index:: Index to environment variables and files.
73 * Index:: Index of concepts and symbol names.
76 File: gnupg.info, Node: Installation, Next: Invoking GPG-AGENT, Prev: Top, Up: Top
78 1 A short installation guide
79 ****************************
81 Unfortunately the installation guide has not been finished in time.
82 Instead of delaying the release of GnuPG 2.0 even further, I decided to
83 release without that guide. The chapter on gpg-agent and gpgsm do
84 include brief information on how to set up the whole thing. Please
85 watch the GnuPG website for updates of the documentation. In the
86 meantime you may search the GnuPG mailing list archives or ask on the
87 gnupg-users mailing list for advise on how to solve problems or how to
88 get that whole thing up and running.
90 ** Building the software
92 Building the software is described in the file 'INSTALL'. Given that
93 you are already reading this documentation we can only give some extra
96 To comply with the rules on GNU systems you should have build time
97 configured 'gnupg' using:
99 ./configure --sysconfdir=/etc --localstatedir=/var
101 This is to make sure that system wide configuration files are
102 searched in the directory '/etc' and variable data below '/var'; the
103 default would be to also install them below '/usr/local' where the
104 binaries get installed. If you selected to use the '--prefix=/' you
105 obviously don't need those option as they are the default then.
107 ** Notes on setting a root CA key to trusted
109 X.509 is based on a hierarchical key infrastructure. At the root of
110 the tree a trusted anchor (root certificate) is required. There are
111 usually no other means of verifying whether this root certificate is
112 trustworthy than looking it up in a list. GnuPG uses a file
113 ('trustlist.txt') to keep track of all root certificates it knows about.
114 There are 3 ways to get certificates into this list:
116 * Use the list which comes with GnuPG. However this list only
117 contains a few root certificates. Most installations will need
120 * Let 'gpgsm' ask you whether you want to insert a new root
121 certificate. This feature is enabled by default; you may disable
122 it using the option 'no-allow-mark-trusted' into 'gpg-agent.conf'.
124 * Manually maintain the list of trusted root certificates. For a
125 multi user installation this can be done once for all users on a
126 machine. Specific changes on a per-user base are also possible.
129 File: gnupg.info, Node: Invoking GPG-AGENT, Next: Invoking DIRMNGR, Prev: Installation, Up: Top
134 'gpg-agent' is a daemon to manage secret (private) keys independently
135 from any protocol. It is used as a backend for 'gpg' and 'gpgsm' as
136 well as for a couple of other utilities.
138 The agent is automatically started on demand by 'gpg', 'gpgsm',
139 'gpgconf', or 'gpg-connect-agent'. Thus there is no reason to start it
140 manually. In case you want to use the included Secure Shell Agent you
141 may start the agent using:
143 gpg-connect-agent /bye
145 If you want to manually terminate the currently-running agent, you can
148 gpgconf --kill gpg-agent
150 You should always add the following lines to your '.bashrc' or whatever
151 initialization file is used for all shell invocations:
156 It is important that this environment variable always reflects the
157 output of the 'tty' command. For W32 systems this option is not
160 Please make sure that a proper pinentry program has been installed
161 under the default filename (which is system dependent) or use the option
162 'pinentry-program' to specify the full name of that program. It is
163 often useful to install a symbolic link from the actual used pinentry
164 (e.g. '/usr/local/bin/pinentry-gtk') to the expected one (e.g.
165 '/usr/local/bin/pinentry').
167 *Note Option Index::, for an index to 'GPG-AGENT''s commands and
172 * Agent Commands:: List of all commands.
173 * Agent Options:: List of all options.
174 * Agent Configuration:: Configuration files.
175 * Agent Signals:: Use of some signals.
176 * Agent Examples:: Some usage examples.
177 * Agent Protocol:: The protocol the agent uses.
180 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent Commands, Next: Agent Options, Up: Invoking GPG-AGENT
185 Commands are not distinguished from options except for the fact that
186 only one command is allowed.
189 Print the program version and licensing information. Note that you
190 cannot abbreviate this command.
194 Print a usage message summarizing the most useful command-line
195 options. Note that you cannot abbreviate this command.
198 Print a list of all available options and commands. Note that you
199 cannot abbreviate this command.
202 Run in server mode and wait for commands on the 'stdin'. The
203 default mode is to create a socket and listen for commands there.
205 '--daemon [COMMAND LINE]'
206 Start the gpg-agent as a daemon; that is, detach it from the
207 console and run it in the background.
209 As an alternative you may create a new process as a child of
210 gpg-agent: 'gpg-agent --daemon /bin/sh'. This way you get a new
211 shell with the environment setup properly; after you exit from this
212 shell, gpg-agent terminates within a few seconds.
215 Run in the foreground, sending logs by default to stderr, and
216 listening on provided file descriptors, which must already be bound
217 to listening sockets. This command is useful when running under
218 systemd or other similar process supervision schemes. This option
219 is not supported on Windows.
221 In -supervised mode, different file descriptors can be provided for
222 use as different socket types (e.g. ssh, extra) as long as they
223 are identified in the environment variable 'LISTEN_FDNAMES' (see
224 sd_listen_fds(3) on some Linux distributions for more information
228 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent Options, Next: Agent Configuration, Prev: Agent Commands, Up: Invoking GPG-AGENT
233 Options may either be used on the command line or, after stripping off
234 the two leading dashes, in the configuration file.
237 Reads configuration from FILE instead of from the default per-user
238 configuration file. The default configuration file is named
239 'gpg-agent.conf' and expected in the '.gnupg' directory directly
240 below the home directory of the user. This option is ignored if
241 used in an options file.
244 Set the name of the home directory to DIR. If this option is not
245 used, the home directory defaults to '~/.gnupg'. It is only
246 recognized when given on the command line. It also overrides any
247 home directory stated through the environment variable 'GNUPGHOME'
248 or (on Windows systems) by means of the Registry entry
249 HKCU\SOFTWARE\GNU\GNUPG:HOMEDIR.
251 On Windows systems it is possible to install GnuPG as a portable
252 application. In this case only this command line option is
253 considered, all other ways to set a home directory are ignored.
255 To install GnuPG as a portable application under Windows, create an
256 empty file named 'gpgconf.ctl' in the same directory as the tool
257 'gpgconf.exe'. The root of the installation is then that
258 directory; or, if 'gpgconf.exe' has been installed directly below a
259 directory named 'bin', its parent directory. You also need to make
260 sure that the following directories exist and are writable:
261 'ROOT/home' for the GnuPG home and 'ROOT/usr/local/var/cache/gnupg'
262 for internal cache files.
266 Outputs additional information while running. You can increase the
267 verbosity by giving several verbose commands to 'gpg-agent', such
272 Try to be as quiet as possible.
275 Don't invoke a pinentry or do any other thing requiring human
278 '--faked-system-time EPOCH'
279 This option is only useful for testing; it sets the system time
280 back or forth to EPOCH which is the number of seconds elapsed since
283 '--debug-level LEVEL'
284 Select the debug level for investigating problems. LEVEL may be a
285 numeric value or a keyword:
288 No debugging at all. A value of less than 1 may be used
289 instead of the keyword.
291 Some basic debug messages. A value between 1 and 2 may be
292 used instead of the keyword.
294 More verbose debug messages. A value between 3 and 5 may be
295 used instead of the keyword.
297 Even more detailed messages. A value between 6 and 8 may be
298 used instead of the keyword.
300 All of the debug messages you can get. A value greater than 8
301 may be used instead of the keyword. The creation of hash
302 tracing files is only enabled if the keyword is used.
304 How these messages are mapped to the actual debugging flags is not
305 specified and may change with newer releases of this program. They
306 are however carefully selected to best aid in debugging.
309 Set debug flags. All flags are or-ed and FLAGS may be given in C
310 syntax (e.g. 0x0042) or as a comma separated list of flag names.
311 To get a list of all supported flags the single word "help" can be
312 used. This option is only useful for debugging and the behavior
313 may change at any time without notice.
316 Same as '--debug=0xffffffff'
319 When running in server mode, wait N seconds before entering the
320 actual processing loop and print the pid. This gives time to
323 '--debug-quick-random'
324 This option inhibits the use of the very secure random quality
325 level (Libgcrypt’s 'GCRY_VERY_STRONG_RANDOM') and degrades all
326 request down to standard random quality. It is only used for
327 testing and should not be used for any production quality keys.
328 This option is only effective when given on the command line.
330 On GNU/Linux, another way to quickly generate insecure keys is to
331 use 'rngd' to fill the kernel's entropy pool with lower quality
332 random data. 'rngd' is typically provided by the 'rng-tools'
333 package. It can be run as follows: 'sudo rngd -f -r /dev/urandom'.
336 This option enables extra debug information pertaining to the
337 Pinentry. As of now it is only useful when used along with
341 Don't detach the process from the console. This is mainly useful
348 Format the info output in daemon mode for use with the standard
349 Bourne shell or the C-shell respectively. The default is to guess
350 it based on the environment variable 'SHELL' which is correct in
355 Tell the pinentry to grab the keyboard and mouse. This option
356 should be used on X-Servers to avoid X-sniffing attacks. Any use
357 of the option '--grab' overrides an used option '--no-grab'. The
358 default is '--no-grab'.
361 Append all logging output to FILE. This is very helpful in seeing
362 what the agent actually does. Use 'socket://' to log to socket.
363 If neither a log file nor a log file descriptor has been set on a
364 Windows platform, the Registry entry
365 'HKCU\Software\GNU\GnuPG:DefaultLogFile', if set, is used to
366 specify the logging output.
368 '--no-allow-mark-trusted'
369 Do not allow clients to mark keys as trusted, i.e. put them into
370 the 'trustlist.txt' file. This makes it harder for users to
371 inadvertently accept Root-CA keys.
373 '--allow-preset-passphrase'
374 This option allows the use of 'gpg-preset-passphrase' to seed the
375 internal cache of 'gpg-agent' with passphrases.
377 '--no-allow-loopback-pinentry'
378 '--allow-loopback-pinentry'
379 Disallow or allow clients to use the loopback pinentry features;
380 see the option 'pinentry-mode' for details. Allow is the default.
382 The '--force' option of the Assuan command 'DELETE_KEY' is also
383 controlled by this option: The option is ignored if a loopback
384 pinentry is disallowed.
386 '--no-allow-external-cache'
387 Tell Pinentry not to enable features which use an external cache
390 Some desktop environments prefer to unlock all credentials with one
391 master password and may have installed a Pinentry which employs an
392 additional external cache to implement such a policy. By using
393 this option the Pinentry is advised not to make use of such a cache
394 and instead always ask the user for the requested passphrase.
396 '--allow-emacs-pinentry'
397 Tell Pinentry to allow features to divert the passphrase entry to a
398 running Emacs instance. How this is exactly handled depends on the
399 version of the used Pinentry.
401 '--ignore-cache-for-signing'
402 This option will let 'gpg-agent' bypass the passphrase cache for
403 all signing operation. Note that there is also a per-session
404 option to control this behavior but this command line option takes
407 '--default-cache-ttl N'
408 Set the time a cache entry is valid to N seconds. The default is
409 600 seconds. Each time a cache entry is accessed, the entry's
410 timer is reset. To set an entry's maximum lifetime, use
411 'max-cache-ttl'. Note that a cached passphrase may not be evicted
412 immediately from memory if no client requests a cache operation.
413 This is due to an internal housekeeping function which is only run
416 '--default-cache-ttl-ssh N'
417 Set the time a cache entry used for SSH keys is valid to N seconds.
418 The default is 1800 seconds. Each time a cache entry is accessed,
419 the entry's timer is reset. To set an entry's maximum lifetime,
420 use 'max-cache-ttl-ssh'.
423 Set the maximum time a cache entry is valid to N seconds. After
424 this time a cache entry will be expired even if it has been
425 accessed recently or has been set using 'gpg-preset-passphrase'.
426 The default is 2 hours (7200 seconds).
428 '--max-cache-ttl-ssh N'
429 Set the maximum time a cache entry used for SSH keys is valid to N
430 seconds. After this time a cache entry will be expired even if it
431 has been accessed recently or has been set using
432 'gpg-preset-passphrase'. The default is 2 hours (7200 seconds).
434 '--enforce-passphrase-constraints'
435 Enforce the passphrase constraints by not allowing the user to
436 bypass them using the "Take it anyway" button.
438 '--min-passphrase-len N'
439 Set the minimal length of a passphrase. When entering a new
440 passphrase shorter than this value a warning will be displayed.
443 '--min-passphrase-nonalpha N'
444 Set the minimal number of digits or special characters required in
445 a passphrase. When entering a new passphrase with less than this
446 number of digits or special characters a warning will be displayed.
449 '--check-passphrase-pattern FILE'
450 Check the passphrase against the pattern given in FILE. When
451 entering a new passphrase matching one of these pattern a warning
452 will be displayed. FILE should be an absolute filename. The
453 default is not to use any pattern file.
455 Security note: It is known that checking a passphrase against a
456 list of pattern or even against a complete dictionary is not very
457 effective to enforce good passphrases. Users will soon figure up
458 ways to bypass such a policy. A better policy is to educate users
459 on good security behavior and optionally to run a passphrase
460 cracker regularly on all users passphrases to catch the very simple
463 '--max-passphrase-days N'
464 Ask the user to change the passphrase if N days have passed since
465 the last change. With '--enforce-passphrase-constraints' set the
466 user may not bypass this check.
468 '--enable-passphrase-history'
469 This option does nothing yet.
471 '--pinentry-invisible-char CHAR'
472 This option asks the Pinentry to use CHAR for displaying hidden
473 characters. CHAR must be one character UTF-8 string. A Pinentry
474 may or may not honor this request.
476 '--pinentry-timeout N'
477 This option asks the Pinentry to timeout after N seconds with no
478 user input. The default value of 0 does not ask the pinentry to
479 timeout, however a Pinentry may use its own default timeout value
480 in this case. A Pinentry may or may not honor this request.
482 '--pinentry-program FILENAME'
483 Use program FILENAME as the PIN entry. The default is installation
484 dependent. With the default configuration the name of the default
485 pinentry is 'pinentry'; if that file does not exist but a
486 'pinentry-basic' exist the latter is used.
488 On a Windows platform the default is to use the first existing
489 program from this list: 'bin\pinentry.exe',
490 '..\Gpg4win\bin\pinentry.exe', '..\Gpg4win\pinentry.exe',
491 '..\GNU\GnuPG\pinentry.exe', '..\GNU\bin\pinentry.exe',
492 'bin\pinentry-basic.exe' where the file names are relative to the
493 GnuPG installation directory.
495 '--pinentry-touch-file FILENAME'
496 By default the filename of the socket gpg-agent is listening for
497 requests is passed to Pinentry, so that it can touch that file
498 before exiting (it does this only in curses mode). This option
499 changes the file passed to Pinentry to FILENAME. The special name
500 '/dev/null' may be used to completely disable this feature. Note
501 that Pinentry will not create that file, it will only change the
502 modification and access time.
504 '--scdaemon-program FILENAME'
505 Use program FILENAME as the Smartcard daemon. The default is
506 installation dependent and can be shown with the 'gpgconf' command.
509 Do not make use of the scdaemon tool. This option has the effect
510 of disabling the ability to do smartcard operations. Note, that
511 enabling this option at runtime does not kill an already forked
514 '--disable-check-own-socket'
515 'gpg-agent' employs a periodic self-test to detect a stolen socket.
516 This usually means a second instance of 'gpg-agent' has taken over
517 the socket and 'gpg-agent' will then terminate itself. This option
518 may be used to disable this self-test for debugging purposes.
520 '--use-standard-socket'
521 '--no-use-standard-socket'
522 '--use-standard-socket-p'
523 Since GnuPG 2.1 the standard socket is always used. These options
524 have no more effect. The command 'gpg-agent
525 --use-standard-socket-p' will thus always return success.
531 '--lc-messages STRING'
532 '--xauthority STRING'
533 These options are used with the server mode to pass localization
538 Ignore requests to change the current 'tty' or X window system's
539 'DISPLAY' variable respectively. This is useful to lock the
540 pinentry to pop up at the 'tty' or display you started the agent.
543 Set the size of the queue for pending connections. The default is
546 '--extra-socket NAME'
547 The extra socket is created by default, you may use this option to
548 change the name of the socket. To disable the creation of the
549 socket use "none" or "/dev/null" for NAME.
551 Also listen on native gpg-agent connections on the given socket.
552 The intended use for this extra socket is to setup a Unix domain
553 socket forwarding from a remote machine to this socket on the local
554 machine. A 'gpg' running on the remote machine may then connect to
555 the local gpg-agent and use its private keys. This enables
556 decrypting or signing data on a remote machine without exposing the
557 private keys to the remote machine.
559 '--enable-extended-key-format'
560 '--disable-extended-key-format'
561 Since version 2.3 keys are created in the extended private key
562 format. Changing the passphrase of a key will also convert the key
563 to that new format. This new key format is supported since GnuPG
564 version 2.1.12 and thus there should be no need to disable it. The
565 disable option allows to revert to the old behavior for new keys;
566 be aware that keys are never migrated back to the old format.
567 However if the enable option has been used the disable option won't
568 have an effect. The advantage of the extended private key format
569 is that it is text based and can carry additional meta data.
571 '--enable-ssh-support'
572 '--enable-putty-support'
574 The OpenSSH Agent protocol is always enabled, but 'gpg-agent' will
575 only set the 'SSH_AUTH_SOCK' variable if this flag is given.
577 In this mode of operation, the agent does not only implement the
578 gpg-agent protocol, but also the agent protocol used by OpenSSH
579 (through a separate socket). Consequently, it should be possible
580 to use the gpg-agent as a drop-in replacement for the well known
583 SSH Keys, which are to be used through the agent, need to be added
584 to the gpg-agent initially through the ssh-add utility. When a key
585 is added, ssh-add will ask for the password of the provided key
586 file and send the unprotected key material to the agent; this
587 causes the gpg-agent to ask for a passphrase, which is to be used
588 for encrypting the newly received key and storing it in a gpg-agent
591 Once a key has been added to the gpg-agent this way, the gpg-agent
592 will be ready to use the key.
594 Note: in case the gpg-agent receives a signature request, the user
595 might need to be prompted for a passphrase, which is necessary for
596 decrypting the stored key. Since the ssh-agent protocol does not
597 contain a mechanism for telling the agent on which display/terminal
598 it is running, gpg-agent's ssh-support will use the TTY or X
599 display where gpg-agent has been started. To switch this display
600 to the current one, the following command may be used:
602 gpg-connect-agent updatestartuptty /bye
604 Although all GnuPG components try to start the gpg-agent as needed,
605 this is not possible for the ssh support because ssh does not know
606 about it. Thus if no GnuPG tool which accesses the agent has been
607 run, there is no guarantee that ssh is able to use gpg-agent for
608 authentication. To fix this you may start gpg-agent if needed
609 using this simple command:
611 gpg-connect-agent /bye
613 Adding the '--verbose' shows the progress of starting the agent.
615 The '--enable-putty-support' is only available under Windows and
616 allows the use of gpg-agent with the ssh implementation 'putty'.
617 This is similar to the regular ssh-agent support but makes use of
618 Windows message queue as required by 'putty'.
620 '--ssh-fingerprint-digest'
622 Select the digest algorithm used to compute ssh fingerprints that
623 are communicated to the user, e.g. in pinentry dialogs. OpenSSH
624 has transitioned from using MD5 to the more secure SHA256.
626 '--auto-expand-secmem N'
627 Allow Libgcrypt to expand its secure memory area as required. The
628 optional value N is a non-negative integer with a suggested size in
629 bytes of each additionally allocated secure memory area. The value
630 is rounded up to the next 32 KiB; usual C style prefixes are
631 allowed. For an heavy loaded gpg-agent with many concurrent
632 connection this option avoids sign or decrypt errors due to out of
633 secure memory error returns.
635 '--s2k-calibration MILLISECONDS'
636 Change the default calibration time to MILLISECONDS. The given
637 value is capped at 60 seconds; a value of 0 resets to the
638 compiled-in default. This option is re-read on a SIGHUP (or
639 'gpgconf --reload gpg-agent') and the S2K count is then
643 Specify the iteration count used to protect the passphrase. This
644 option can be used to override the auto-calibration done by
645 default. The auto-calibration computes a count which requires by
646 default 100ms to mangle a given passphrase. See also
649 To view the actually used iteration count and the milliseconds
650 required for an S2K operation use:
652 gpg-connect-agent 'GETINFO s2k_count' /bye
653 gpg-connect-agent 'GETINFO s2k_time' /bye
655 To view the auto-calibrated count use:
657 gpg-connect-agent 'GETINFO s2k_count_cal' /bye
660 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent Configuration, Next: Agent Signals, Prev: Agent Options, Up: Invoking GPG-AGENT
665 There are a few configuration files needed for the operation of the
666 agent. By default they may all be found in the current home directory
667 (*note option --homedir::).
670 This is the standard configuration file read by 'gpg-agent' on
671 startup. It may contain any valid long option; the leading two
672 dashes may not be entered and the option may not be abbreviated.
673 This file is also read after a 'SIGHUP' however only a few options
674 will actually have an effect. This default name may be changed on
675 the command line (*note option --options::). You should backup
679 This is the list of trusted keys. You should backup this file.
681 Comment lines, indicated by a leading hash mark, as well as empty
682 lines are ignored. To mark a key as trusted you need to enter its
683 fingerprint followed by a space and a capital letter 'S'. Colons
684 may optionally be used to separate the bytes of a fingerprint; this
685 enables cutting and pasting the fingerprint from a key listing
686 output. If the line is prefixed with a '!' the key is explicitly
687 marked as not trusted.
689 Here is an example where two keys are marked as ultimately trusted
690 and one as not trusted:
692 # CN=Wurzel ZS 3,O=Intevation GmbH,C=DE
693 A6935DD34EF3087973C706FC311AA2CCF733765B S
695 # CN=PCA-1-Verwaltung-02/O=PKI-1-Verwaltung/C=DE
696 DC:BD:69:25:48:BD:BB:7E:31:6E:BB:80:D3:00:80:35:D4:F8:A6:CD S
698 # CN=Root-CA/O=Schlapphuete/L=Pullach/C=DE
699 !14:56:98:D3:FE:9C:CA:5A:31:6E:BC:81:D3:11:4E:00:90:A3:44:C2 S
701 Before entering a key into this file, you need to ensure its
702 authenticity. How to do this depends on your organisation; your
703 administrator might have already entered those keys which are
704 deemed trustworthy enough into this file. Places where to look for
705 the fingerprint of a root certificate are letters received from the
706 CA or the website of the CA (after making 100% sure that this is
707 indeed the website of that CA). You may want to consider
708 disallowing interactive updates of this file by using the *note
709 option --no-allow-mark-trusted::. It might even be advisable to
710 change the permissions to read-only so that this file can't be
711 changed inadvertently.
713 As a special feature a line 'include-default' will include a global
714 list of trusted certificates (e.g. '/etc/gnupg/trustlist.txt').
715 This global list is also used if the local list is not available.
717 It is possible to add further flags after the 'S' for use by the
721 Relax checking of some root certificate requirements. As of
722 now this flag allows the use of root certificates with a
723 missing basicConstraints attribute (despite that it is a MUST
724 for CA certificates) and disables CRL checking for the root
728 If validation of a certificate finally issued by a CA with
729 this flag set fails, try again using the chain validation
733 This file is used when support for the secure shell agent protocol
734 has been enabled (*note option --enable-ssh-support::). Only keys
735 present in this file are used in the SSH protocol. You should
738 The 'ssh-add' tool may be used to add new entries to this file; you
739 may also add them manually. Comment lines, indicated by a leading
740 hash mark, as well as empty lines are ignored. An entry starts
741 with optional whitespace, followed by the keygrip of the key given
742 as 40 hex digits, optionally followed by the caching TTL in seconds
743 and another optional field for arbitrary flags. A non-zero TTL
744 overrides the global default as set by '--default-cache-ttl-ssh'.
746 The only flag support is 'confirm'. If this flag is found for a
747 key, each use of the key will pop up a pinentry to confirm the use
748 of that key. The flag is automatically set if a new key was loaded
749 into 'gpg-agent' using the option '-c' of the 'ssh-add' command.
751 The keygrip may be prefixed with a '!' to disable an entry.
753 The following example lists exactly one key. Note that keys
754 available through a OpenPGP smartcard in the active smartcard
755 reader are implicitly added to this list; i.e. there is no need to
758 # Key added on: 2011-07-20 20:38:46
759 # Fingerprint: 5e:8d:c4:ad:e7:af:6e:27:8a:d6:13:e4:79:ad:0b:81
760 34B62F25E277CF13D3C6BCEBFD3F85D08F0A864B 0 confirm
764 This is the directory where gpg-agent stores the private keys.
765 Each key is stored in a file with the name made up of the keygrip
766 and the suffix 'key'. You should backup all files in this
767 directory and take great care to keep this backup closed away.
769 Note that on larger installations, it is useful to put predefined
770 files into the directory '/etc/skel/.gnupg' so that newly created users
771 start up with a working configuration. For existing users the a small
772 helper script is provided to create these files (*note addgnupghome::).
775 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent Signals, Next: Agent Examples, Prev: Agent Configuration, Up: Invoking GPG-AGENT
777 2.4 Use of some signals
778 =======================
780 A running 'gpg-agent' may be controlled by signals, i.e. using the
781 'kill' command to send a signal to the process.
783 Here is a list of supported signals:
786 This signal flushes all cached passphrases and if the program has
787 been started with a configuration file, the configuration file is
788 read again. Only certain options are honored: 'quiet', 'verbose',
789 'debug', 'debug-all', 'debug-level', 'debug-pinentry', 'no-grab',
790 'pinentry-program', 'pinentry-invisible-char', 'default-cache-ttl',
791 'max-cache-ttl', 'ignore-cache-for-signing', 's2k-count',
792 'no-allow-external-cache', 'allow-emacs-pinentry',
793 'no-allow-mark-trusted', 'disable-scdaemon', and
794 'disable-check-own-socket'. 'scdaemon-program' is also supported
795 but due to the current implementation, which calls the scdaemon
796 only once, it is not of much use unless you manually kill the
800 Shuts down the process but waits until all current requests are
801 fulfilled. If the process has received 3 of these signals and
802 requests are still pending, a shutdown is forced.
805 Shuts down the process immediately.
808 Dump internal information to the log file.
811 This signal is used for internal purposes.
814 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent Examples, Next: Agent Protocol, Prev: Agent Signals, Up: Invoking GPG-AGENT
819 It is important to set the environment variable 'GPG_TTY' in your login
820 shell, for example in the '~/.bashrc' init script:
822 export GPG_TTY=$(tty)
824 If you enabled the Ssh Agent Support, you also need to tell ssh about
825 it by adding this to your init script:
828 if [ "${gnupg_SSH_AUTH_SOCK_by:-0}" -ne $$ ]; then
829 export SSH_AUTH_SOCK="$(gpgconf --list-dirs agent-ssh-socket)"
833 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent Protocol, Prev: Agent Examples, Up: Invoking GPG-AGENT
835 2.6 Agent's Assuan Protocol
836 ===========================
838 Note: this section does only document the protocol, which is used by
839 GnuPG components; it does not deal with the ssh-agent protocol. To see
840 the full specification of each command, use
842 gpg-connect-agent 'help COMMAND' /bye
844 or just 'help' to list all available commands.
846 The 'gpg-agent' daemon is started on demand by the GnuPG components.
848 To identify a key we use a thing called keygrip which is the SHA-1
849 hash of an canonical encoded S-Expression of the public key as used in
850 Libgcrypt. For the purpose of this interface the keygrip is given as a
851 hex string. The advantage of using this and not the hash of a
852 certificate is that it will be possible to use the same keypair for
853 different protocols, thereby saving space on the token used to keep the
856 The 'gpg-agent' may send status messages during a command or when
857 returning from a command to inform a client about the progress or result
858 of an operation. For example, the INQUIRE_MAXLEN status message may be
859 sent during a server inquire to inform the client of the maximum usable
860 length of the inquired data (which should not be exceeded).
864 * Agent PKDECRYPT:: Decrypting a session key
865 * Agent PKSIGN:: Signing a Hash
866 * Agent GENKEY:: Generating a Key
867 * Agent IMPORT:: Importing a Secret Key
868 * Agent EXPORT:: Exporting a Secret Key
869 * Agent ISTRUSTED:: Importing a Root Certificate
870 * Agent GET_PASSPHRASE:: Ask for a passphrase
871 * Agent CLEAR_PASSPHRASE:: Expire a cached passphrase
872 * Agent PRESET_PASSPHRASE:: Set a passphrase for a keygrip
873 * Agent GET_CONFIRMATION:: Ask for confirmation
874 * Agent HAVEKEY:: Check whether a key is available
875 * Agent LEARN:: Register a smartcard
876 * Agent PASSWD:: Change a Passphrase
877 * Agent UPDATESTARTUPTTY:: Change the Standard Display
878 * Agent GETEVENTCOUNTER:: Get the Event Counters
879 * Agent GETINFO:: Return information about the process
880 * Agent OPTION:: Set options for the session
883 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent PKDECRYPT, Next: Agent PKSIGN, Up: Agent Protocol
885 2.6.1 Decrypting a session key
886 ------------------------------
888 The client asks the server to decrypt a session key. The encrypted
889 session key should have all information needed to select the appropriate
890 secret key or to delegate it to a smartcard.
894 Tell the server about the key to be used for decryption. If this is
895 not used, 'gpg-agent' may try to figure out the key by trying to decrypt
896 the message with each key available.
900 The agent checks whether this command is allowed and then does an
901 INQUIRY to get the ciphertext the client should then send the cipher
904 S: INQUIRE CIPHERTEXT
909 Please note that the server may send status info lines while reading
910 the data lines from the client. The data send is a SPKI like S-Exp with
915 (<param_name1> <mpi>)
917 (<param_namen> <mpi>)))
919 Where algo is a string with the name of the algorithm; see the
920 libgcrypt documentation for a list of valid algorithms. The number and
921 names of the parameters depend on the algorithm. The agent does return
922 an error if there is an inconsistency.
924 If the decryption was successful the decrypted data is returned by
927 Here is an example session:
929 S: INQUIRE CIPHERTEXT
930 C: D (enc-val elg (a 349324324)
931 C: D (b 3F444677CA)))
933 S: # session key follows
935 S: D (value 1234567890ABCDEF0)
936 S: OK decryption successful
938 The “PADDING” status line is only send if gpg-agent can tell what
939 kind of padding is used. As of now only the value 0 is used to indicate
940 that the padding has been removed.
943 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent PKSIGN, Next: Agent GENKEY, Prev: Agent PKDECRYPT, Up: Agent Protocol
948 The client asks the agent to sign a given hash value. A default key
949 will be chosen if no key has been set. To set a key a client first
954 This can be used multiple times to create multiple signature, the
955 list of keys is reset with the next PKSIGN command or a RESET. The
956 server tests whether the key is a valid key to sign something and
959 SETHASH --hash=<name>|<algo> <hexstring>
961 The client can use this command to tell the server about the data
962 <hexstring> (which usually is a hash) to be signed. <algo> is the
963 decimal encoded hash algorithm number as used by Libgcrypt. Either
964 <algo> or -hash=<name> must be given. Valid names for <name> are:
967 The SHA-1 hash algorithm
969 The SHA-256 hash algorithm
971 The RIPE-MD160 hash algorithm
973 The old and broken MD5 hash algorithm
975 A combined hash algorithm as used by the TLS protocol.
977 The actual signing is done using
981 Options are not yet defined, but may later be used to choose among
982 different algorithms. The agent does then some checks, asks for the
983 passphrase and as a result the server returns the signature as an SPKI
984 like S-expression in "D" lines:
988 (<param_name1> <mpi>)
990 (<param_namen> <mpi>)))
992 The operation is affected by the option
994 OPTION use-cache-for-signing=0|1
996 The default of '1' uses the cache. Setting this option to '0' will
997 lead 'gpg-agent' to ignore the passphrase cache. Note, that there is
998 also a global command line option for 'gpg-agent' to globally disable
1001 Here is an example session:
1007 S: # I did ask the user whether he really wants to sign
1008 S: # I did ask the user for the passphrase
1010 C: D ABCDEF012345678901234
1012 S: # signature follows
1013 S: D (sig-val rsa (s 45435453654612121212))
1017 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent GENKEY, Next: Agent IMPORT, Prev: Agent PKSIGN, Up: Agent Protocol
1019 2.6.3 Generating a Key
1020 ----------------------
1022 This is used to create a new keypair and store the secret key inside the
1023 active PSE -- which is in most cases a Soft-PSE. A not-yet-defined
1024 option allows choosing the storage location. To get the secret key out
1025 of the PSE, a special export tool has to be used.
1027 GENKEY [--no-protection] [--preset] [<cache_nonce>]
1029 Invokes the key generation process and the server will then inquire
1030 on the generation parameters, like:
1033 C: D (genkey (rsa (nbits 1024)))
1036 The format of the key parameters which depends on the algorithm is of
1041 (parameter_name_1 ....)
1043 (parameter_name_n ....)))
1045 If everything succeeds, the server returns the *public key* in a SPKI
1046 like S-Expression like this:
1053 Here is an example session:
1056 C: D (genkey (rsa (nbits 1024)))
1059 S: D (rsa (n 326487324683264) (e 10001)))
1062 The '--no-protection' option may be used to prevent prompting for a
1063 passphrase to protect the secret key while leaving the secret key
1064 unprotected. The '--preset' option may be used to add the passphrase to
1065 the cache using the default cache parameters.
1067 The '--inq-passwd' option may be used to create the key with a
1068 supplied passphrase. When used the agent does an inquiry with the
1069 keyword 'NEWPASSWD' to retrieve that passphrase. This option takes
1070 precedence over '--no-protection'; however if the client sends a empty
1071 (zero-length) passphrase, this is identical to '--no-protection'.
1074 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent IMPORT, Next: Agent EXPORT, Prev: Agent GENKEY, Up: Agent Protocol
1076 2.6.4 Importing a Secret Key
1077 ----------------------------
1079 This operation is not yet supported by GpgAgent. Specialized tools are
1080 to be used for this.
1082 There is no actual need because we can expect that secret keys
1083 created by a 3rd party are stored on a smartcard. If we have generated
1084 the key ourselves, we do not need to import it.
1087 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent EXPORT, Next: Agent ISTRUSTED, Prev: Agent IMPORT, Up: Agent Protocol
1089 2.6.5 Export a Secret Key
1090 -------------------------
1094 Should be done by an extra tool.
1097 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent ISTRUSTED, Next: Agent GET_PASSPHRASE, Prev: Agent EXPORT, Up: Agent Protocol
1099 2.6.6 Importing a Root Certificate
1100 ----------------------------------
1102 Actually we do not import a Root Cert but provide a way to validate any
1103 piece of data by storing its Hash along with a description and an
1104 identifier in the PSE. Here is the interface description:
1106 ISTRUSTED <fingerprint>
1108 Check whether the OpenPGP primary key or the X.509 certificate with
1109 the given fingerprint is an ultimately trusted key or a trusted Root CA
1110 certificate. The fingerprint should be given as a hexstring (without
1111 any blanks or colons or whatever in between) and may be left padded with
1112 00 in case of an MD5 fingerprint. GPGAgent will answer with:
1116 The key is in the table of trusted keys.
1118 ERR 304 (Not Trusted)
1120 The key is not in this table.
1122 Gpg needs the entire list of trusted keys to maintain the web of
1123 trust; the following command is therefore quite helpful:
1127 GpgAgent returns a list of trusted keys line by line:
1129 S: D 000000001234454556565656677878AF2F1ECCFF P
1130 S: D 340387563485634856435645634856438576457A P
1131 S: D FEDC6532453745367FD83474357495743757435D S
1134 The first item on a line is the hexified fingerprint where MD5
1135 fingerprints are '00' padded to the left and the second item is a flag
1136 to indicate the type of key (so that gpg is able to only take care of
1137 PGP keys). P = OpenPGP, S = S/MIME. A client should ignore the rest of
1138 the line, so that we can extend the format in the future.
1140 Finally a client should be able to mark a key as trusted:
1142 MARKTRUSTED FINGERPRINT "P"|"S"
1144 The server will then pop up a window to ask the user whether she
1145 really trusts this key. For this it will probably ask for a text to be
1146 displayed like this:
1148 S: INQUIRE TRUSTDESC
1149 C: D Do you trust the key with the fingerprint @FPR@
1150 C: D bla fasel blurb.
1154 Known sequences with the pattern @foo@ are replaced according to this
1158 Format the fingerprint according to gpg rules for a v3 keys.
1160 Format the fingerprint according to gpg rules for a v4 keys.
1162 Choose an appropriate format to format the fingerprint.
1164 Replaced by a single '@'.
1167 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent GET_PASSPHRASE, Next: Agent CLEAR_PASSPHRASE, Prev: Agent ISTRUSTED, Up: Agent Protocol
1169 2.6.7 Ask for a passphrase
1170 --------------------------
1172 This function is usually used to ask for a passphrase to be used for
1173 symmetric encryption, but may also be used by programs which need
1174 special handling of passphrases. This command uses a syntax which helps
1175 clients to use the agent with minimum effort.
1177 GET_PASSPHRASE [--data] [--check] [--no-ask] [--repeat[=N]] \
1178 [--qualitybar] CACHE_ID \
1179 [ERROR_MESSAGE PROMPT DESCRIPTION]
1181 CACHE_ID is expected to be a string used to identify a cached
1182 passphrase. Use a 'X' to bypass the cache. With no other arguments the
1183 agent returns a cached passphrase or an error. By convention either the
1184 hexified fingerprint of the key shall be used for CACHE_ID or an
1185 arbitrary string prefixed with the name of the calling application and a
1186 colon: Like 'gpg:somestring'.
1188 ERROR_MESSAGE is either a single 'X' for no error message or a string
1189 to be shown as an error message like (e.g. "invalid passphrase").
1190 Blanks must be percent escaped or replaced by '+''.
1192 PROMPT is either a single 'X' for a default prompt or the text to be
1193 shown as the prompt. Blanks must be percent escaped or replaced by '+'.
1195 DESCRIPTION is a text shown above the entry field. Blanks must be
1196 percent escaped or replaced by '+'.
1198 The agent either returns with an error or with a OK followed by the
1199 hex encoded passphrase. Note that the length of the strings is
1200 implicitly limited by the maximum length of a command. If the option
1201 '--data' is used, the passphrase is not returned on the OK line but by
1202 regular data lines; this is the preferred method.
1204 If the option '--check' is used, the standard passphrase constraints
1205 checks are applied. A check is not done if the passphrase has been
1208 If the option '--no-ask' is used and the passphrase is not in the
1209 cache the user will not be asked to enter a passphrase but the error
1210 code 'GPG_ERR_NO_DATA' is returned.
1212 If the option '--qualitybar' is used and a minimum passphrase length
1213 has been configured, a visual indication of the entered passphrase
1216 CLEAR_PASSPHRASE CACHE_ID
1218 may be used to invalidate the cache entry for a passphrase. The
1219 function returns with OK even when there is no cached passphrase.
1222 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent CLEAR_PASSPHRASE, Next: Agent PRESET_PASSPHRASE, Prev: Agent GET_PASSPHRASE, Up: Agent Protocol
1224 2.6.8 Remove a cached passphrase
1225 --------------------------------
1227 Use this command to remove a cached passphrase.
1229 CLEAR_PASSPHRASE [--mode=normal] <cache_id>
1231 The '--mode=normal' option can be used to clear a CACHE_ID that was
1235 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent PRESET_PASSPHRASE, Next: Agent GET_CONFIRMATION, Prev: Agent CLEAR_PASSPHRASE, Up: Agent Protocol
1237 2.6.9 Set a passphrase for a keygrip
1238 ------------------------------------
1240 This command adds a passphrase to the cache for the specified KEYGRIP.
1242 PRESET_PASSPHRASE [--inquire] <string_or_keygrip> <timeout> [<hexstring>]
1244 The passphrase is a hexadecimal string when specified. When not
1245 specified, the passphrase will be retrieved from the pinentry module
1246 unless the '--inquire' option was specified in which case the passphrase
1247 will be retrieved from the client.
1249 The TIMEOUT parameter keeps the passphrase cached for the specified
1250 number of seconds. A value of '-1' means infinite while '0' means the
1251 default (currently only a timeout of -1 is allowed, which means to never
1255 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent GET_CONFIRMATION, Next: Agent HAVEKEY, Prev: Agent PRESET_PASSPHRASE, Up: Agent Protocol
1257 2.6.10 Ask for confirmation
1258 ---------------------------
1260 This command may be used to ask for a simple confirmation by presenting
1261 a text and 2 buttons: Okay and Cancel.
1263 GET_CONFIRMATION DESCRIPTION
1265 DESCRIPTIONis displayed along with a Okay and Cancel button. Blanks
1266 must be percent escaped or replaced by '+'. A 'X' may be used to
1267 display confirmation dialog with a default text.
1269 The agent either returns with an error or with a OK. Note, that the
1270 length of DESCRIPTION is implicitly limited by the maximum length of a
1274 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent HAVEKEY, Next: Agent LEARN, Prev: Agent GET_CONFIRMATION, Up: Agent Protocol
1276 2.6.11 Check whether a key is available
1277 ---------------------------------------
1279 This can be used to see whether a secret key is available. It does not
1280 return any information on whether the key is somehow protected.
1284 The agent answers either with OK or 'No_Secret_Key' (208). The
1285 caller may want to check for other error codes as well. More than one
1286 keygrip may be given. In this case the command returns success if at
1287 least one of the keygrips corresponds to an available secret key.
1290 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent LEARN, Next: Agent PASSWD, Prev: Agent HAVEKEY, Up: Agent Protocol
1292 2.6.12 Register a smartcard
1293 ---------------------------
1297 This command is used to register a smartcard. With the '--send'
1298 option given the certificates are sent back.
1301 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent PASSWD, Next: Agent UPDATESTARTUPTTY, Prev: Agent LEARN, Up: Agent Protocol
1303 2.6.13 Change a Passphrase
1304 --------------------------
1306 PASSWD [--cache-nonce=<c>] [--passwd-nonce=<s>] [--preset] KEYGRIP
1308 This command is used to interactively change the passphrase of the
1309 key identified by the hex string KEYGRIP. The '--preset' option may be
1310 used to add the new passphrase to the cache using the default cache
1314 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent UPDATESTARTUPTTY, Next: Agent GETEVENTCOUNTER, Prev: Agent PASSWD, Up: Agent Protocol
1316 2.6.14 Change the standard display
1317 ----------------------------------
1321 Set the startup TTY and X-DISPLAY variables to the values of this
1322 session. This command is useful to direct future pinentry invocations
1323 to another screen. It is only required because there is no way in the
1324 ssh-agent protocol to convey this information.
1327 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent GETEVENTCOUNTER, Next: Agent GETINFO, Prev: Agent UPDATESTARTUPTTY, Up: Agent Protocol
1329 2.6.15 Get the Event Counters
1330 -----------------------------
1334 This function return one status line with the current values of the
1335 event counters. The event counters are useful to avoid polling by
1336 delaying a poll until something has changed. The values are decimal
1337 numbers in the range '0' to 'UINT_MAX' and wrapping around to 0. The
1338 actual values should not be relied upon; they shall only be used to
1341 The currently defined counters are:
1343 Incremented with any change of any of the other counters.
1345 Incremented for added or removed private keys.
1347 Incremented for each change of the card reader's status.
1350 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent GETINFO, Next: Agent OPTION, Prev: Agent GETEVENTCOUNTER, Up: Agent Protocol
1352 2.6.16 Return information about the process
1353 -------------------------------------------
1355 This is a multipurpose function to return a variety of information.
1359 The value of WHAT specifies the kind of information returned:
1361 Return the version of the program.
1363 Return the process id of the process.
1365 Return the name of the socket used to connect the agent.
1367 Return the name of the socket used for SSH connections. If SSH
1368 support has not been enabled the error 'GPG_ERR_NO_DATA' will be
1372 File: gnupg.info, Node: Agent OPTION, Prev: Agent GETINFO, Up: Agent Protocol
1374 2.6.17 Set options for the session
1375 ----------------------------------
1377 Here is a list of session options which are not yet described with other
1378 commands. The general syntax for an Assuan option is:
1385 This may be used to tell gpg-agent of which gpg-agent version the
1386 client is aware of. gpg-agent uses this information to enable
1387 features which might break older clients.
1390 Change the session's environment to be used for the Pinentry.
1396 Set envvar NAME to the empty string
1398 Set envvar NAME to the string VALUE.
1400 'use-cache-for-signing'
1401 See Assuan command 'PKSIGN'.
1403 'allow-pinentry-notify'
1404 This does not need any value. It is used to enable the
1405 PINENTRY_LAUNCHED inquiry.
1408 This option is used to change the operation mode of the pinentry.
1409 The following values are defined:
1412 This is the default mode which pops up a pinentry as needed.
1415 Instead of popping up a pinentry, return the error code
1419 Instead of popping up a pinentry, return the error code
1420 'GPG_ERR_NO_PIN_ENTRY'.
1423 Use a loopback pinentry. This fakes a pinentry by using
1424 inquiries back to the caller to ask for a passphrase. This
1425 option may only be set if the agent has been configured for
1426 that. To disable this feature use *note option
1427 --no-allow-loopback-pinentry::.
1429 'cache-ttl-opt-preset'
1430 This option sets the cache TTL for new entries created by GENKEY
1431 and PASSWD commands when using the '--preset' option. It is not
1432 used a default value is used.
1435 Instead of using the standard S2K count (which is computed on the
1436 fly), the given S2K count is used for new keys or when changing the
1437 passphrase of a key. Values below 65536 are considered to be 0.
1438 This option is valid for the entire session or until reset to 0.
1439 This option is useful if the key is later used on boxes which are
1440 either much slower or faster than the actual box.
1442 'pretend-request-origin'
1443 This option switches the connection into a restricted mode which
1444 handles all further commands in the same way as they would be
1445 handled when originating from the extra or browser socket. Note
1446 that this option is not available in the restricted mode. Valid
1447 values for this option are:
1451 This is a NOP and leaves the connection in the standard way.
1454 Pretend to come from a remote origin in the same way as
1455 connections from the '--extra-socket'.
1458 Pretend to come from a local web browser in the same way as
1459 connections from the '--browser-socket'.
1462 File: gnupg.info, Node: Invoking DIRMNGR, Next: Invoking GPG, Prev: Invoking GPG-AGENT, Up: Top
1467 Since version 2.1 of GnuPG, 'dirmngr' takes care of accessing the
1468 OpenPGP keyservers. As with previous versions it is also used as a
1469 server for managing and downloading certificate revocation lists (CRLs)
1470 for X.509 certificates, downloading X.509 certificates, and providing
1471 access to OCSP providers. Dirmngr is invoked internally by 'gpg',
1472 'gpgsm', or via the 'gpg-connect-agent' tool.
1474 *Note Option Index::,for an index to 'DIRMNGR''s commands and options.
1478 * Dirmngr Commands:: List of all commands.
1479 * Dirmngr Options:: List of all options.
1480 * Dirmngr Configuration:: Configuration files.
1481 * Dirmngr Signals:: Use of signals.
1482 * Dirmngr Examples:: Some usage examples.
1483 * Dirmngr Protocol:: The protocol dirmngr uses.
1486 File: gnupg.info, Node: Dirmngr Commands, Next: Dirmngr Options, Up: Invoking DIRMNGR
1491 Commands are not distinguished from options except for the fact that
1492 only one command is allowed.
1495 Print the program version and licensing information. Note that you
1496 cannot abbreviate this command.
1499 Print a usage message summarizing the most useful command-line
1500 options. Note that you cannot abbreviate this command.
1503 Print a list of all available options and commands. Note that you
1504 cannot abbreviate this command.
1507 Run in server mode and wait for commands on the 'stdin'. The
1508 default mode is to create a socket and listen for commands there.
1509 This is only used for testing.
1512 Run in background daemon mode and listen for commands on a socket.
1513 This is the way 'dirmngr' is started on demand by the other GnuPG
1514 components. To force starting 'dirmngr' it is in general best to
1515 use 'gpgconf --launch dirmngr'.
1518 Run in the foreground, sending logs to stderr, and listening on
1519 file descriptor 3, which must already be bound to a listening
1520 socket. This is useful when running under systemd or other similar
1521 process supervision schemes. This option is not supported on
1525 List the contents of the CRL cache on 'stdout'. This is probably
1526 only useful for debugging purposes.
1529 This command requires a filename as additional argument, and it
1530 will make Dirmngr try to import the CRL in FILE into it's cache.
1531 Note, that this is only possible if Dirmngr is able to retrieve the
1532 CA's certificate directly by its own means. In general it is
1533 better to use 'gpgsm''s '--call-dirmngr loadcrl filename' command
1534 so that 'gpgsm' can help dirmngr.
1537 This command requires an URL as additional argument, and it will
1538 make dirmngr try to retrieve and import the CRL from that URL into
1539 it's cache. This is mainly useful for debugging purposes. The
1540 'dirmngr-client' provides the same feature for a running dirmngr.
1543 This commands shuts down an running instance of Dirmngr. This
1544 command has currently no effect.
1547 This command removes all CRLs from Dirmngr's cache. Client
1548 requests will thus trigger reading of fresh CRLs.
1551 File: gnupg.info, Node: Dirmngr Options, Next: Dirmngr Configuration, Prev: Dirmngr Commands, Up: Invoking DIRMNGR
1556 Note that all long options with the exception of '--options' and
1557 '--homedir' may also be given in the configuration file after stripping
1558 off the two leading dashes.
1561 Reads configuration from FILE instead of from the default per-user
1562 configuration file. The default configuration file is named
1563 'dirmngr.conf' and expected in the home directory.
1566 Set the name of the home directory to DIR. This option is only
1567 effective when used on the command line. The default is the
1568 directory named '.gnupg' directly below the home directory of the
1569 user unless the environment variable 'GNUPGHOME' has been set in
1570 which case its value will be used. Many kinds of data are stored
1571 within this directory.
1575 Outputs additional information while running. You can increase the
1576 verbosity by giving several verbose commands to DIRMNGR, such as
1580 Append all logging output to FILE. This is very helpful in seeing
1581 what the agent actually does. Use 'socket://' to log to socket.
1583 '--debug-level LEVEL'
1584 Select the debug level for investigating problems. LEVEL may be a
1585 numeric value or by a keyword:
1588 No debugging at all. A value of less than 1 may be used
1589 instead of the keyword.
1591 Some basic debug messages. A value between 1 and 2 may be
1592 used instead of the keyword.
1594 More verbose debug messages. A value between 3 and 5 may be
1595 used instead of the keyword.
1597 Even more detailed messages. A value between 6 and 8 may be
1598 used instead of the keyword.
1600 All of the debug messages you can get. A value greater than 8
1601 may be used instead of the keyword. The creation of hash
1602 tracing files is only enabled if the keyword is used.
1604 How these messages are mapped to the actual debugging flags is not
1605 specified and may change with newer releases of this program. They
1606 are however carefully selected to best aid in debugging.
1609 Set debug flags. All flags are or-ed and FLAGS may be given in C
1610 syntax (e.g. 0x0042) or as a comma separated list of flag names.
1611 To get a list of all supported flags the single word "help" can be
1612 used. This option is only useful for debugging and the behavior
1613 may change at any time without notice.
1616 Same as '--debug=0xffffffff'
1619 Enable debugging of the TLS layer at LEVEL. The details of the
1620 debug level depend on the used TLS library and are not set in
1624 When running in server mode, wait N seconds before entering the
1625 actual processing loop and print the pid. This gives time to
1628 '--disable-check-own-socket'
1629 On some platforms 'dirmngr' is able to detect the removal of its
1630 socket file and shutdown itself. This option disable this
1631 self-test for debugging purposes.
1637 Format the info output in daemon mode for use with the standard
1638 Bourne shell respective the C-shell. The default is to guess it
1639 based on the environment variable 'SHELL' which is in almost all
1643 Enabling this option forces loading of expired CRLs; this is only
1644 useful for debugging.
1648 The option '--use-tor' switches Dirmngr and thus GnuPG into "Tor
1649 mode" to route all network access via Tor (an anonymity network).
1650 Certain other features are disabled in this mode. The effect of
1651 '--use-tor' cannot be overridden by any other command or even by
1652 reloading dirmngr. The use of '--no-use-tor' disables the use of
1653 Tor. The default is to use Tor if it is available on startup or
1654 after reloading dirmngr. The test on the availability of Tor is
1655 done by trying to connect to a SOCKS proxy at either port 9050 or
1656 9150; if another type of proxy is listening on one of these ports,
1657 you should use '--no-use-tor'.
1659 '--standard-resolver'
1660 This option forces the use of the system's standard DNS resolver
1661 code. This is mainly used for debugging. Note that on Windows a
1662 standard resolver is not used and all DNS access will return the
1663 error "Not Implemented" if this option is used. Using this
1664 together with enabled Tor mode returns the error "Not Enabled".
1666 '--recursive-resolver'
1667 When possible use a recursive resolver instead of a stub resolver.
1669 '--resolver-timeout N'
1670 Set the timeout for the DNS resolver to N seconds. The default are
1673 '--connect-timeout N'
1674 '--connect-quick-timeout N'
1675 Set the timeout for HTTP and generic TCP connection attempts to N
1676 seconds. The value set with the quick variant is used when the
1677 -quick option has been given to certain Assuan commands. The quick
1678 value is capped at the value of the regular connect timeout. The
1679 default values are 15 and 2 seconds. Note that the timeout values
1680 are for each connection attempt; the connection code will attempt
1681 to connect all addresses listed for a server.
1683 '--listen-backlog N'
1684 Set the size of the queue for pending connections. The default is
1687 '--allow-version-check'
1688 Allow Dirmngr to connect to 'https://versions.gnupg.org' to get the
1689 list of current software versions. If this option is enabled the
1690 list is retrieved in case the local copy does not exist or is older
1691 than 5 to 7 days. See the option '--query-swdb' of the command
1692 'gpgconf' for more details. Note, that regardless of this option a
1693 version check can always be triggered using this command:
1695 gpg-connect-agent --dirmngr 'loadswdb --force' /bye
1698 Use NAME as your keyserver. This is the server that 'gpg'
1699 communicates with to receive keys, send keys, and search for keys.
1700 The format of the NAME is a URI: 'scheme:[//]keyservername[:port]'
1701 The scheme is the type of keyserver: "hkp" for the HTTP (or
1702 compatible) keyservers, "ldap" for the LDAP keyservers, or "mailto"
1703 for the Graff email keyserver. Note that your particular
1704 installation of GnuPG may have other keyserver types available as
1705 well. Keyserver schemes are case-insensitive. After the keyserver
1706 name, optional keyserver configuration options may be provided.
1707 These are the same as the '--keyserver-options' of 'gpg', but apply
1708 only to this particular keyserver.
1710 Most keyservers synchronize with each other, so there is generally
1711 no need to send keys to more than one server. The keyserver
1712 'hkp://keys.gnupg.net' uses round robin DNS to give a different
1713 keyserver each time you use it.
1715 If exactly two keyservers are configured and only one is a Tor
1716 hidden service (.onion), Dirmngr selects the keyserver to use
1717 depending on whether Tor is locally running or not. The check for
1718 a running Tor is done for each new connection.
1720 If no keyserver is explicitly configured, dirmngr will use the
1721 built-in default of 'hkps://hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net'.
1723 Windows users with a keyserver running on their Active Directory
1724 should use 'ldap:///' for NAME to access this directory. As an
1725 alternative it is also possible to add 'gpgNtds=1' as extension
1726 (i.e. after the fourth question mark).
1728 For accessing anonymous LDAP keyservers NAME is in general just a
1729 'ldaps://ldap.example.com'. A BaseDN parameter should never be
1730 specified. If authentication is required the value of NAME is for
1733 keyserver ldaps://ldap.example.com/????bindname=uid=USERNAME
1734 %2Cou=GnuPG%20Users%2Cdc=example%2Cdc=com,password=PASSWORD
1736 Put this all on one line without any spaces and keep the '%2C' as
1737 given. Replace USERNAME, PASSWORD, and the 'dc' parts according to
1738 the instructions received from the LDAP administrator. Note that
1739 only simple authentication (i.e. cleartext passwords) is supported
1740 and thus using ldaps is strongly suggested.
1742 '--nameserver IPADDR'
1743 In "Tor mode" Dirmngr uses a public resolver via Tor to resolve DNS
1744 names. If the default public resolver, which is '8.8.8.8', shall
1745 not be used a different one can be given using this option. Note
1746 that a numerical IP address must be given (IPv6 or IPv4) and that
1747 no error checking is done for IPADDR.
1751 Disable the use of all IPv4 or IPv6 addresses.
1754 Entirely disables the use of LDAP.
1757 Entirely disables the use of HTTP.
1760 When looking for the location of a CRL, the to be tested
1761 certificate usually contains so called "CRL Distribution Point"
1762 (DP) entries which are URLs describing the way to access the CRL.
1763 The first found DP entry is used. With this option all entries
1764 using the HTTP scheme are ignored when looking for a suitable DP.
1767 This is similar to '--ignore-http-dp' but ignores entries using the
1768 LDAP scheme. Both options may be combined resulting in ignoring
1771 '--ignore-ocsp-service-url'
1772 Ignore all OCSP URLs contained in the certificate. The effect is
1773 to force the use of the default responder.
1775 '--honor-http-proxy'
1776 If the environment variable 'http_proxy' has been set, use its
1777 value to access HTTP servers.
1779 '--http-proxy HOST[:PORT]'
1780 Use HOST and PORT to access HTTP servers. The use of this option
1781 overrides the environment variable 'http_proxy' regardless whether
1782 '--honor-http-proxy' has been set.
1784 '--ldap-proxy HOST[:PORT]'
1785 Use HOST and PORT to connect to LDAP servers. If PORT is omitted,
1786 port 389 (standard LDAP port) is used. This overrides any
1787 specified host and port part in a LDAP URL and will also be used if
1788 host and port have been omitted from the URL.
1791 Never use anything else but the LDAP "proxy" as configured with
1792 '--ldap-proxy'. Usually 'dirmngr' tries to use other configured
1793 LDAP server if the connection using the "proxy" failed.
1795 '--ldapserverlist-file FILE'
1796 Read a list of LDAP servers to consult for CRLs and certificates
1797 from file. This servers from this list are used after any servers
1798 set by a client for its session. The default value for FILE is
1799 'dirmngr_ldapservers.conf'.
1801 This server list file contains one LDAP server per line in the
1804 HOSTNAME:PORT:USERNAME:PASSWORD:BASE_DN:FLAGS
1806 Lines starting with a '#' are comments.
1808 The only defined flag is 'ldaps' to specify that a TLS connections
1809 shall be used. Flags are comma delimited; unknown flags are
1812 Note that as usual all strings entered are expected to be UTF-8
1813 encoded. Obviously this will lead to problems if the password has
1814 originally been encoded as Latin-1. There is no other solution
1815 here than to put such a password in the binary encoding into the
1816 file (i.e. non-ascii characters won't show up readable).(1)
1818 '--ldaptimeout SECS'
1819 Specify the number of seconds to wait for an LDAP query before
1820 timing out. The default are 15 seconds. 0 will never timeout.
1823 This option makes dirmngr add any servers it discovers when
1824 validating certificates against CRLs to the internal list of
1825 servers to consult for certificates and CRLs. This option should
1826 in general not be used.
1828 This option might be useful when trying to validate a certificate
1829 that has a CRL distribution point that points to a server that is
1830 not already listed in the ldapserverlist. Dirmngr will always go
1831 to this server and try to download the CRL, but chances are high
1832 that the certificate used to sign the CRL is located on the same
1833 server. So if dirmngr doesn't add that new server to list, it will
1834 often not be able to verify the signature of the CRL unless the
1835 '--add-servers' option is used.
1837 Caveat emptor: Using this option may enable denial-of-service
1838 attacks and leak search requests to unknown third parties. This is
1839 because arbitrary servers are added to the internal list of LDAP
1840 servers which in turn is used for all unspecific LDAP queries as
1841 well as a fallback for queries which did not return a result.
1844 This option enables OCSP support if requested by the client.
1846 OCSP requests are rejected by default because they may violate the
1847 privacy of the user; for example it is possible to track the time
1848 when a user is reading a mail.
1850 '--ocsp-responder URL'
1851 Use URL as the default OCSP Responder if the certificate does not
1852 contain information about an assigned responder. Note, that
1853 '--ocsp-signer' must also be set to a valid certificate.
1855 '--ocsp-signer FPR|FILE'
1856 Use the certificate with the fingerprint FPR to check the responses
1857 of the default OCSP Responder. Alternatively a filename can be
1858 given in which case the response is expected to be signed by one of
1859 the certificates described in that file. Any argument which
1860 contains a slash, dot or tilde is considered a filename. Usual
1861 filename expansion takes place: A tilde at the start followed by a
1862 slash is replaced by the content of 'HOME', no slash at start
1863 describes a relative filename which will be searched at the home
1864 directory. To make sure that the FILE is searched in the home
1865 directory, either prepend the name with "./" or use a name which
1868 If a response has been signed by a certificate described by these
1869 fingerprints no further check upon the validity of this certificate
1872 The format of the FILE is a list of SHA-1 fingerprint, one per line
1873 with optional colons between the bytes. Empty lines and lines
1874 prefix with a hash mark are ignored.
1876 '--ocsp-max-clock-skew N'
1877 The number of seconds a skew between the OCSP responder and them
1878 local clock is accepted. Default is 600 (10 minutes).
1880 '--ocsp-max-period N'
1881 Seconds a response is at maximum considered valid after the time
1882 given in the thisUpdate field. Default is 7776000 (90 days).
1884 '--ocsp-current-period N'
1885 The number of seconds an OCSP response is considered valid after
1886 the time given in the NEXT_UPDATE datum. Default is 10800 (3
1890 Do not return more that N items in one query. The default is 10.
1892 '--ignore-cert-extension OID'
1893 Add OID to the list of ignored certificate extensions. The OID is
1894 expected to be in dotted decimal form, like '2.5.29.3'. This
1895 option may be used more than once. Critical flagged certificate
1896 extensions matching one of the OIDs in the list are treated as if
1897 they are actually handled and thus the certificate won't be
1898 rejected due to an unknown critical extension. Use this option
1899 with care because extensions are usually flagged as critical for a
1903 Use the root certificates in FILE for verification of the TLS
1904 certificates used with 'hkps' (keyserver access over TLS). If the
1905 file is in PEM format a suffix of '.pem' is expected for FILE.
1906 This option may be given multiple times to add more root
1907 certificates. Tilde expansion is supported.
1909 If no 'hkp-cacert' directive is present, dirmngr will make a
1910 reasonable choice: if the keyserver in question is the special pool
1911 'hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net', it will use the bundled root
1912 certificate for that pool. Otherwise, it will use the system CAs.
1914 ---------- Footnotes ----------
1916 (1) The 'gpgconf' tool might be helpful for frontends as it enables
1917 editing this configuration file using percent-escaped strings.
1920 File: gnupg.info, Node: Dirmngr Configuration, Next: Dirmngr Signals, Prev: Dirmngr Options, Up: Invoking DIRMNGR
1925 Dirmngr makes use of several directories when running in daemon mode:
1926 There are a few configuration files to control the operation of dirmngr.
1927 By default they may all be found in the current home directory (*note
1928 option --homedir::).
1931 This is the standard configuration file read by 'dirmngr' on
1932 startup. It may contain any valid long option; the leading two
1933 dashes may not be entered and the option may not be abbreviated.
1934 This file is also read after a 'SIGHUP' however not all options
1935 will actually have an effect. This default name may be changed on
1936 the command line (*note option --options::). You should backup
1939 '/etc/gnupg/trusted-certs'
1940 This directory should be filled with certificates of Root CAs you
1941 are trusting in checking the CRLs and signing OCSP Responses.
1943 Usually these are the same certificates you use with the
1944 applications making use of dirmngr. It is expected that each of
1945 these certificate files contain exactly one DER encoded certificate
1946 in a file with the suffix '.crt' or '.der'. 'dirmngr' reads those
1947 certificates on startup and when given a SIGHUP. Certificates which
1948 are not readable or do not make up a proper X.509 certificate are
1949 ignored; see the log file for details.
1951 Applications using dirmngr (e.g. gpgsm) can request these
1952 certificates to complete a trust chain in the same way as with the
1953 extra-certs directory (see below).
1955 Note that for OCSP responses the certificate specified using the
1956 option '--ocsp-signer' is always considered valid to sign OCSP
1959 '/etc/gnupg/extra-certs'
1960 This directory may contain extra certificates which are preloaded
1961 into the internal cache on startup. Applications using dirmngr
1962 (e.g. gpgsm) can request cached certificates to complete a trust
1963 chain. This is convenient in cases you have a couple intermediate
1964 CA certificates or certificates usually used to sign OCSP
1965 responses. These certificates are first tried before going out to
1966 the net to look for them. These certificates must also be DER
1967 encoded and suffixed with '.crt' or '.der'.
1970 This directory is used to store cached CRLs. The 'crls.d' part
1971 will be created by dirmngr if it does not exists but you need to
1972 make sure that the upper directory exists.
1974 Several options control the use of trusted certificates for TLS and
1975 CRLs. Here is an Overview on the use and origin of those Root CA
1980 These System root certificates are used by: FIXME
1982 The origin of the system provided certificates depends on the
1983 platform. On Windows all certificates from the Windows System
1984 Stores 'ROOT' and 'CA' are used.
1986 On other platforms the certificates are read from the first file
1987 found form this list: '/etc/ssl/ca-bundle.pem',
1988 '/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt', '/etc/pki/tls/cert.pem',
1989 '/usr/local/share/certs/ca-root-nss.crt', '/etc/ssl/cert.pem'.
1993 The GnuPG specific certificates stored in the directory
1994 '/etc/gnupg/trusted-certs' are only used to validate CRLs.
1998 For accessing the OpenPGP keyservers the only certificates used are
1999 those set with the configuration option 'hkp-cacert'.
2001 OpenPGP keyserver pool
2003 This is usually only one certificate read from the file
2004 '/usr/local/share/gnupg/gnupg/sks-keyservers.netCA.pem'. If this
2005 certificate exists it is used to access the special keyservers
2006 'hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net' (or 'hkps://keys.gnupg.net').
2008 Please note that 'gpgsm' accepts Root CA certificates for its own
2009 purposes only if they are listed in its file 'trustlist.txt'. 'dirmngr'
2010 does not make use of this list - except FIXME.
2012 To be able to see diagnostics it is often useful to put at least the
2013 following lines into the configuration file '~/gnupg/dirmngr.conf':
2015 log-file ~/dirmngr.log
2018 You may want to check the log file to see whether all desired root CA
2019 certificates are correctly loaded.
2021 To be able to perform OCSP requests you probably want to add the
2026 To make sure that new options are read or that after the installation
2027 of a new GnuPG versions the right dirmngr version is running, you should
2028 kill an existing dirmngr so that a new instance is started as needed by
2029 the otehr components:
2031 gpgconf --kill dirmngr
2033 Direct interfaction with the dirmngr is possible by using the command
2035 gpg-connect-agent --dirmngr
2037 Enter 'HELP' at the prompt to see a list of commands and enter 'HELP'
2038 followed by a command name to get help on that command.
2041 File: gnupg.info, Node: Dirmngr Signals, Next: Dirmngr Examples, Prev: Dirmngr Configuration, Up: Invoking DIRMNGR
2046 A running 'dirmngr' may be controlled by signals, i.e. using the 'kill'
2047 command to send a signal to the process.
2049 Here is a list of supported signals:
2052 This signal flushes all internally cached CRLs as well as any
2053 cached certificates. Then the certificate cache is reinitialized
2054 as on startup. Options are re-read from the configuration file.
2055 Instead of sending this signal it is better to use
2056 gpgconf --reload dirmngr
2059 Shuts down the process but waits until all current requests are
2060 fulfilled. If the process has received 3 of these signals and
2061 requests are still pending, a shutdown is forced. You may also use
2062 gpgconf --kill dirmngr
2063 instead of this signal
2066 Shuts down the process immediately.
2069 This prints some caching statistics to the log file.
2072 File: gnupg.info, Node: Dirmngr Examples, Next: Dirmngr Protocol, Prev: Dirmngr Signals, Up: Invoking DIRMNGR
2077 Here is an example on how to show dirmngr's internal table of OpenPGP
2078 keyserver addresses. The output is intended for debugging purposes and
2079 not part of a defined API.
2081 gpg-connect-agent --dirmngr 'keyserver --hosttable' /bye
2083 To inhibit the use of a particular host you have noticed in one of
2084 the keyserver pools, you may use
2086 gpg-connect-agent --dirmngr 'keyserver --dead pgpkeys.bnd.de' /bye
2088 The description of the 'keyserver' command can be printed using
2090 gpg-connect-agent --dirmngr 'help keyserver' /bye
2093 File: gnupg.info, Node: Dirmngr Protocol, Prev: Dirmngr Examples, Up: Invoking DIRMNGR
2095 3.6 Dirmngr's Assuan Protocol
2096 =============================
2098 Assuan is the IPC protocol used to access dirmngr. This is a
2099 description of the commands implemented by dirmngr.
2103 * Dirmngr LOOKUP:: Look up a certificate via LDAP
2104 * Dirmngr ISVALID:: Validate a certificate using a CRL or OCSP.
2105 * Dirmngr CHECKCRL:: Validate a certificate using a CRL.
2106 * Dirmngr CHECKOCSP:: Validate a certificate using OCSP.
2107 * Dirmngr CACHECERT:: Put a certificate into the internal cache.
2108 * Dirmngr VALIDATE:: Validate a certificate for debugging.
2111 File: gnupg.info, Node: Dirmngr LOOKUP, Next: Dirmngr ISVALID, Up: Dirmngr Protocol
2113 3.6.1 Return the certificate(s) found
2114 -------------------------------------
2116 Lookup certificate. To allow multiple patterns (which are ORed) quoting
2117 is required: Spaces are to be translated into "+" or into "%20";
2118 obviously this requires that the usual escape quoting rules are applied.
2119 The server responds with:
2121 S: D <DER encoded certificate>
2123 S: D <second DER encoded certificate>
2127 In this example 2 certificates are returned. The server may return
2128 any number of certificates; OK will also be returned when no
2129 certificates were found. The dirmngr might return a status line
2133 To indicate that the output was truncated to N items due to a
2134 limitation of the server or by an arbitrary set limit.
2136 The option '--url' may be used if instead of a search pattern a
2137 complete URL to the certificate is known:
2139 C: LOOKUP --url CN%3DWerner%20Koch,o%3DIntevation%20GmbH,c%3DDE?userCertificate
2141 If the option '--cache-only' is given, no external lookup is done so
2142 that only certificates from the cache are returned.
2144 With the option '--single', the first and only the first match will
2145 be returned. Unless option '--cache-only' is also used, no local lookup
2146 will be done in this case.
2149 File: gnupg.info, Node: Dirmngr ISVALID, Next: Dirmngr CHECKCRL, Prev: Dirmngr LOOKUP, Up: Dirmngr Protocol
2151 3.6.2 Validate a certificate using a CRL or OCSP
2152 ------------------------------------------------
2154 ISVALID [--only-ocsp] [--force-default-responder] CERTID|CERTFPR
2156 Check whether the certificate described by the CERTID has been
2157 revoked. Due to caching, the Dirmngr is able to answer immediately in
2160 The CERTID is a hex encoded string consisting of two parts, delimited
2161 by a single dot. The first part is the SHA-1 hash of the issuer name
2162 and the second part the serial number.
2164 Alternatively the certificate's SHA-1 fingerprint CERTFPR may be
2165 given in which case an OCSP request is done before consulting the CRL.
2166 If the option '--only-ocsp' is given, no fallback to a CRL check will be
2167 used. If the option '--force-default-responder' is given, only the
2168 default OCSP responder will be used and any other methods of obtaining
2169 an OCSP responder URL won't be used.
2171 Common return values are:
2173 'GPG_ERR_NO_ERROR (0)'
2174 This is the positive answer: The certificate is not revoked and we
2175 have an up-to-date revocation list for that certificate. If OCSP
2176 was used the responder confirmed that the certificate has not been
2179 'GPG_ERR_CERT_REVOKED'
2180 This is the negative answer: The certificate has been revoked.
2181 Either it is in a CRL and that list is up to date or an OCSP
2182 responder informed us that it has been revoked.
2184 'GPG_ERR_NO_CRL_KNOWN'
2185 No CRL is known for this certificate or the CRL is not valid or out
2189 The OCSP responder returned an "unknown" status. This means that
2190 it is not aware of the certificate's status.
2192 'GPG_ERR_NOT_SUPPORTED'
2193 This is commonly seen if OCSP support has not been enabled in the
2196 If DirMngr has not enough information about the given certificate
2197 (which is the case for not yet cached certificates), it will inquire the
2200 S: INQUIRE SENDCERT <CertID>
2201 C: D <DER encoded certificate>
2204 A client should be aware that DirMngr may ask for more than one
2207 If Dirmngr has a certificate but the signature of the certificate
2208 could not been validated because the root certificate is not known to
2209 dirmngr as trusted, it may ask back to see whether the client trusts
2210 this the root certificate:
2212 S: INQUIRE ISTRUSTED <CertHexfpr>
2216 Only this answer will let Dirmngr consider the certificate as valid.
2219 File: gnupg.info, Node: Dirmngr CHECKCRL, Next: Dirmngr CHECKOCSP, Prev: Dirmngr ISVALID, Up: Dirmngr Protocol
2221 3.6.3 Validate a certificate using a CRL
2222 ----------------------------------------
2224 Check whether the certificate with FINGERPRINT (SHA-1 hash of the entire
2225 X.509 certificate blob) is valid or not by consulting the CRL
2226 responsible for this certificate. If the fingerprint has not been given
2227 or the certificate is not known, the function inquires the certificate
2230 S: INQUIRE TARGETCERT
2231 C: D <DER encoded certificate>
2234 Thus the caller is expected to return the certificate for the request
2235 (which should match FINGERPRINT) as a binary blob. Processing then
2236 takes place without further interaction; in particular dirmngr tries to
2237 locate other required certificate by its own mechanism which includes a
2238 local certificate store as well as a list of trusted root certificates.
2240 The return code is 0 for success; i.e. the certificate has not been
2241 revoked or one of the usual error codes from libgpg-error.
2244 File: gnupg.info, Node: Dirmngr CHECKOCSP, Next: Dirmngr CACHECERT, Prev: Dirmngr CHECKCRL, Up: Dirmngr Protocol
2246 3.6.4 Validate a certificate using OCSP
2247 ---------------------------------------
2249 CHECKOCSP [--force-default-responder] [FINGERPRINT]
2251 Check whether the certificate with FINGERPRINT (the SHA-1 hash of the
2252 entire X.509 certificate blob) is valid by consulting the appropriate
2253 OCSP responder. If the fingerprint has not been given or the
2254 certificate is not known by Dirmngr, the function inquires the
2257 S: INQUIRE TARGETCERT
2258 C: D <DER encoded certificate>
2261 Thus the caller is expected to return the certificate for the request
2262 (which should match FINGERPRINT) as a binary blob. Processing then
2263 takes place without further interaction; in particular dirmngr tries to
2264 locate other required certificates by its own mechanism which includes a
2265 local certificate store as well as a list of trusted root certificates.
2267 If the option '--force-default-responder' is given, only the default
2268 OCSP responder is used. This option is the per-command variant of the
2269 global option '--ignore-ocsp-service-url'.
2271 The return code is 0 for success; i.e. the certificate has not been
2272 revoked or one of the usual error codes from libgpg-error.
2275 File: gnupg.info, Node: Dirmngr CACHECERT, Next: Dirmngr VALIDATE, Prev: Dirmngr CHECKOCSP, Up: Dirmngr Protocol
2277 3.6.5 Put a certificate into the internal cache
2278 -----------------------------------------------
2280 Put a certificate into the internal cache. This command might be useful
2281 if a client knows in advance certificates required for a test and wants
2282 to make sure they get added to the internal cache. It is also helpful
2283 for debugging. To get the actual certificate, this command immediately
2286 S: INQUIRE TARGETCERT
2287 C: D <DER encoded certificate>
2290 Thus the caller is expected to return the certificate for the request
2293 The return code is 0 for success; i.e. the certificate has not been
2294 successfully cached or one of the usual error codes from libgpg-error.
2297 File: gnupg.info, Node: Dirmngr VALIDATE, Prev: Dirmngr CACHECERT, Up: Dirmngr Protocol
2299 3.6.6 Validate a certificate for debugging
2300 ------------------------------------------
2302 Validate a certificate using the certificate validation function used
2303 internally by dirmngr. This command is only useful for debugging. To
2304 get the actual certificate, this command immediately inquires it using
2306 S: INQUIRE TARGETCERT
2307 C: D <DER encoded certificate>
2310 Thus the caller is expected to return the certificate for the request
2314 File: gnupg.info, Node: Invoking GPG, Next: Invoking GPGSM, Prev: Invoking DIRMNGR, Up: Top
2319 'gpg' is the OpenPGP part of the GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG). It is a tool
2320 to provide digital encryption and signing services using the OpenPGP
2321 standard. 'gpg' features complete key management and all the bells and
2322 whistles you would expect from a full OpenPGP implementation.
2324 There are two main versions of GnuPG: GnuPG 1.x and GnuPG 2.x. GnuPG
2325 2.x supports modern encryption algorithms and thus should be preferred
2326 over GnuPG 1.x. You only need to use GnuPG 1.x if your platform doesn't
2327 support GnuPG 2.x, or you need support for some features that GnuPG 2.x
2328 has deprecated, e.g., decrypting data created with PGP-2 keys.
2330 If you are looking for version 1 of GnuPG, you may find that version
2331 installed under the name 'gpg1'.
2333 *Note Option Index::, for an index to 'gpg''s commands and options.
2337 * GPG Commands:: List of all commands.
2338 * GPG Options:: List of all options.
2339 * GPG Configuration:: Configuration files.
2340 * GPG Examples:: Some usage examples.
2342 Developer information:
2343 * Unattended Usage of GPG:: Using 'gpg' from other programs.
2346 File: gnupg.info, Node: GPG Commands, Next: GPG Options, Up: Invoking GPG
2351 Commands are not distinguished from options except for the fact that
2352 only one command is allowed. Generally speaking, irrelevant options are
2353 silently ignored, and may not be checked for correctness.
2355 'gpg' may be run with no commands. In this case it will print a
2356 warning perform a reasonable action depending on the type of file it is
2357 given as input (an encrypted message is decrypted, a signature is
2358 verified, a file containing keys is listed, etc.).
2360 If you run into any problems, please add the option '--verbose' to
2361 the invocation to see more diagnostics.
2365 * General GPG Commands:: Commands not specific to the functionality.
2366 * Operational GPG Commands:: Commands to select the type of operation.
2367 * OpenPGP Key Management:: How to manage your keys.
2370 File: gnupg.info, Node: General GPG Commands, Next: Operational GPG Commands, Up: GPG Commands
2372 4.1.1 Commands not specific to the function
2373 -------------------------------------------
2376 Print the program version and licensing information. Note that you
2377 cannot abbreviate this command.
2381 Print a usage message summarizing the most useful command-line
2382 options. Note that you cannot arbitrarily abbreviate this command
2383 (though you can use its short form '-h').
2386 Print warranty information.
2389 Print a list of all available options and commands. Note that you
2390 cannot abbreviate this command.
2393 File: gnupg.info, Node: Operational GPG Commands, Next: OpenPGP Key Management, Prev: General GPG Commands, Up: GPG Commands
2395 4.1.2 Commands to select the type of operation
2396 ----------------------------------------------
2400 Sign a message. This command may be combined with '--encrypt' (to
2401 sign and encrypt a message), '--symmetric' (to sign and
2402 symmetrically encrypt a message), or both '--encrypt' and
2403 '--symmetric' (to sign and encrypt a message that can be decrypted
2404 using a secret key or a passphrase). The signing key is chosen by
2405 default or can be set explicitly using the '--local-user' and
2406 '--default-key' options.
2410 Make a cleartext signature. The content in a cleartext signature
2411 is readable without any special software. OpenPGP software is only
2412 needed to verify the signature. cleartext signatures may modify
2413 end-of-line whitespace for platform independence and are not
2414 intended to be reversible. The signing key is chosen by default or
2415 can be set explicitly using the '--local-user' and '--default-key'
2420 Make a detached signature.
2424 Encrypt data to one or more public keys. This command may be
2425 combined with '--sign' (to sign and encrypt a message),
2426 '--symmetric' (to encrypt a message that can be decrypted using a
2427 secret key or a passphrase), or '--sign' and '--symmetric' together
2428 (for a signed message that can be decrypted using a secret key or a
2429 passphrase). '--recipient' and related options specify which
2430 public keys to use for encryption.
2434 Encrypt with a symmetric cipher using a passphrase. The default
2435 symmetric cipher used is AES-128, but may be chosen with the
2436 '--cipher-algo' option. This command may be combined with '--sign'
2437 (for a signed and symmetrically encrypted message), '--encrypt'
2438 (for a message that may be decrypted via a secret key or a
2439 passphrase), or '--sign' and '--encrypt' together (for a signed
2440 message that may be decrypted via a secret key or a passphrase).
2441 'gpg' caches the passphrase used for symmetric encryption so that a
2442 decrypt operation may not require that the user needs to enter the
2443 passphrase. The option '--no-symkey-cache' can be used to disable
2447 Store only (make a simple literal data packet).
2451 Decrypt the file given on the command line (or STDIN if no file is
2452 specified) and write it to STDOUT (or the file specified with
2453 '--output'). If the decrypted file is signed, the signature is
2454 also verified. This command differs from the default operation, as
2455 it never writes to the filename which is included in the file and
2456 it rejects files that don't begin with an encrypted message.
2459 Assume that the first argument is a signed file and verify it
2460 without generating any output. With no arguments, the signature
2461 packet is read from STDIN. If only one argument is given, the
2462 specified file is expected to include a complete signature.
2464 With more than one argument, the first argument should specify a
2465 file with a detached signature and the remaining files should
2466 contain the signed data. To read the signed data from STDIN, use
2467 '-' as the second filename. For security reasons, a detached
2468 signature will not read the signed material from STDIN if not
2469 explicitly specified.
2471 Note: If the option '--batch' is not used, 'gpg' may assume that a
2472 single argument is a file with a detached signature, and it will
2473 try to find a matching data file by stripping certain suffixes.
2474 Using this historical feature to verify a detached signature is
2475 strongly discouraged; you should always specify the data file
2478 Note: When verifying a cleartext signature, 'gpg' verifies only
2479 what makes up the cleartext signed data and not any extra data
2480 outside of the cleartext signature or the header lines directly
2481 following the dash marker line. The option '--output' may be used
2482 to write out the actual signed data, but there are other pitfalls
2483 with this format as well. It is suggested to avoid cleartext
2484 signatures in favor of detached signatures.
2486 Note: Sometimes the use of the 'gpgv' tool is easier than using the
2487 full-fledged 'gpg' with this option. 'gpgv' is designed to compare
2488 signed data against a list of trusted keys and returns with success
2489 only for a good signature. It has its own manual page.
2492 This modifies certain other commands to accept multiple files for
2493 processing on the command line or read from STDIN with each
2494 filename on a separate line. This allows for many files to be
2495 processed at once. '--multifile' may currently be used along with
2496 '--verify', '--encrypt', and '--decrypt'. Note that '--multifile
2497 --verify' may not be used with detached signatures.
2500 Identical to '--multifile --verify'.
2503 Identical to '--multifile --encrypt'.
2506 Identical to '--multifile --decrypt'.
2510 '--list-public-keys'
2511 List the specified keys. If no keys are specified, then all keys
2512 from the configured public keyrings are listed.
2514 Never use the output of this command in scripts or other programs.
2515 The output is intended only for humans and its format is likely to
2516 change. The '--with-colons' option emits the output in a stable,
2517 machine-parseable format, which is intended for use by scripts and
2520 '--list-secret-keys'
2522 List the specified secret keys. If no keys are specified, then all
2523 known secret keys are listed. A '#' after the initial tags 'sec'
2524 or 'ssb' means that the secret key or subkey is currently not
2525 usable. We also say that this key has been taken offline (for
2526 example, a primary key can be taken offline by exporting the key
2527 using the command '--export-secret-subkeys'). A '>' after these
2528 tags indicate that the key is stored on a smartcard. See also
2531 '--check-signatures'
2533 Same as '--list-keys', but the key signatures are verified and
2534 listed too. Note that for performance reasons the revocation
2535 status of a signing key is not shown. This command has the same
2536 effect as using '--list-keys' with '--with-sig-check'.
2538 The status of the verification is indicated by a flag directly
2539 following the "sig" tag (and thus before the flags described below.
2540 A "!" indicates that the signature has been successfully verified,
2541 a "-" denotes a bad signature and a "%" is used if an error
2542 occurred while checking the signature (e.g. a non supported
2543 algorithm). Signatures where the public key is not available are
2544 not listed; to see their keyids the command '--list-sigs' can be
2547 For each signature listed, there are several flags in between the
2548 signature status flag and keyid. These flags give additional
2549 information about each key signature. From left to right, they are
2550 the numbers 1-3 for certificate check level (see
2551 '--ask-cert-level'), "L" for a local or non-exportable signature
2552 (see '--lsign-key'), "R" for a nonRevocable signature (see the
2553 '--edit-key' command "nrsign"), "P" for a signature that contains a
2554 policy URL (see '--cert-policy-url'), "N" for a signature that
2555 contains a notation (see '--cert-notation'), "X" for an eXpired
2556 signature (see '--ask-cert-expire'), and the numbers 1-9 or "T" for
2557 10 and above to indicate trust signature levels (see the
2558 '--edit-key' command "tsign").
2561 '--locate-external-keys'
2562 Locate the keys given as arguments. This command basically uses
2563 the same algorithm as used when locating keys for encryption and
2564 may thus be used to see what keys 'gpg' might use. In particular
2565 external methods as defined by '--auto-key-locate' may be used to
2566 locate a key. Only public keys are listed. The variant
2567 '--locate-external-keys' does not consider a locally existing key
2568 and can thus be used to force the refresh of a key via the defined
2572 This commands takes OpenPGP keys as input and prints information
2573 about them in the same way the command '--list-keys' does for
2574 locally stored key. In addition the list options
2575 'show-unusable-uids', 'show-unusable-subkeys', 'show-notations' and
2576 'show-policy-urls' are also enabled. As usual for automated
2577 processing, this command should be combined with the option
2581 List all keys (or the specified ones) along with their
2582 fingerprints. This is the same output as '--list-keys' but with
2583 the additional output of a line with the fingerprint. May also be
2584 combined with '--check-signatures'. If this command is given
2585 twice, the fingerprints of all secondary keys are listed too. This
2586 command also forces pretty printing of fingerprints if the keyid
2587 format has been set to "none".
2590 List only the sequence of packets. This command is only useful for
2591 debugging. When used with option '--verbose' the actual MPI values
2592 are dumped and not only their lengths. Note that the output of
2593 this command may change with new releases.
2597 Present a menu to work with a smartcard. The subcommand "help"
2598 provides an overview on available commands. For a detailed
2599 description, please see the Card HOWTO at
2600 https://gnupg.org/documentation/howtos.html#GnuPG-cardHOWTO .
2603 Show the content of the smart card.
2606 Present a menu to allow changing the PIN of a smartcard. This
2607 functionality is also available as the subcommand "passwd" with the
2608 '--edit-card' command.
2610 '--delete-keys NAME'
2611 Remove key from the public keyring. In batch mode either '--yes'
2612 is required or the key must be specified by fingerprint. This is a
2613 safeguard against accidental deletion of multiple keys. If the
2614 exclamation mark syntax is used with the fingerprint of a subkey
2615 only that subkey is deleted; if the exclamation mark is used with
2616 the fingerprint of the primary key the entire public key is
2619 '--delete-secret-keys NAME'
2620 Remove key from the secret keyring. In batch mode the key must be
2621 specified by fingerprint. The option '--yes' can be used to advise
2622 gpg-agent not to request a confirmation. This extra pre-caution is
2623 done because 'gpg' can't be sure that the secret key (as controlled
2624 by gpg-agent) is only used for the given OpenPGP public key. If
2625 the exclamation mark syntax is used with the fingerprint of a
2626 subkey only the secret part of that subkey is deleted; if the
2627 exclamation mark is used with the fingerprint of the primary key
2628 only the secret part of the primary key is deleted.
2630 '--delete-secret-and-public-key NAME'
2631 Same as '--delete-key', but if a secret key exists, it will be
2632 removed first. In batch mode the key must be specified by
2633 fingerprint. The option '--yes' can be used to advise gpg-agent
2634 not to request a confirmation.
2637 Either export all keys from all keyrings (default keyrings and
2638 those registered via option '--keyring'), or if at least one name
2639 is given, those of the given name. The exported keys are written
2640 to STDOUT or to the file given with option '--output'. Use
2641 together with '--armor' to mail those keys.
2643 '--send-keys KEYIDS'
2644 Similar to '--export' but sends the keys to a keyserver.
2645 Fingerprints may be used instead of key IDs. Don't send your
2646 complete keyring to a keyserver -- select only those keys which are
2647 new or changed by you. If no KEYIDS are given, 'gpg' does nothing.
2649 Take care: Keyservers are by design write only systems and thus it
2650 is not possible to ever delete keys once they have been send to a
2653 '--export-secret-keys'
2654 '--export-secret-subkeys'
2655 Same as '--export', but exports the secret keys instead. The
2656 exported keys are written to STDOUT or to the file given with
2657 option '--output'. This command is often used along with the
2658 option '--armor' to allow for easy printing of the key for paper
2659 backup; however the external tool 'paperkey' does a better job of
2660 creating backups on paper. Note that exporting a secret key can be
2661 a security risk if the exported keys are sent over an insecure
2664 The second form of the command has the special property to render
2665 the secret part of the primary key useless; this is a GNU extension
2666 to OpenPGP and other implementations can not be expected to
2667 successfully import such a key. Its intended use is in generating
2668 a full key with an additional signing subkey on a dedicated
2669 machine. This command then exports the key without the primary key
2670 to the main machine.
2672 GnuPG may ask you to enter the passphrase for the key. This is
2673 required, because the internal protection method of the secret key
2674 is different from the one specified by the OpenPGP protocol.
2677 This command is used to export a key in the OpenSSH public key
2678 format. It requires the specification of one key by the usual
2679 means and exports the latest valid subkey which has an
2680 authentication capability to STDOUT or to the file given with
2681 option '--output'. That output can directly be added to ssh's
2682 'authorized_key' file.
2684 By specifying the key to export using a key ID or a fingerprint
2685 suffixed with an exclamation mark (!), a specific subkey or the
2686 primary key can be exported. This does not even require that the
2687 key has the authentication capability flag set.
2691 Import/merge keys. This adds the given keys to the keyring. The
2692 fast version is currently just a synonym.
2694 There are a few other options which control how this command works.
2695 Most notable here is the '--import-options merge-only' option which
2696 does not insert new keys but does only the merging of new
2697 signatures, user-IDs and subkeys.
2699 '--receive-keys KEYIDS'
2700 '--recv-keys KEYIDS'
2701 Import the keys with the given KEYIDS from a keyserver.
2704 Request updates from a keyserver for keys that already exist on the
2705 local keyring. This is useful for updating a key with the latest
2706 signatures, user IDs, etc. Calling this with no arguments will
2707 refresh the entire keyring.
2709 '--search-keys NAMES'
2710 Search the keyserver for the given NAMES. Multiple names given
2711 here will be joined together to create the search string for the
2712 keyserver. Note that keyservers search for NAMES in a different
2713 and simpler way than gpg does. The best choice is to use a mail
2714 address. Due to data privacy reasons keyservers may even not even
2715 allow searching by user id or mail address and thus may only return
2716 results when being used with the '--recv-key' command to search by
2717 key fingerprint or keyid.
2720 Retrieve keys located at the specified URIS. Note that different
2721 installations of GnuPG may support different protocols (HTTP, FTP,
2722 LDAP, etc.). When using HTTPS the system provided root
2723 certificates are used by this command.
2726 Do trust database maintenance. This command iterates over all keys
2727 and builds the Web of Trust. This is an interactive command
2728 because it may have to ask for the "ownertrust" values for keys.
2729 The user has to give an estimation of how far she trusts the owner
2730 of the displayed key to correctly certify (sign) other keys. GnuPG
2731 only asks for the ownertrust value if it has not yet been assigned
2732 to a key. Using the '--edit-key' menu, the assigned value can be
2733 changed at any time.
2736 Do trust database maintenance without user interaction. From time
2737 to time the trust database must be updated so that expired keys or
2738 signatures and the resulting changes in the Web of Trust can be
2739 tracked. Normally, GnuPG will calculate when this is required and
2740 do it automatically unless '--no-auto-check-trustdb' is set. This
2741 command can be used to force a trust database check at any time.
2742 The processing is identical to that of '--update-trustdb' but it
2743 skips keys with a not yet defined "ownertrust".
2745 For use with cron jobs, this command can be used together with
2746 '--batch' in which case the trust database check is done only if a
2747 check is needed. To force a run even in batch mode add the option
2750 '--export-ownertrust'
2751 Send the ownertrust values to STDOUT. This is useful for backup
2752 purposes as these values are the only ones which can't be
2753 re-created from a corrupted trustdb. Example:
2754 gpg --export-ownertrust > otrust.txt
2756 '--import-ownertrust'
2757 Update the trustdb with the ownertrust values stored in 'files' (or
2758 STDIN if not given); existing values will be overwritten. In case
2759 of a severely damaged trustdb and if you have a recent backup of
2760 the ownertrust values (e.g. in the file 'otrust.txt'), you may
2761 re-create the trustdb using these commands:
2764 gpg --import-ownertrust < otrust.txt
2766 '--rebuild-keydb-caches'
2767 When updating from version 1.0.6 to 1.0.7 this command should be
2768 used to create signature caches in the keyring. It might be handy
2769 in other situations too.
2773 Print message digest of algorithm ALGO for all given files or
2774 STDIN. With the second form (or a deprecated "*" for ALGO) digests
2775 for all available algorithms are printed.
2777 '--gen-random 0|1|2 COUNT'
2778 Emit COUNT random bytes of the given quality level 0, 1 or 2. If
2779 COUNT is not given or zero, an endless sequence of random bytes
2780 will be emitted. If used with '--armor' the output will be base64
2781 encoded. PLEASE, don't use this command unless you know what you
2782 are doing; it may remove precious entropy from the system!
2784 '--gen-prime MODE BITS'
2785 Use the source, Luke :-). The output format is subject to change
2790 Pack or unpack an arbitrary input into/from an OpenPGP ASCII armor.
2791 This is a GnuPG extension to OpenPGP and in general not very
2795 This command is similar to '--decrypt' with the change that the
2796 output is not the usual plaintext but the original message with the
2797 decryption layer removed. Thus the output will be an OpenPGP data
2798 structure which often means a signed OpenPGP message. Note that
2799 this command may or may not remove a compression layer which is
2800 often found beneath the encryption layer.
2802 '--tofu-policy {auto|good|unknown|bad|ask} KEYS'
2803 Set the TOFU policy for all the bindings associated with the
2804 specified KEYS. For more information about the meaning of the
2805 policies, *note trust-model-tofu::. The KEYS may be specified
2806 either by their fingerprint (preferred) or their keyid.
2809 File: gnupg.info, Node: OpenPGP Key Management, Prev: Operational GPG Commands, Up: GPG Commands
2811 4.1.3 How to manage your keys
2812 -----------------------------
2814 This section explains the main commands for key management.
2816 '--quick-generate-key USER-ID [ALGO [USAGE [EXPIRE]]]'
2818 This is a simple command to generate a standard key with one user
2819 id. In contrast to '--generate-key' the key is generated directly
2820 without the need to answer a bunch of prompts. Unless the option
2821 '--yes' is given, the key creation will be canceled if the given
2822 user id already exists in the keyring.
2824 If invoked directly on the console without any special options an
2825 answer to a "Continue?" style confirmation prompt is required. In
2826 case the user id already exists in the keyring a second prompt to
2827 force the creation of the key will show up.
2829 If ALGO or USAGE are given, only the primary key is created and no
2830 prompts are shown. To specify an expiration date but still create
2831 a primary and subkey use "default" or "future-default" for ALGO and
2832 "default" for USAGE. For a description of these optional arguments
2833 see the command '--quick-add-key'. The USAGE accepts also the
2834 value "cert" which can be used to create a certification only
2835 primary key; the default is to a create certification and signing
2838 The EXPIRE argument can be used to specify an expiration date for
2839 the key. Several formats are supported; commonly the ISO formats
2840 "YYYY-MM-DD" or "YYYYMMDDThhmmss" are used. To make the key expire
2841 in N seconds, N days, N weeks, N months, or N years use
2842 "seconds=N", "Nd", "Nw", "Nm", or "Ny" respectively. Not
2843 specifying a value, or using "-" results in a key expiring in a
2844 reasonable default interval. The values "never", "none" can be
2845 used for no expiration date.
2847 If this command is used with '--batch', '--pinentry-mode' has been
2848 set to 'loopback', and one of the passphrase options
2849 ('--passphrase', '--passphrase-fd', or '--passphrase-file') is
2850 used, the supplied passphrase is used for the new key and the agent
2851 does not ask for it. To create a key without any protection
2852 '--passphrase ''' may be used.
2854 To create an OpenPGP key from the keys available on the currently
2855 inserted smartcard, the special string "card" can be used for ALGO.
2856 If the card features an encryption and a signing key, gpg will
2857 figure them out and creates an OpenPGP key consisting of the usual
2858 primary key and one subkey. This works only with certain
2859 smartcards. Note that the interactive '--full-gen-key' command
2860 allows to do the same but with greater flexibility in the selection
2861 of the smartcard keys.
2863 Note that it is possible to create a primary key and a subkey using
2864 non-default algorithms by using "default" and changing the default
2865 parameters using the option '--default-new-key-algo'.
2867 '--quick-set-expire FPR EXPIRE [*|SUBFPRS]'
2868 With two arguments given, directly set the expiration time of the
2869 primary key identified by FPR to EXPIRE. To remove the expiration
2870 time '0' can be used. With three arguments and the third given as
2871 an asterisk, the expiration time of all non-revoked and not yet
2872 expired subkeys are set to EXPIRE. With more than two arguments
2873 and a list of fingerprints given for SUBFPRS, all non-revoked
2874 subkeys matching these fingerprints are set to EXPIRE.
2876 '--quick-add-key FPR [ALGO [USAGE [EXPIRE]]]'
2877 Directly add a subkey to the key identified by the fingerprint FPR.
2878 Without the optional arguments an encryption subkey is added. If
2879 any of the arguments are given a more specific subkey is added.
2881 ALGO may be any of the supported algorithms or curve names given in
2882 the format as used by key listings. To use the default algorithm
2883 the string "default" or "-" can be used. Supported algorithms are
2884 "rsa", "dsa", "elg", "ed25519", "cv25519", and other ECC curves.
2885 For example the string "rsa" adds an RSA key with the default key
2886 length; a string "rsa4096" requests that the key length is 4096
2887 bits. The string "future-default" is an alias for the algorithm
2888 which will likely be used as default algorithm in future versions
2889 of gpg. To list the supported ECC curves the command 'gpg
2890 --with-colons --list-config curve' can be used.
2892 Depending on the given ALGO the subkey may either be an encryption
2893 subkey or a signing subkey. If an algorithm is capable of signing
2894 and encryption and such a subkey is desired, a USAGE string must be
2895 given. This string is either "default" or "-" to keep the default
2896 or a comma delimited list (or space delimited list) of keywords:
2897 "sign" for a signing subkey, "auth" for an authentication subkey,
2898 and "encr" for an encryption subkey ("encrypt" can be used as alias
2899 for "encr"). The valid combinations depend on the algorithm.
2901 The EXPIRE argument can be used to specify an expiration date for
2902 the key. Several formats are supported; commonly the ISO formats
2903 "YYYY-MM-DD" or "YYYYMMDDThhmmss" are used. To make the key expire
2904 in N seconds, N days, N weeks, N months, or N years use
2905 "seconds=N", "Nd", "Nw", "Nm", or "Ny" respectively. Not
2906 specifying a value, or using "-" results in a key expiring in a
2907 reasonable default interval. The values "never", "none" can be
2908 used for no expiration date.
2912 Generate a new key pair using the current default parameters. This
2913 is the standard command to create a new key. In addition to the
2914 key a revocation certificate is created and stored in the
2915 'openpgp-revocs.d' directory below the GnuPG home directory.
2917 '--full-generate-key'
2919 Generate a new key pair with dialogs for all options. This is an
2920 extended version of '--generate-key'.
2922 There is also a feature which allows you to create keys in batch
2923 mode. See the manual section "Unattended key generation" on how to
2926 '--generate-revocation NAME'
2928 Generate a revocation certificate for the complete key. To only
2929 revoke a subkey or a key signature, use the '--edit' command.
2931 This command merely creates the revocation certificate so that it
2932 can be used to revoke the key if that is ever needed. To actually
2933 revoke a key the created revocation certificate needs to be merged
2934 with the key to revoke. This is done by importing the revocation
2935 certificate using the '--import' command. Then the revoked key
2936 needs to be published, which is best done by sending the key to a
2937 keyserver (command '--send-key') and by exporting ('--export') it
2938 to a file which is then send to frequent communication partners.
2940 '--generate-designated-revocation NAME'
2941 '--desig-revoke NAME'
2942 Generate a designated revocation certificate for a key. This
2943 allows a user (with the permission of the keyholder) to revoke
2947 Present a menu which enables you to do most of the key management
2948 related tasks. It expects the specification of a key on the
2952 Toggle selection of user ID or photographic user ID with index
2953 N. Use '*' to select all and '0' to deselect all.
2956 Toggle selection of subkey with index N or key ID N. Use '*'
2957 to select all and '0' to deselect all.
2960 Make a signature on key of user 'name'. If the key is not yet
2961 signed by the default user (or the users given with '-u'), the
2962 program displays the information of the key again, together
2963 with its fingerprint and asks whether it should be signed.
2964 This question is repeated for all users specified with '-u'.
2967 Same as "sign" but the signature is marked as non-exportable
2968 and will therefore never be used by others. This may be used
2969 to make keys valid only in the local environment.
2972 Same as "sign" but the signature is marked as non-revocable
2973 and can therefore never be revoked.
2976 Make a trust signature. This is a signature that combines the
2977 notions of certification (like a regular signature), and trust
2978 (like the "trust" command). It is generally only useful in
2979 distinct communities or groups. For more information please
2980 read the sections "Trust Signature" and "Regular Expression"
2983 Note that "l" (for local / non-exportable), "nr" (for
2984 non-revocable, and "t" (for trust) may be freely mixed and prefixed
2985 to "sign" to create a signature of any type desired.
2987 If the option '--only-sign-text-ids' is specified, then any
2988 non-text based user ids (e.g., photo IDs) will not be selected for
2992 Delete a signature. Note that it is not possible to retract a
2993 signature, once it has been send to the public (i.e. to a
2994 keyserver). In that case you better use 'revsig'.
2997 Revoke a signature. For every signature which has been
2998 generated by one of the secret keys, GnuPG asks whether a
2999 revocation certificate should be generated.
3002 Check the signatures on all selected user IDs. With the extra
3003 option 'selfsig' only self-signatures are shown.
3006 Create an additional user ID.
3009 Create a photographic user ID. This will prompt for a JPEG
3010 file that will be embedded into the user ID. Note that a very
3011 large JPEG will make for a very large key. Also note that
3012 some programs will display your JPEG unchanged (GnuPG), and
3013 some programs will scale it to fit in a dialog box (PGP).
3016 Display the selected photographic user ID.
3019 Delete a user ID or photographic user ID. Note that it is not
3020 possible to retract a user id, once it has been send to the
3021 public (i.e. to a keyserver). In that case you better use
3025 Revoke a user ID or photographic user ID.
3028 Flag the current user id as the primary one, removes the
3029 primary user id flag from all other user ids and sets the
3030 timestamp of all affected self-signatures one second ahead.
3031 Note that setting a photo user ID as primary makes it primary
3032 over other photo user IDs, and setting a regular user ID as
3033 primary makes it primary over other regular user IDs.
3036 Set a preferred keyserver for the specified user ID(s). This
3037 allows other users to know where you prefer they get your key
3038 from. See '--keyserver-options honor-keyserver-url' for more
3039 on how this works. Setting a value of "none" removes an
3040 existing preferred keyserver.
3043 Set a name=value notation for the specified user ID(s). See
3044 '--cert-notation' for more on how this works. Setting a value
3045 of "none" removes all notations, setting a notation prefixed
3046 with a minus sign (-) removes that notation, and setting a
3047 notation name (without the =value) prefixed with a minus sign
3048 removes all notations with that name.
3051 List preferences from the selected user ID. This shows the
3052 actual preferences, without including any implied preferences.
3055 More verbose preferences listing for the selected user ID.
3056 This shows the preferences in effect by including the implied
3057 preferences of 3DES (cipher), SHA-1 (digest), and Uncompressed
3058 (compression) if they are not already included in the
3059 preference list. In addition, the preferred keyserver and
3060 signature notations (if any) are shown.
3063 Set the list of user ID preferences to STRING for all (or just
3064 the selected) user IDs. Calling setpref with no arguments
3065 sets the preference list to the default (either built-in or
3066 set via '--default-preference-list'), and calling setpref with
3067 "none" as the argument sets an empty preference list. Use
3068 'gpg --version' to get a list of available algorithms. Note
3069 that while you can change the preferences on an attribute user
3070 ID (aka "photo ID"), GnuPG does not select keys via attribute
3071 user IDs so these preferences will not be used by GnuPG.
3073 When setting preferences, you should list the algorithms in
3074 the order which you'd like to see them used by someone else
3075 when encrypting a message to your key. If you don't include
3076 3DES, it will be automatically added at the end. Note that
3077 there are many factors that go into choosing an algorithm (for
3078 example, your key may not be the only recipient), and so the
3079 remote OpenPGP application being used to send to you may or
3080 may not follow your exact chosen order for a given message.
3081 It will, however, only choose an algorithm that is present on
3082 the preference list of every recipient key. See also the
3083 INTEROPERABILITY WITH OTHER OPENPGP PROGRAMS section below.
3086 Add a subkey to this key.
3089 Generate a subkey on a card and add it to this key.
3092 Transfer the selected secret subkey (or the primary key if no
3093 subkey has been selected) to a smartcard. The secret key in
3094 the keyring will be replaced by a stub if the key could be
3095 stored successfully on the card and you use the save command
3096 later. Only certain key types may be transferred to the card.
3097 A sub menu allows you to select on what card to store the key.
3098 Note that it is not possible to get that key back from the
3099 card - if the card gets broken your secret key will be lost
3100 unless you have a backup somewhere.
3103 Restore the given FILE to a card. This command may be used to
3104 restore a backup key (as generated during card initialization)
3105 to a new card. In almost all cases this will be the
3106 encryption key. You should use this command only with the
3107 corresponding public key and make sure that the file given as
3108 argument is indeed the backup to restore. You should then
3109 select 2 to restore as encryption key. You will first be
3110 asked to enter the passphrase of the backup key and then for
3111 the Admin PIN of the card.
3114 Transfer the selected secret subkey (or the primary key if no
3115 subkey has been selected) to TPM form. The secret key in the
3116 keyring will be replaced by the TPM representation of that
3117 key, which can only be read by the particular TPM that created
3118 it (so the keyfile now becomes locked to the laptop containing
3119 the TPM). Only certain key types may be transferred to the TPM
3120 (all TPM 2.0 systems are mandated to have the rsa2048 and
3121 nistp256 algorithms but newer TPMs may have more). Note that
3122 the key itself is not transferred into the TPM, merely
3123 encrypted by the TPM in-place, so if the keyfile is deleted,
3124 the key will be lost. Once transferred to TPM representation,
3125 the key file can never be converted back to non-TPM form and
3126 the key will die when the TPM does, so you should first have a
3127 backup on secure offline storage of the actual secret key file
3128 before conversion. It is essential to use the physical system
3129 TPM that you have rw permission on the TPM resource manager
3130 device (/dev/tpmrm0). Usually this means you must be a member
3134 Remove a subkey (secondary key). Note that it is not possible
3135 to retract a subkey, once it has been send to the public (i.e.
3136 to a keyserver). In that case you better use 'revkey'. Also
3137 note that this only deletes the public part of a key.
3143 Change the key or subkey expiration time. If a subkey is
3144 selected, the expiration time of this subkey will be changed.
3145 With no selection, the key expiration of the primary key is
3149 Change the owner trust value for the key. This updates the
3150 trust-db immediately and no save is required.
3154 Disable or enable an entire key. A disabled key can not
3155 normally be used for encryption.
3158 Add a designated revoker to the key. This takes one optional
3159 argument: "sensitive". If a designated revoker is marked as
3160 sensitive, it will not be exported by default (see
3164 Change the passphrase of the secret key.
3167 This is dummy command which exists only for backward
3171 Compact (by removing all signatures except the selfsig) any
3172 user ID that is no longer usable (e.g. revoked, or expired).
3173 Then, remove any signatures that are not usable by the trust
3174 calculations. Specifically, this removes any signature that
3175 does not validate, any signature that is superseded by a later
3176 signature, revoked signatures, and signatures issued by keys
3177 that are not present on the keyring.
3180 Make the key as small as possible. This removes all
3181 signatures from each user ID except for the most recent
3185 Change the usage flags (capabilities) of the primary key or of
3186 subkeys. These usage flags (e.g. Certify, Sign,
3187 Authenticate, Encrypt) are set during key creation. Sometimes
3188 it is useful to have the opportunity to change them (for
3189 example to add Authenticate) after they have been created.
3190 Please take care when doing this; the allowed usage flags
3191 depend on the key algorithm.
3194 Add cross-certification signatures to signing subkeys that may
3195 not currently have them. Cross-certification signatures
3196 protect against a subtle attack against signing subkeys. See
3197 '--require-cross-certification'. All new keys generated have
3198 this signature by default, so this command is only useful to
3199 bring older keys up to date.
3202 Save all changes to the keyrings and quit.
3205 Quit the program without updating the keyrings.
3207 The listing shows you the key with its secondary keys and all user
3208 IDs. The primary user ID is indicated by a dot, and selected keys
3209 or user IDs are indicated by an asterisk. The trust value is
3210 displayed with the primary key: "trust" is the assigned owner trust
3211 and "validity" is the calculated validity of the key. Validity
3212 values are also displayed for all user IDs. For possible values of
3213 trust, *note trust-values::.
3216 Signs a public key with your secret key. This is a shortcut
3217 version of the subcommand "sign" from '--edit-key'.
3220 Signs a public key with your secret key but marks it as
3221 non-exportable. This is a shortcut version of the subcommand
3222 "lsign" from '--edit-key'.
3224 '--quick-sign-key FPR [NAMES]'
3225 '--quick-lsign-key FPR [NAMES]'
3226 Directly sign a key from the passphrase without any further user
3227 interaction. The FPR must be the verified primary fingerprint of a
3228 key in the local keyring. If no NAMES are given, all useful user
3229 ids are signed; with given [NAMES] only useful user ids matching
3230 one of these names are signed. By default, or if a name is
3231 prefixed with a '*', a case insensitive substring match is used.
3232 If a name is prefixed with a '=' a case sensitive exact match is
3235 The command '--quick-lsign-key' marks the signatures as
3236 non-exportable. If such a non-exportable signature already exists
3237 the '--quick-sign-key' turns it into a exportable signature. If
3238 you need to update an existing signature, for example to add or
3239 change notation data, you need to use the option
3242 This command uses reasonable defaults and thus does not provide the
3243 full flexibility of the "sign" subcommand from '--edit-key'. Its
3244 intended use is to help unattended key signing by utilizing a list
3245 of verified fingerprints.
3247 '--quick-add-uid USER-ID NEW-USER-ID'
3248 This command adds a new user id to an existing key. In contrast to
3249 the interactive sub-command 'adduid' of '--edit-key' the
3250 NEW-USER-ID is added verbatim with only leading and trailing white
3251 space removed, it is expected to be UTF-8 encoded, and no checks on
3252 its form are applied.
3254 '--quick-revoke-uid USER-ID USER-ID-TO-REVOKE'
3255 This command revokes a user ID on an existing key. It cannot be
3256 used to revoke the last user ID on key (some non-revoked user ID
3257 must remain), with revocation reason "User ID is no longer valid".
3258 If you want to specify a different revocation reason, or to supply
3259 supplementary revocation text, you should use the interactive
3260 sub-command 'revuid' of '--edit-key'.
3262 '--quick-revoke-sig FPR SIGNING-FPR [NAMES]'
3263 This command revokes the key signatures made by SIGNING-FPR from
3264 the key specified by the fingerprint FPR. With NAMES given only
3265 the signatures on user ids of the key matching any of the given
3266 names are affected (see '--quick-sign-key'). If a revocation
3267 already exists a notice is printed instead of creating a new
3268 revocation; no error is returned in this case. Note that key
3269 signature revocations may be superseded by a newer key signature
3270 and in turn again revoked.
3272 '--quick-set-primary-uid USER-ID PRIMARY-USER-ID'
3273 This command sets or updates the primary user ID flag on an
3274 existing key. USER-ID specifies the key and PRIMARY-USER-ID the
3275 user ID which shall be flagged as the primary user ID. The primary
3276 user ID flag is removed from all other user ids and the timestamp
3277 of all affected self-signatures is set one second ahead.
3279 '--change-passphrase USER-ID'
3281 Change the passphrase of the secret key belonging to the
3282 certificate specified as USER-ID. This is a shortcut for the
3283 sub-command 'passwd' of the '--edit-key' menu. When using together
3284 with the option '--dry-run' this will not actually change the
3285 passphrase but check that the current passphrase is correct.
3288 File: gnupg.info, Node: GPG Options, Next: GPG Configuration, Prev: GPG Commands, Up: Invoking GPG
3293 'gpg' features a bunch of options to control the exact behaviour and to
3294 change the default configuration.
3298 * GPG Configuration Options:: How to change the configuration.
3299 * GPG Key related Options:: Key related options.
3300 * GPG Input and Output:: Input and Output.
3301 * OpenPGP Options:: OpenPGP protocol specific options.
3302 * Compliance Options:: Compliance options.
3303 * GPG Esoteric Options:: Doing things one usually doesn't want to do.
3304 * Deprecated Options:: Deprecated options.
3306 Long options can be put in an options file (default
3307 "~/.gnupg/gpg.conf"). Short option names will not work - for example,
3308 "armor" is a valid option for the options file, while "a" is not. Do
3309 not write the 2 dashes, but simply the name of the option and any
3310 required arguments. Lines with a hash ('#') as the first
3311 non-white-space character are ignored. Commands may be put in this file
3312 too, but that is not generally useful as the command will execute
3313 automatically with every execution of gpg.
3315 Please remember that option parsing stops as soon as a non-option is
3316 encountered, you can explicitly stop parsing by using the special option
3320 File: gnupg.info, Node: GPG Configuration Options, Next: GPG Key related Options, Up: GPG Options
3322 4.2.1 How to change the configuration
3323 -------------------------------------
3325 These options are used to change the configuration and most of them are
3326 usually found in the option file.
3328 '--default-key NAME'
3329 Use NAME as the default key to sign with. If this option is not
3330 used, the default key is the first key found in the secret keyring.
3331 Note that '-u' or '--local-user' overrides this option. This
3332 option may be given multiple times. In this case, the last key for
3333 which a secret key is available is used. If there is no secret key
3334 available for any of the specified values, GnuPG will not emit an
3335 error message but continue as if this option wasn't given.
3337 '--default-recipient NAME'
3338 Use NAME as default recipient if option '--recipient' is not used
3339 and don't ask if this is a valid one. NAME must be non-empty.
3341 '--default-recipient-self'
3342 Use the default key as default recipient if option '--recipient' is
3343 not used and don't ask if this is a valid one. The default key is
3344 the first one from the secret keyring or the one set with
3347 '--no-default-recipient'
3348 Reset '--default-recipient' and '--default-recipient-self'. Should
3349 not be used in an option file.
3352 Give more information during processing. If used twice, the input
3353 data is listed in detail.
3356 Reset verbose level to 0. Should not be used in an option file.
3359 Try to be as quiet as possible. Should not be used in an option
3364 Use batch mode. Never ask, do not allow interactive commands.
3365 '--no-batch' disables this option. Note that even with a filename
3366 given on the command line, gpg might still need to read from STDIN
3367 (in particular if gpg figures that the input is a detached
3368 signature and no data file has been specified). Thus if you do not
3369 want to feed data via STDIN, you should connect STDIN to
3372 It is highly recommended to use this option along with the options
3373 '--status-fd' and '--with-colons' for any unattended use of 'gpg'.
3374 Should not be used in an option file.
3377 Make sure that the TTY (terminal) is never used for any output.
3378 This option is needed in some cases because GnuPG sometimes prints
3379 warnings to the TTY even if '--batch' is used.
3382 Assume "yes" on most questions. Should not be used in an option
3386 Assume "no" on most questions. Should not be used in an option
3389 '--list-options PARAMETERS'
3390 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options used
3391 when listing keys and signatures (that is, '--list-keys',
3392 '--check-signatures', '--list-public-keys', '--list-secret-keys',
3393 and the '--edit-key' functions). Options can be prepended with a
3394 'no-' (after the two dashes) to give the opposite meaning. The
3398 Causes '--list-keys', '--check-signatures',
3399 '--list-public-keys', and '--list-secret-keys' to display any
3400 photo IDs attached to the key. Defaults to no. See also
3401 '--photo-viewer'. Does not work with '--with-colons': see
3402 '--attribute-fd' for the appropriate way to get photo data for
3403 scripts and other frontends.
3406 Show usage information for keys and subkeys in the standard
3407 key listing. This is a list of letters indicating the allowed
3408 usage for a key ('E'=encryption, 'S'=signing,
3409 'C'=certification, 'A'=authentication). Defaults to yes.
3412 Show policy URLs in the '--check-signatures' listings.
3418 Show all, IETF standard, or user-defined signature notations
3419 in the '--check-signatures' listings. Defaults to no.
3422 Show any preferred keyserver URL in the '--check-signatures'
3423 listings. Defaults to no.
3426 Display the calculated validity of user IDs during key
3427 listings. Defaults to yes.
3430 Show revoked and expired user IDs in key listings. Defaults
3433 show-unusable-subkeys
3434 Show revoked and expired subkeys in key listings. Defaults to
3438 Display the keyring name at the head of key listings to show
3439 which keyring a given key resides on. Defaults to no.
3442 Show signature expiration dates (if any) during
3443 '--check-signatures' listings. Defaults to no.
3446 Include signature subpackets in the key listing. This option
3447 can take an optional argument list of the subpackets to list.
3448 If no argument is passed, list all subpackets. Defaults to
3449 no. This option is only meaningful when using '--with-colons'
3450 along with '--check-signatures'.
3453 For each user-id which has a valid mail address print only the
3454 fingerprint followed by the mail address.
3457 With -list-sigs and -check-sigs sort the signatures by keyID
3458 and creation time to make it easier to view the history of
3459 these signatures. The self-signature is also listed before
3460 other signatures. Defaults to yes.
3462 '--verify-options PARAMETERS'
3463 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options used
3464 when verifying signatures. Options can be prepended with a 'no-'
3465 to give the opposite meaning. The options are:
3468 Display any photo IDs present on the key that issued the
3469 signature. Defaults to no. See also '--photo-viewer'.
3472 Show policy URLs in the signature being verified. Defaults to
3478 Show all, IETF standard, or user-defined signature notations
3479 in the signature being verified. Defaults to IETF standard.
3482 Show any preferred keyserver URL in the signature being
3483 verified. Defaults to yes.
3486 Display the calculated validity of the user IDs on the key
3487 that issued the signature. Defaults to yes.
3490 Show revoked and expired user IDs during signature
3491 verification. Defaults to no.
3493 show-primary-uid-only
3494 Show only the primary user ID during signature verification.
3495 That is all the AKA lines as well as photo Ids are not shown
3496 with the signature verification status.
3498 '--enable-large-rsa'
3499 '--disable-large-rsa'
3500 With -generate-key and -batch, enable the creation of RSA secret
3501 keys as large as 8192 bit. Note: 8192 bit is more than is
3502 generally recommended. These large keys don't significantly
3503 improve security, but they are more expensive to use, and their
3504 signatures and certifications are larger. This option is only
3505 available if the binary was build with large-secmem support.
3509 Enable hash truncation for all DSA keys even for old DSA Keys up to
3510 1024 bit. This is also the default with '--openpgp'. Note that
3511 older versions of GnuPG also required this flag to allow the
3512 generation of DSA larger than 1024 bit.
3514 '--photo-viewer STRING'
3515 This is the command line that should be run to view a photo ID.
3516 "%i" will be expanded to a filename containing the photo. "%I"
3517 does the same, except the file will not be deleted once the viewer
3518 exits. Other flags are "%k" for the key ID, "%K" for the long key
3519 ID, "%f" for the key fingerprint, "%t" for the extension of the
3520 image type (e.g. "jpg"), "%T" for the MIME type of the image (e.g.
3521 "image/jpeg"), "%v" for the single-character calculated validity of
3522 the image being viewed (e.g. "f"), "%V" for the calculated
3523 validity as a string (e.g. "full"), "%U" for a base32 encoded hash
3524 of the user ID, and "%%" for an actual percent sign. If neither %i
3525 or %I are present, then the photo will be supplied to the viewer on
3528 On Unix the default viewer is 'xloadimage -fork -quiet -title
3529 'KeyID 0x%k' STDIN' with a fallback to 'display -title 'KeyID 0x%k'
3530 %i' and finally to 'xdg-open %i'. On Windows '!ShellExecute 400
3531 %i' is used; here the command is a meta command to use that API
3532 call followed by a wait time in milliseconds which is used to give
3533 the viewer time to read the temporary image file before gpg deletes
3534 it again. Note that if your image viewer program is not secure,
3535 then executing it from gpg does not make it secure.
3537 '--exec-path STRING'
3538 Sets a list of directories to search for photo viewers If not
3539 provided photo viewers use the 'PATH' environment variable.
3542 Add FILE to the current list of keyrings. If FILE begins with a
3543 tilde and a slash, these are replaced by the $HOME directory. If
3544 the filename does not contain a slash, it is assumed to be in the
3545 GnuPG home directory ("~/.gnupg" if '--homedir' or $GNUPGHOME is
3548 Note that this adds a keyring to the current list. If the intent
3549 is to use the specified keyring alone, use '--keyring' along with
3550 '--no-default-keyring'.
3552 If the option '--no-keyring' has been used no keyrings will be used
3555 '--secret-keyring FILE'
3556 This is an obsolete option and ignored. All secret keys are stored
3557 in the 'private-keys-v1.d' directory below the GnuPG home
3560 '--primary-keyring FILE'
3561 Designate FILE as the primary public keyring. This means that
3562 newly imported keys (via '--import' or keyserver '--recv-from')
3563 will go to this keyring.
3565 '--trustdb-name FILE'
3566 Use FILE instead of the default trustdb. If FILE begins with a
3567 tilde and a slash, these are replaced by the $HOME directory. If
3568 the filename does not contain a slash, it is assumed to be in the
3569 GnuPG home directory ('~/.gnupg' if '--homedir' or $GNUPGHOME is
3573 Set the name of the home directory to DIR. If this option is not
3574 used, the home directory defaults to '~/.gnupg'. It is only
3575 recognized when given on the command line. It also overrides any
3576 home directory stated through the environment variable 'GNUPGHOME'
3577 or (on Windows systems) by means of the Registry entry
3578 HKCU\SOFTWARE\GNU\GNUPG:HOMEDIR.
3580 On Windows systems it is possible to install GnuPG as a portable
3581 application. In this case only this command line option is
3582 considered, all other ways to set a home directory are ignored.
3584 To install GnuPG as a portable application under Windows, create an
3585 empty file named 'gpgconf.ctl' in the same directory as the tool
3586 'gpgconf.exe'. The root of the installation is then that
3587 directory; or, if 'gpgconf.exe' has been installed directly below a
3588 directory named 'bin', its parent directory. You also need to make
3589 sure that the following directories exist and are writable:
3590 'ROOT/home' for the GnuPG home and 'ROOT/usr/local/var/cache/gnupg'
3591 for internal cache files.
3593 '--display-charset NAME'
3594 Set the name of the native character set. This is used to convert
3595 some informational strings like user IDs to the proper UTF-8
3596 encoding. Note that this has nothing to do with the character set
3597 of data to be encrypted or signed; GnuPG does not recode
3598 user-supplied data. If this option is not used, the default
3599 character set is determined from the current locale. A verbosity
3600 level of 3 shows the chosen set. This option should not be used on
3601 Windows. Valid values for NAME are:
3604 This is the Latin 1 set.
3610 This is currently an alias for the Latin 1 set.
3613 The usual Russian set (RFC-1489).
3616 Bypass all translations and assume that the OS uses native
3621 Assume that command line arguments are given as UTF-8 strings. The
3622 default ('--no-utf8-strings') is to assume that arguments are
3623 encoded in the character set as specified by '--display-charset'.
3624 These options affect all following arguments. Both options may be
3625 used multiple times. This option should not be used in an option
3628 This option has no effect on Windows. There the internal used
3629 UTF-8 encoding is translated for console input and output. The
3630 command line arguments are expected as Unicode and translated to
3631 UTF-8. Thus when calling this program from another, make sure to
3632 use the Unicode version of CreateProcess.
3635 Read options from FILE and do not try to read them from the default
3636 options file in the homedir (see '--homedir'). This option is
3637 ignored if used in an options file.
3640 Shortcut for '--options /dev/null'. This option is detected before
3641 an attempt to open an option file. Using this option will also
3642 prevent the creation of a '~/.gnupg' homedir.
3645 '--compress-level N'
3646 '--bzip2-compress-level N'
3647 Set compression level to N for the ZIP and ZLIB compression
3648 algorithms. The default is to use the default compression level of
3649 zlib (normally 6). '--bzip2-compress-level' sets the compression
3650 level for the BZIP2 compression algorithm (defaulting to 6 as
3651 well). This is a different option from '--compress-level' since
3652 BZIP2 uses a significant amount of memory for each additional
3653 compression level. '-z' sets both. A value of 0 for N disables
3656 '--bzip2-decompress-lowmem'
3657 Use a different decompression method for BZIP2 compressed files.
3658 This alternate method uses a bit more than half the memory, but
3659 also runs at half the speed. This is useful under extreme low
3660 memory circumstances when the file was originally compressed at a
3661 high '--bzip2-compress-level'.
3663 '--mangle-dos-filenames'
3664 '--no-mangle-dos-filenames'
3665 Older version of Windows cannot handle filenames with more than one
3666 dot. '--mangle-dos-filenames' causes GnuPG to replace (rather than
3667 add to) the extension of an output filename to avoid this problem.
3668 This option is off by default and has no effect on non-Windows
3672 '--no-ask-cert-level'
3673 When making a key signature, prompt for a certification level. If
3674 this option is not specified, the certification level used is set
3675 via '--default-cert-level'. See '--default-cert-level' for
3676 information on the specific levels and how they are used.
3677 '--no-ask-cert-level' disables this option. This option defaults
3680 '--default-cert-level N'
3681 The default to use for the check level when signing a key.
3683 0 means you make no particular claim as to how carefully you
3686 1 means you believe the key is owned by the person who claims to
3687 own it but you could not, or did not verify the key at all. This
3688 is useful for a "persona" verification, where you sign the key of a
3691 2 means you did casual verification of the key. For example, this
3692 could mean that you verified the key fingerprint and checked the
3693 user ID on the key against a photo ID.
3695 3 means you did extensive verification of the key. For example,
3696 this could mean that you verified the key fingerprint with the
3697 owner of the key in person, and that you checked, by means of a
3698 hard to forge document with a photo ID (such as a passport) that
3699 the name of the key owner matches the name in the user ID on the
3700 key, and finally that you verified (by exchange of email) that the
3701 email address on the key belongs to the key owner.
3703 Note that the examples given above for levels 2 and 3 are just
3704 that: examples. In the end, it is up to you to decide just what
3705 "casual" and "extensive" mean to you.
3707 This option defaults to 0 (no particular claim).
3710 When building the trust database, treat any signatures with a
3711 certification level below this as invalid. Defaults to 2, which
3712 disregards level 1 signatures. Note that level 0 "no particular
3713 claim" signatures are always accepted.
3715 '--trusted-key LONG KEY ID OR FINGERPRINT'
3716 Assume that the specified key (which must be given as a full 8 byte
3717 key ID, a 20 byte, or 32 byte fingerprint) is as trustworthy as one
3718 of your own secret keys. This option is useful if you don't want
3719 to keep your secret keys (or one of them) online but still want to
3720 be able to check the validity of a given recipient's or signator's
3723 '--trust-model {pgp|classic|tofu|tofu+pgp|direct|always|auto}'
3724 Set what trust model GnuPG should follow. The models are:
3727 This is the Web of Trust combined with trust signatures as
3728 used in PGP 5.x and later. This is the default trust model
3729 when creating a new trust database.
3732 This is the standard Web of Trust as introduced by PGP 2.
3735 TOFU stands for Trust On First Use. In this trust model, the
3736 first time a key is seen, it is memorized. If later another
3737 key with a user id with the same email address is seen, both
3738 keys are marked as suspect. In that case, the next time
3739 either is used, a warning is displayed describing the
3740 conflict, why it might have occurred (either the user
3741 generated a new key and failed to cross sign the old and new
3742 keys, the key is forgery, or a man-in-the-middle attack is
3743 being attempted), and the user is prompted to manually confirm
3744 the validity of the key in question.
3746 Because a potential attacker is able to control the email
3747 address and thereby circumvent the conflict detection
3748 algorithm by using an email address that is similar in
3749 appearance to a trusted email address, whenever a message is
3750 verified, statistics about the number of messages signed with
3751 the key are shown. In this way, a user can easily identify
3752 attacks using fake keys for regular correspondents.
3754 When compared with the Web of Trust, TOFU offers significantly
3755 weaker security guarantees. In particular, TOFU only helps
3756 ensure consistency (that is, that the binding between a key
3757 and email address doesn't change). A major advantage of TOFU
3758 is that it requires little maintenance to use correctly. To
3759 use the web of trust properly, you need to actively sign keys
3760 and mark users as trusted introducers. This is a
3761 time-consuming process and anecdotal evidence suggests that
3762 even security-conscious users rarely take the time to do this
3763 thoroughly and instead rely on an ad-hoc TOFU process.
3765 In the TOFU model, policies are associated with bindings
3766 between keys and email addresses (which are extracted from
3767 user ids and normalized). There are five policies, which can
3768 be set manually using the '--tofu-policy' option. The default
3769 policy can be set using the '--tofu-default-policy' option.
3771 The TOFU policies are: 'auto', 'good', 'unknown', 'bad' and
3772 'ask'. The 'auto' policy is used by default (unless
3773 overridden by '--tofu-default-policy') and marks a binding as
3774 marginally trusted. The 'good', 'unknown' and 'bad' policies
3775 mark a binding as fully trusted, as having unknown trust or as
3776 having trust never, respectively. The 'unknown' policy is
3777 useful for just using TOFU to detect conflicts, but to never
3778 assign positive trust to a binding. The final policy, 'ask'
3779 prompts the user to indicate the binding's trust. If batch
3780 mode is enabled (or input is inappropriate in the context),
3781 then the user is not prompted and the 'undefined' trust level
3785 This trust model combines TOFU with the Web of Trust. This is
3786 done by computing the trust level for each model and then
3787 taking the maximum trust level where the trust levels are
3788 ordered as follows: 'unknown < undefined < marginal < fully <
3789 ultimate < expired < never'.
3791 By setting '--tofu-default-policy=unknown', this model can be
3792 used to implement the web of trust with TOFU's conflict
3793 detection algorithm, but without its assignment of positive
3794 trust values, which some security-conscious users don't like.
3797 Key validity is set directly by the user and not calculated
3798 via the Web of Trust. This model is solely based on the key
3799 and does not distinguish user IDs. Note that when changing to
3800 another trust model the trust values assigned to a key are
3801 transformed into ownertrust values, which also indicate how
3802 you trust the owner of the key to sign other keys.
3805 Skip key validation and assume that used keys are always fully
3806 valid. You generally won't use this unless you are using some
3807 external validation scheme. This option also suppresses the
3808 "[uncertain]" tag printed with signature checks when there is
3809 no evidence that the user ID is bound to the key. Note that
3810 this trust model still does not allow the use of expired,
3811 revoked, or disabled keys.
3814 Select the trust model depending on whatever the internal
3815 trust database says. This is the default model if such a
3816 database already exists. Note that a tofu trust model is not
3817 considered here and must be enabled explicitly.
3819 '--auto-key-locate MECHANISMS'
3820 '--no-auto-key-locate'
3821 GnuPG can automatically locate and retrieve keys as needed using
3822 this option. This happens when encrypting to an email address (in
3823 the "user@example.com" form), and there are no "user@example.com"
3824 keys on the local keyring. This option takes any number of the
3825 mechanisms listed below, in the order they are to be tried.
3826 Instead of listing the mechanisms as comma delimited arguments, the
3827 option may also be given several times to add more mechanism. The
3828 option '--no-auto-key-locate' or the mechanism "clear" resets the
3829 list. The default is "local,wkd".
3832 Locate a key using DNS CERT, as specified in RFC-4398.
3835 Locate a key using DANE, as specified in
3836 draft-ietf-dane-openpgpkey-05.txt.
3839 Locate a key using the Web Key Directory protocol.
3842 Using DNS Service Discovery, check the domain in question for
3843 any LDAP keyservers to use. If this fails, attempt to locate
3844 the key using the PGP Universal method of checking
3845 'ldap://keys.(thedomain)'.
3848 Locate the key using the Active Directory (Windows only).
3851 Locate a key using a keyserver.
3854 In addition, a keyserver URL as used in the 'dirmngr'
3855 configuration may be used here to query that particular
3859 Locate the key using the local keyrings. This mechanism
3860 allows the user to select the order a local key lookup is
3861 done. Thus using '--auto-key-locate local' is identical to
3862 '--no-auto-key-locate'.
3865 This flag disables the standard local key lookup, done before
3866 any of the mechanisms defined by the '--auto-key-locate' are
3867 tried. The position of this mechanism in the list does not
3868 matter. It is not required if 'local' is also used.
3871 Clear all defined mechanisms. This is useful to override
3872 mechanisms given in a config file. Note that a 'nodefault' in
3873 MECHANISMS will also be cleared unless it is given after the
3877 '--no-auto-key-import'
3878 This is an offline mechanism to get a missing key for signature
3879 verification and for later encryption to this key. If this option
3880 is enabled and a signature includes an embedded key, that key is
3881 used to verify the signature and on verification success the key is
3882 imported. The default is '--no-auto-key-import'.
3884 On the sender (signing) site the option '--include-key-block' needs
3885 to be used to put the public part of the signing key as “Key Block
3886 subpacket” into the signature.
3888 '--auto-key-retrieve'
3889 '--no-auto-key-retrieve'
3890 These options enable or disable the automatic retrieving of keys
3891 from a keyserver when verifying signatures made by keys that are
3892 not on the local keyring. The default is '--no-auto-key-retrieve'.
3894 The order of methods tried to lookup the key is:
3896 1. If the option '--auto-key-import' is set and the signatures
3897 includes an embedded key, that key is used to verify the signature
3898 and on verification success that key is imported.
3900 2. If a preferred keyserver is specified in the signature and the
3901 option 'honor-keyserver-url' is active (which is not the default),
3902 that keyserver is tried. Note that the creator of the signature
3903 uses the option '--sig-keyserver-url' to specify the preferred
3904 keyserver for data signatures.
3906 3. If the signature has the Signer's UID set (e.g. using
3907 '--sender' while creating the signature) a Web Key Directory (WKD)
3908 lookup is done. This is the default configuration but can be
3909 disabled by removing WKD from the auto-key-locate list or by using
3910 the option '--disable-signer-uid'.
3912 4. If any keyserver is configured and the Issuer Fingerprint is
3913 part of the signature (since GnuPG 2.1.16), the configured
3914 keyservers are tried.
3916 Note that this option makes a "web bug" like behavior possible.
3917 Keyserver or Web Key Directory operators can see which keys you
3918 request, so by sending you a message signed by a brand new key
3919 (which you naturally will not have on your local keyring), the
3920 operator can tell both your IP address and the time when you
3921 verified the signature.
3923 '--keyid-format {none|short|0xshort|long|0xlong}'
3924 Select how to display key IDs. "none" does not show the key ID at
3925 all but shows the fingerprint in a separate line. "short" is the
3926 traditional 8-character key ID. "long" is the more accurate (but
3927 less convenient) 16-character key ID. Add an "0x" to either to
3928 include an "0x" at the beginning of the key ID, as in 0x99242560.
3929 Note that this option is ignored if the option '--with-colons' is
3933 This option is deprecated - please use the '--keyserver' in
3934 'dirmngr.conf' instead.
3936 Use NAME as your keyserver. This is the server that
3937 '--receive-keys', '--send-keys', and '--search-keys' will
3938 communicate with to receive keys from, send keys to, and search for
3939 keys on. The format of the NAME is a URI:
3940 'scheme:[//]keyservername[:port]' The scheme is the type of
3941 keyserver: "hkp"/"hkps" for the HTTP (or compatible) keyservers or
3942 "ldap"/"ldaps" for the LDAP keyservers. Note that your particular
3943 installation of GnuPG may have other keyserver types available as
3944 well. Keyserver schemes are case-insensitive. After the keyserver
3945 name, optional keyserver configuration options may be provided.
3946 These are the same as the global '--keyserver-options' from below,
3947 but apply only to this particular keyserver.
3949 Most keyservers synchronize with each other, so there is generally
3950 no need to send keys to more than one server. The keyserver
3951 'hkp://keys.gnupg.net' uses round robin DNS to give a different
3952 keyserver each time you use it.
3954 '--keyserver-options {NAME=VALUE}'
3955 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for
3956 the keyserver. Options can be prefixed with a 'no-' to give the
3957 opposite meaning. Valid import-options or export-options may be
3958 used here as well to apply to importing ('--recv-key') or exporting
3959 ('--send-key') a key from a keyserver. While not all options are
3960 available for all keyserver types, some common options are:
3963 When searching for a key with '--search-keys', include keys
3964 that are marked on the keyserver as revoked. Note that not
3965 all keyservers differentiate between revoked and unrevoked
3966 keys, and for such keyservers this option is meaningless.
3967 Note also that most keyservers do not have cryptographic
3968 verification of key revocations, and so turning this option
3969 off may result in skipping keys that are incorrectly marked as
3973 When searching for a key with '--search-keys', include keys
3974 that are marked on the keyserver as disabled. Note that this
3975 option is not used with HKP keyservers.
3978 This is an obsolete alias for the option 'auto-key-retrieve'.
3979 Please do not use it; it will be removed in future versions..
3982 When using '--refresh-keys', if the key in question has a
3983 preferred keyserver URL, then use that preferred keyserver to
3984 refresh the key from. In addition, if auto-key-retrieve is
3985 set, and the signature being verified has a preferred
3986 keyserver URL, then use that preferred keyserver to fetch the
3987 key from. Note that this option introduces a "web bug": The
3988 creator of the key can see when the keys is refreshed. Thus
3989 this option is not enabled by default.
3992 When receiving a key, include subkeys as potential targets.
3993 Note that this option is not used with HKP keyservers, as they
3994 do not support retrieving keys by subkey id.
4002 These options have no more function since GnuPG 2.1. Use the
4003 'dirmngr' configuration options instead.
4005 The default list of options is: "self-sigs-only, import-clean,
4006 repair-keys, repair-pks-subkey-bug, export-attributes".
4008 '--completes-needed N'
4009 Number of completely trusted users to introduce a new key signer
4012 '--marginals-needed N'
4013 Number of marginally trusted users to introduce a new key signer
4016 '--tofu-default-policy {auto|good|unknown|bad|ask}'
4017 The default TOFU policy (defaults to 'auto'). For more information
4018 about the meaning of this option, *note trust-model-tofu::.
4020 '--max-cert-depth N'
4021 Maximum depth of a certification chain (default is 5).
4024 Do not cache the verification status of key signatures. Caching
4025 gives a much better performance in key listings. However, if you
4026 suspect that your public keyring is not safe against write
4027 modifications, you can use this option to disable the caching. It
4028 probably does not make sense to disable it because all kind of
4029 damage can be done if someone else has write access to your public
4032 '--auto-check-trustdb'
4033 '--no-auto-check-trustdb'
4034 If GnuPG feels that its information about the Web of Trust has to
4035 be updated, it automatically runs the '--check-trustdb' command
4036 internally. This may be a time consuming process.
4037 '--no-auto-check-trustdb' disables this option.
4041 This is dummy option. 'gpg' always requires the agent.
4044 This is dummy option. It has no effect when used with 'gpg'.
4046 '--agent-program FILE'
4047 Specify an agent program to be used for secret key operations. The
4048 default value is determined by running 'gpgconf' with the option
4049 '--list-dirs'. Note that the pipe symbol ('|') is used for a
4050 regression test suite hack and may thus not be used in the file
4053 '--dirmngr-program FILE'
4054 Specify a dirmngr program to be used for keyserver access. The
4055 default value is '/usr/local/bin/dirmngr'.
4058 Entirely disable the use of the Dirmngr.
4061 Do not start the gpg-agent or the dirmngr if it has not yet been
4062 started and its service is required. This option is mostly useful
4063 on machines where the connection to gpg-agent has been redirected
4064 to another machines. If dirmngr is required on the remote machine,
4065 it may be started manually using 'gpgconf --launch dirmngr'.
4068 Lock the databases the first time a lock is requested and do not
4069 release the lock until the process terminates.
4072 Release the locks every time a lock is no longer needed. Use this
4073 to override a previous '--lock-once' from a config file.
4076 Disable locking entirely. This option should be used only in very
4077 special environments, where it can be assured that only one process
4078 is accessing those files. A bootable floppy with a stand-alone
4079 encryption system will probably use this. Improper usage of this
4080 option may lead to data and key corruption.
4082 '--exit-on-status-write-error'
4083 This option will cause write errors on the status FD to immediately
4084 terminate the process. That should in fact be the default but it
4085 never worked this way and thus we need an option to enable this, so
4086 that the change won't break applications which close their end of a
4087 status fd connected pipe too early. Using this option along with
4088 '--enable-progress-filter' may be used to cleanly cancel long
4089 running gpg operations.
4091 '--limit-card-insert-tries N'
4092 With N greater than 0 the number of prompts asking to insert a
4093 smartcard gets limited to N-1. Thus with a value of 1 gpg won't at
4094 all ask to insert a card if none has been inserted at startup.
4095 This option is useful in the configuration file in case an
4096 application does not know about the smartcard support and waits ad
4097 infinitum for an inserted card.
4099 '--no-random-seed-file'
4100 GnuPG uses a file to store its internal random pool over
4101 invocations. This makes random generation faster; however
4102 sometimes write operations are not desired. This option can be
4103 used to achieve that with the cost of slower random generation.
4106 Suppress the initial copyright message.
4108 '--no-secmem-warning'
4109 Suppress the warning about "using insecure memory".
4111 '--no-permission-warning'
4112 Suppress the warning about unsafe file and home directory
4113 ('--homedir') permissions. Note that the permission checks that
4114 GnuPG performs are not intended to be authoritative, but rather
4115 they simply warn about certain common permission problems. Do not
4116 assume that the lack of a warning means that your system is secure.
4118 Note that the warning for unsafe '--homedir' permissions cannot be
4119 suppressed in the gpg.conf file, as this would allow an attacker to
4120 place an unsafe gpg.conf file in place, and use this file to
4121 suppress warnings about itself. The '--homedir' permissions
4122 warning may only be suppressed on the command line.
4125 '--no-require-secmem'
4126 Refuse to run if GnuPG cannot get secure memory. Defaults to no
4127 (i.e. run, but give a warning).
4129 '--require-cross-certification'
4130 '--no-require-cross-certification'
4131 When verifying a signature made from a subkey, ensure that the
4132 cross certification "back signature" on the subkey is present and
4133 valid. This protects against a subtle attack against subkeys that
4134 can sign. Defaults to '--require-cross-certification' for 'gpg'.
4138 Allow the user to do certain nonsensical or "silly" things like
4139 signing an expired or revoked key, or certain potentially
4140 incompatible things like generating unusual key types. This also
4141 disables certain warning messages about potentially incompatible
4142 actions. As the name implies, this option is for experts only. If
4143 you don't fully understand the implications of what it allows you
4144 to do, leave this off. '--no-expert' disables this option.
4147 File: gnupg.info, Node: GPG Key related Options, Next: GPG Input and Output, Prev: GPG Configuration Options, Up: GPG Options
4149 4.2.2 Key related options
4150 -------------------------
4154 Encrypt for user id NAME. If this option or '--hidden-recipient'
4155 is not specified, GnuPG asks for the user-id unless
4156 '--default-recipient' is given.
4158 '--hidden-recipient NAME'
4160 Encrypt for user ID NAME, but hide the key ID of this user's key.
4161 This option helps to hide the receiver of the message and is a
4162 limited countermeasure against traffic analysis. If this option or
4163 '--recipient' is not specified, GnuPG asks for the user ID unless
4164 '--default-recipient' is given.
4166 '--recipient-file FILE'
4168 This option is similar to '--recipient' except that it encrypts to
4169 a key stored in the given file. FILE must be the name of a file
4170 containing exactly one key. 'gpg' assumes that the key in this
4171 file is fully valid.
4173 '--hidden-recipient-file FILE'
4175 This option is similar to '--hidden-recipient' except that it
4176 encrypts to a key stored in the given file. FILE must be the name
4177 of a file containing exactly one key. 'gpg' assumes that the key
4178 in this file is fully valid.
4181 Same as '--recipient' but this one is intended for use in the
4182 options file and may be used with your own user-id as an
4183 "encrypt-to-self". These keys are only used when there are other
4184 recipients given either by use of '--recipient' or by the asked
4185 user id. No trust checking is performed for these user ids and
4186 even disabled keys can be used.
4188 '--hidden-encrypt-to NAME'
4189 Same as '--hidden-recipient' but this one is intended for use in
4190 the options file and may be used with your own user-id as a hidden
4191 "encrypt-to-self". These keys are only used when there are other
4192 recipients given either by use of '--recipient' or by the asked
4193 user id. No trust checking is performed for these user ids and
4194 even disabled keys can be used.
4197 Disable the use of all '--encrypt-to' and '--hidden-encrypt-to'
4200 '--group {NAME=VALUE}'
4201 Sets up a named group, which is similar to aliases in email
4202 programs. Any time the group name is a recipient ('-r' or
4203 '--recipient'), it will be expanded to the values specified.
4204 Multiple groups with the same name are automatically merged into a
4207 The values are 'key IDs' or fingerprints, but any key description
4208 is accepted. Note that a value with spaces in it will be treated
4209 as two different values. Note also there is only one level of
4210 expansion -- you cannot make an group that points to another group.
4211 When used from the command line, it may be necessary to quote the
4212 argument to this option to prevent the shell from treating it as
4216 Remove a given entry from the '--group' list.
4219 Remove all entries from the '--group' list.
4223 Use NAME as the key to sign with. Note that this option overrides
4227 This option has two purposes. MBOX must either be a complete user
4228 ID containing a proper mail address or just a plain mail address.
4229 The option can be given multiple times.
4231 When creating a signature this option tells gpg the signing key's
4232 user id used to make the signature and embeds that user ID into the
4233 created signature (using OpenPGP's "Signer's User ID" subpacket).
4234 If the option is given multiple times a suitable user ID is picked.
4235 However, if the signing key was specified directly by using a mail
4236 address (i.e. not by using a fingerprint or key ID) this option is
4237 used and the mail address is embedded in the created signature.
4239 When verifying a signature MBOX is used to restrict the information
4240 printed by the TOFU code to matching user IDs. If the option is
4241 used and the signature contains a "Signer's User ID" subpacket that
4242 information is is also used to restrict the printed information.
4243 Note that GnuPG considers only the mail address part of a User ID.
4245 If this option or the said subpacket is available the TRUST lines
4246 as printed by option 'status-fd' correspond to the corresponding
4247 User ID; if no User ID is known the TRUST lines are computed
4248 directly on the key and do not give any information about the User
4249 ID. In the latter case it his highly recommended to scripts and
4250 other frontends to evaluate the VALIDSIG line, retrieve the key and
4251 print all User IDs along with their validity (trust) information.
4253 '--try-secret-key NAME'
4254 For hidden recipients GPG needs to know the keys to use for trial
4255 decryption. The key set with '--default-key' is always tried
4256 first, but this is often not sufficient. This option allows
4257 setting more keys to be used for trial decryption. Although any
4258 valid user-id specification may be used for NAME it makes sense to
4259 use at least the long keyid to avoid ambiguities. Note that
4260 gpg-agent might pop up a pinentry for a lot keys to do the trial
4261 decryption. If you want to stop all further trial decryption you
4262 may use close-window button instead of the cancel button.
4265 Don't look at the key ID as stored in the message but try all
4266 secret keys in turn to find the right decryption key. This option
4267 forces the behaviour as used by anonymous recipients (created by
4268 using '--throw-keyids' or '--hidden-recipient') and might come
4269 handy in case where an encrypted message contains a bogus key ID.
4271 '--skip-hidden-recipients'
4272 '--no-skip-hidden-recipients'
4273 During decryption skip all anonymous recipients. This option helps
4274 in the case that people use the hidden recipients feature to hide
4275 their own encrypt-to key from others. If one has many secret keys
4276 this may lead to a major annoyance because all keys are tried in
4277 turn to decrypt something which was not really intended for it.
4278 The drawback of this option is that it is currently not possible to
4279 decrypt a message which includes real anonymous recipients.
4282 File: gnupg.info, Node: GPG Input and Output, Next: OpenPGP Options, Prev: GPG Key related Options, Up: GPG Options
4284 4.2.3 Input and Output
4285 ----------------------
4289 Create ASCII armored output. The default is to create the binary
4293 Assume the input data is not in ASCII armored format.
4297 Write output to FILE. To write to stdout use '-' as the filename.
4300 This option sets a limit on the number of bytes that will be
4301 generated when processing a file. Since OpenPGP supports various
4302 levels of compression, it is possible that the plaintext of a given
4303 message may be significantly larger than the original OpenPGP
4304 message. While GnuPG works properly with such messages, there is
4305 often a desire to set a maximum file size that will be generated
4306 before processing is forced to stop by the OS limits. Defaults to
4307 0, which means "no limit".
4310 The AEAD encryption mode encrypts the data in chunks so that a
4311 receiving side can check for transmission errors or tampering at
4312 the end of each chunk and does not need to delay this until all
4313 data has been received. The used chunk size is 2^N byte. The
4314 lowest allowed value for N is 6 (64 byte) and the largest is the
4315 default of 27 which creates chunks not larger than 128 MiB.
4317 '--input-size-hint N'
4318 This option can be used to tell GPG the size of the input data in
4319 bytes. N must be a positive base-10 number. This option is only
4320 useful if the input is not taken from a file. GPG may use this
4321 hint to optimize its buffer allocation strategy. It is also used
4322 by the '--status-fd' line "PROGRESS" to provide a value for "total"
4323 if that is not available by other means.
4325 '--key-origin STRING[,URL]'
4326 gpg can track the origin of a key. Certain origins are implicitly
4327 known (e.g. keyserver, web key directory) and set. For a standard
4328 import the origin of the keys imported can be set with this option.
4329 To list the possible values use "help" for STRING. Some origins
4330 can store an optional URL argument. That URL can appended to
4331 STRING after a comma.
4333 '--import-options PARAMETERS'
4334 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for
4335 importing keys. Options can be prepended with a 'no-' to give the
4336 opposite meaning. The options are:
4339 Allow importing key signatures marked as "local". This is not
4340 generally useful unless a shared keyring scheme is being used.
4344 Normally possible still existing ownertrust values of a key
4345 are cleared if a key is imported. This is in general
4346 desirable so that a formerly deleted key does not
4347 automatically gain an ownertrust values merely due to import.
4348 On the other hand it is sometimes necessary to re-import a
4349 trusted set of keys again but keeping already assigned
4350 ownertrust values. This can be achieved by using this option.
4352 repair-pks-subkey-bug
4353 During import, attempt to repair the damage caused by the PKS
4354 keyserver bug (pre version 0.9.6) that mangles keys with
4355 multiple subkeys. Note that this cannot completely repair the
4356 damaged key as some crucial data is removed by the keyserver,
4357 but it does at least give you back one subkey. Defaults to no
4358 for regular '--import' and to yes for keyserver
4363 Show a listing of the key as imported right before it is
4364 stored. This can be combined with the option '--dry-run' to
4365 only look at keys; the option 'show-only' is a shortcut for
4366 this combination. The command '--show-keys' is another
4367 shortcut for this. Note that suffixes like '#' for "sec" and
4368 "sbb" lines may or may not be printed.
4371 Run the entire import code but instead of storing the key to
4372 the local keyring write it to the output. The export option
4373 'export-dane' affect the output. This option can for example
4374 be used to remove all invalid parts from a key without the
4378 During import, allow key updates to existing keys, but do not
4379 allow any new keys to be imported. Defaults to no.
4382 After import, compact (remove all signatures except the
4383 self-signature) any user IDs from the new key that are not
4384 usable. Then, remove any signatures from the new key that are
4385 not usable. This includes signatures that were issued by keys
4386 that are not present on the keyring. This option is the same
4387 as running the '--edit-key' command "clean" after import.
4391 Accept only self-signatures while importing a key. All other
4392 key signatures are skipped at an early import stage. This
4393 option can be used with 'keyserver-options' to mitigate
4394 attempts to flood a key with bogus signatures from a
4395 keyserver. The drawback is that all other valid key
4396 signatures, as required by the Web of Trust are also not
4397 imported. Note that when using this option along with
4398 import-clean it suppresses the final clean step after merging
4399 the imported key into the existing key.
4402 After import, fix various problems with the keys. For
4403 example, this reorders signatures, and strips duplicate
4404 signatures. Defaults to yes.
4407 When used with -use-keyboxd do the import within a single
4408 transaction. This is an experimental feature.
4411 Import the smallest key possible. This removes all signatures
4412 except the most recent self-signature on each user ID. This
4413 option is the same as running the '--edit-key' command
4414 "minimize" after import. Defaults to no.
4418 Import in key restore mode. This imports all data which is
4419 usually skipped during import; including all GnuPG specific
4420 data. All other contradicting options are overridden.
4422 '--import-filter {NAME=EXPR}'
4423 '--export-filter {NAME=EXPR}'
4424 These options define an import/export filter which are applied to
4425 the imported/exported keyblock right before it will be
4426 stored/written. NAME defines the type of filter to use, EXPR the
4427 expression to evaluate. The option can be used several times which
4428 then appends more expression to the same NAME.
4430 The available filter types are:
4433 This filter will keep a user id packet and its dependent
4434 packets in the keyblock if the expression evaluates to true.
4437 This filter drops the selected subkeys. Currently only
4438 implemented for -export-filter.
4441 This filter drops the selected key signatures on user ids.
4442 Self-signatures are not considered. Currently only
4443 implemented for -import-filter.
4445 For the syntax of the expression see the chapter "FILTER
4446 EXPRESSIONS". The property names for the expressions depend on the
4447 actual filter type and are indicated in the following table.
4449 The available properties are:
4452 A string with the user id. (keep-uid)
4455 The addr-spec part of a user id with mailbox or the empty
4459 A number with the public key algorithm of a key or subkey
4460 packet. (drop-subkey)
4464 The first is the timestamp a public key or subkey packet was
4465 created. The second is the same but given as an ISO string,
4466 e.g. "2016-08-17". (drop-subkey)
4469 The hexified fingerprint of the current subkey or primary key.
4473 Boolean indicating whether the user id is the primary one.
4477 Boolean indicating whether a user id (keep-uid), a key
4478 (drop-subkey), or a signature (drop-sig) expired.
4481 Boolean indicating whether a user id (keep-uid) or a key
4482 (drop-subkey) has been revoked.
4485 Boolean indicating whether a primary key is disabled. (not
4489 Boolean indicating whether a key or subkey is a secret one.
4493 A string indicating the usage flags for the subkey, from the
4494 sequence "ecsa?". For example, a subkey capable of just
4495 signing and authentication would be an exact match for "sa".
4500 The first is the timestamp a signature packet was created.
4501 The second is the same but given as an ISO date string, e.g.
4502 "2016-08-17". (drop-sig)
4505 A number with the public key algorithm of a signature packet.
4509 A number with the digest algorithm of a signature packet.
4512 '--export-options PARAMETERS'
4513 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for
4514 exporting keys. Options can be prepended with a 'no-' to give the
4515 opposite meaning. The options are:
4518 Allow exporting key signatures marked as "local". This is not
4519 generally useful unless a shared keyring scheme is being used.
4523 Include attribute user IDs (photo IDs) while exporting. Not
4524 including attribute user IDs is useful to export keys that are
4525 going to be used by an OpenPGP program that does not accept
4526 attribute user IDs. Defaults to yes.
4528 export-sensitive-revkeys
4529 Include designated revoker information that was marked as
4530 "sensitive". Defaults to no.
4534 Export for use as a backup. The exported data includes all
4535 data which is needed to restore the key or keys later with
4536 GnuPG. The format is basically the OpenPGP format but enhanced
4537 with GnuPG specific data. All other contradicting options are
4541 Compact (remove all signatures from) user IDs on the key being
4542 exported if the user IDs are not usable. Also, do not export
4543 any signatures that are not usable. This includes signatures
4544 that were issued by keys that are not present on the keyring.
4545 This option is the same as running the '--edit-key' command
4546 "clean" before export except that the local copy of the key is
4547 not modified. Defaults to no.
4550 Export the smallest key possible. This removes all signatures
4551 except the most recent self-signature on each user ID. This
4552 option is the same as running the '--edit-key' command
4553 "minimize" before export except that the local copy of the key
4554 is not modified. Defaults to no.
4557 Instead of outputting the key material output OpenPGP DANE
4558 records suitable to put into DNS zone files. An ORIGIN line
4559 is printed before each record to allow diverting the records
4560 to the corresponding zone file.
4563 Print key listings delimited by colons. Note that the output will
4564 be encoded in UTF-8 regardless of any '--display-charset' setting.
4565 This format is useful when GnuPG is called from scripts and other
4566 programs as it is easily machine parsed. The details of this
4567 format are documented in the file 'doc/DETAILS', which is included
4568 in the GnuPG source distribution.
4571 Do not merge primary user ID and primary key in '--with-colon'
4572 listing mode and print all timestamps as seconds since 1970-01-01.
4573 Since GnuPG 2.0.10, this mode is always used and thus this option
4574 is obsolete; it does not harm to use it though.
4576 '--legacy-list-mode'
4577 Revert to the pre-2.1 public key list mode. This only affects the
4578 human readable output and not the machine interface (i.e.
4579 '--with-colons'). Note that the legacy format does not convey
4580 suitable information for elliptic curves.
4582 '--with-fingerprint'
4583 Same as the command '--fingerprint' but changes only the format of
4584 the output and may be used together with another command.
4586 '--with-subkey-fingerprint'
4587 If a fingerprint is printed for the primary key, this option forces
4588 printing of the fingerprint for all subkeys. This could also be
4589 achieved by using the '--with-fingerprint' twice but by using this
4590 option along with keyid-format "none" a compact fingerprint is
4593 '--with-icao-spelling'
4594 Print the ICAO spelling of the fingerprint in addition to the hex
4598 Include the keygrip in the key listings. In '--with-colons' mode
4599 this is implicitly enable for secret keys.
4602 Include the locally held information on the origin and last update
4603 of a key in a key listing. In '--with-colons' mode this is always
4604 printed. This data is currently experimental and shall not be
4605 considered part of the stable API.
4608 Print a Web Key Directory identifier along with each user ID in key
4609 listings. This is an experimental feature and semantics may
4613 Include info about the presence of a secret key in public key
4614 listings done with '--with-colons'.
4617 File: gnupg.info, Node: OpenPGP Options, Next: Compliance Options, Prev: GPG Input and Output, Up: GPG Options
4619 4.2.4 OpenPGP protocol specific options
4620 ---------------------------------------
4624 Treat input files as text and store them in the OpenPGP canonical
4625 text form with standard "CRLF" line endings. This also sets the
4626 necessary flags to inform the recipient that the encrypted or
4627 signed data is text and may need its line endings converted back to
4628 whatever the local system uses. This option is useful when
4629 communicating between two platforms that have different line ending
4630 conventions (UNIX-like to Mac, Mac to Windows, etc).
4631 '--no-textmode' disables this option, and is the default.
4634 '--no-force-v3-sigs'
4636 '--no-force-v4-certs'
4637 These options are obsolete and have no effect since GnuPG 2.1.
4640 Force the use of AEAD encryption over MDC encryption. AEAD is a
4641 modern and faster way to do authenticated encryption than the old
4642 MDC method. See also options '--aead-algo' and '--chunk-size'.
4646 These options are obsolete and have no effect since GnuPG 2.2.8.
4647 The MDC is always used unless the keys indicate that an AEAD
4648 algorithm can be used in which case AEAD is used. But note: If the
4649 creation of a legacy non-MDC message is exceptionally required, the
4650 option '--rfc2440' allows for this.
4652 '--disable-signer-uid'
4653 By default the user ID of the signing key is embedded in the data
4654 signature. As of now this is only done if the signing key has been
4655 specified with 'local-user' using a mail address, or with 'sender'.
4656 This information can be helpful for verifier to locate the key; see
4657 option '--auto-key-retrieve'.
4659 '--include-key-block'
4660 '--no-include-key-block'
4661 This option is used to embed the actual signing key into a data
4662 signature. The embedded key is stripped down to a single user id
4663 and includes only the signing subkey used to create the signature
4664 as well as as valid encryption subkeys. All other info is removed
4665 from the key to keep it and thus the signature small. This option
4666 is the OpenPGP counterpart to the 'gpgsm' option '--include-certs'
4667 and allows the recipient of a signed message to reply encrypted to
4668 the sender without using any online directories to lookup the key.
4669 The default is '--no-include-key-block'. See also the option
4670 '--auto-key-import'.
4672 '--personal-cipher-preferences STRING'
4673 Set the list of personal cipher preferences to STRING. Use 'gpg
4674 --version' to get a list of available algorithms, and use 'none' to
4675 set no preference at all. This allows the user to safely override
4676 the algorithm chosen by the recipient key preferences, as GPG will
4677 only select an algorithm that is usable by all recipients. The
4678 most highly ranked cipher in this list is also used for the
4679 '--symmetric' encryption command.
4681 '--personal-aead-preferences STRING'
4682 Set the list of personal AEAD preferences to STRING. Use 'gpg
4683 --version' to get a list of available algorithms, and use 'none' to
4684 set no preference at all. This allows the user to safely override
4685 the algorithm chosen by the recipient key preferences, as GPG will
4686 only select an algorithm that is usable by all recipients. The
4687 most highly ranked cipher in this list is also used for the
4688 '--symmetric' encryption command.
4690 '--personal-digest-preferences STRING'
4691 Set the list of personal digest preferences to STRING. Use 'gpg
4692 --version' to get a list of available algorithms, and use 'none' to
4693 set no preference at all. This allows the user to safely override
4694 the algorithm chosen by the recipient key preferences, as GPG will
4695 only select an algorithm that is usable by all recipients. The
4696 most highly ranked digest algorithm in this list is also used when
4697 signing without encryption (e.g. '--clear-sign' or '--sign').
4699 '--personal-compress-preferences STRING'
4700 Set the list of personal compression preferences to STRING. Use
4701 'gpg --version' to get a list of available algorithms, and use
4702 'none' to set no preference at all. This allows the user to safely
4703 override the algorithm chosen by the recipient key preferences, as
4704 GPG will only select an algorithm that is usable by all recipients.
4705 The most highly ranked compression algorithm in this list is also
4706 used when there are no recipient keys to consider (e.g.
4709 '--s2k-cipher-algo NAME'
4710 Use NAME as the cipher algorithm for symmetric encryption with a
4711 passphrase if '--personal-cipher-preferences' and '--cipher-algo'
4712 are not given. The default is AES-128.
4714 '--s2k-digest-algo NAME'
4715 Use NAME as the digest algorithm used to mangle the passphrases for
4716 symmetric encryption. The default is SHA-1.
4719 Selects how passphrases for symmetric encryption are mangled. If N
4720 is 0 a plain passphrase (which is in general not recommended) will
4721 be used, a 1 adds a salt (which should not be used) to the
4722 passphrase and a 3 (the default) iterates the whole process a
4723 number of times (see '--s2k-count').
4726 Specify how many times the passphrases mangling for symmetric
4727 encryption is repeated. This value may range between 1024 and
4728 65011712 inclusive. The default is inquired from gpg-agent. Note
4729 that not all values in the 1024-65011712 range are legal and if an
4730 illegal value is selected, GnuPG will round up to the nearest legal
4731 value. This option is only meaningful if '--s2k-mode' is set to
4735 File: gnupg.info, Node: Compliance Options, Next: GPG Esoteric Options, Prev: OpenPGP Options, Up: GPG Options
4737 4.2.5 Compliance options
4738 ------------------------
4740 These options control what GnuPG is compliant to. Only one of these
4741 options may be active at a time. Note that the default setting of this
4742 is nearly always the correct one. See the INTEROPERABILITY WITH OTHER
4743 OPENPGP PROGRAMS section below before using one of these options.
4746 Use standard GnuPG behavior. This is essentially OpenPGP behavior
4747 (see '--openpgp'), but with extension from the proposed update to
4748 OpenPGP and with some additional workarounds for common
4749 compatibility problems in different versions of PGP. This is the
4750 default option, so it is not generally needed, but it may be useful
4751 to override a different compliance option in the gpg.conf file.
4754 Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict OpenPGP
4755 behavior. This option implies '--allow-old-cipher-algos'. Use
4756 this option to reset all previous options like '--s2k-*',
4757 '--cipher-algo', '--digest-algo' and '--compress-algo' to OpenPGP
4758 compliant values. All PGP workarounds are disabled.
4761 Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict RFC-4880
4762 behavior. This option implies '--allow-old-cipher-algos'. Note
4763 that this is currently the same thing as '--openpgp'.
4766 Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict according to
4767 the proposed updates of RFC-4880.
4770 Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict RFC-2440
4771 behavior. Note that by using this option encryption packets are
4772 created in a legacy mode without MDC protection. This is dangerous
4773 and should thus only be used for experiments. This option implies
4774 '--allow-old-cipher-algos'. See also option '--ignore-mdc-error'.
4777 This option is obsolete; it is handled as an alias for '--pgp7'
4780 Set up all options to be as PGP 7 compliant as possible. This
4781 allowed the ciphers IDEA, 3DES, CAST5,AES128, AES192, AES256, and
4782 TWOFISH., the hashes MD5, SHA1 and RIPEMD160, and the compression
4783 algorithms none and ZIP. This option implies '--escape-from-lines'
4784 and disables '--throw-keyids',
4787 Set up all options to be as PGP 8 compliant as possible. PGP 8 is
4788 a lot closer to the OpenPGP standard than previous versions of PGP,
4789 so all this does is disable '--throw-keyids' and set
4790 '--escape-from-lines'. All algorithms are allowed except for the
4791 SHA224, SHA384, and SHA512 digests.
4793 '--compliance STRING'
4794 This option can be used instead of one of the options above. Valid
4795 values for STRING are the above option names (without the double
4796 dash) and possibly others as shown when using "help" for VALUE.
4799 File: gnupg.info, Node: GPG Esoteric Options, Next: Deprecated Options, Prev: Compliance Options, Up: GPG Options
4801 4.2.6 Doing things one usually doesn't want to do
4802 -------------------------------------------------
4806 Don't make any changes (this is not completely implemented).
4809 Changes the behaviour of some commands. This is like '--dry-run'
4810 but different in some cases. The semantic of this option may be
4811 extended in the future. Currently it only skips the actual
4812 decryption pass and therefore enables a fast listing of the
4817 Prompt before overwriting any files.
4819 '--debug-level LEVEL'
4820 Select the debug level for investigating problems. LEVEL may be a
4821 numeric value or by a keyword:
4824 No debugging at all. A value of less than 1 may be used
4825 instead of the keyword.
4827 Some basic debug messages. A value between 1 and 2 may be
4828 used instead of the keyword.
4830 More verbose debug messages. A value between 3 and 5 may be
4831 used instead of the keyword.
4833 Even more detailed messages. A value between 6 and 8 may be
4834 used instead of the keyword.
4836 All of the debug messages you can get. A value greater than 8
4837 may be used instead of the keyword. The creation of hash
4838 tracing files is only enabled if the keyword is used.
4840 How these messages are mapped to the actual debugging flags is not
4841 specified and may change with newer releases of this program. They
4842 are however carefully selected to best aid in debugging.
4845 Set debug flags. All flags are or-ed and FLAGS may be given in C
4846 syntax (e.g. 0x0042) or as a comma separated list of flag names.
4847 To get a list of all supported flags the single word "help" can be
4848 used. This option is only useful for debugging and the behavior
4849 may change at any time without notice.
4852 Set all useful debugging flags.
4855 Set stdout into line buffered mode. This option is only honored
4856 when given on the command line.
4858 '--debug-set-iobuf-size N'
4859 Change the buffer size of the IOBUFs to N kilobyte. Using 0 prints
4860 the current size. Note well: This is a maintainer only option and
4861 may thus be changed or removed at any time without notice.
4863 '--debug-allow-large-chunks'
4864 To facilitate in-memory decryption on the receiving site, the
4865 largest recommended chunk size is 128 MiB ('--chunk-size 27').
4866 This option allows to specify a limit of up to 4 EiB ('--chunk-size
4867 62') for experiments.
4869 '--faked-system-time EPOCH'
4870 This option is only useful for testing; it sets the system time
4871 back or forth to EPOCH which is the number of seconds elapsed since
4872 the year 1970. Alternatively EPOCH may be given as a full ISO time
4873 string (e.g. "20070924T154812").
4875 If you suffix EPOCH with an exclamation mark (!), the system time
4876 will appear to be frozen at the specified time.
4878 '--full-timestrings'
4879 Change the format of printed creation and expiration times from
4880 just the date to the date and time. This is in general not useful
4881 and the same information is anyway available in '--with-colons'
4882 mode. These longer strings are also not well aligned with other
4885 '--enable-progress-filter'
4886 Enable certain PROGRESS status outputs. This option allows
4887 frontends to display a progress indicator while gpg is processing
4888 larger files. There is a slight performance overhead using it.
4891 Write special status strings to the file descriptor N. See the
4892 file DETAILS in the documentation for a listing of them.
4894 '--status-file FILE'
4895 Same as '--status-fd', except the status data is written to file
4899 Write log output to file descriptor N and not to STDERR.
4902 '--logger-file FILE'
4903 Same as '--logger-fd', except the logger data is written to file
4904 FILE. Use 'socket://' to log to s socket.
4907 Write attribute subpackets to the file descriptor N. This is most
4908 useful for use with '--status-fd', since the status messages are
4909 needed to separate out the various subpackets from the stream
4910 delivered to the file descriptor.
4912 '--attribute-file FILE'
4913 Same as '--attribute-fd', except the attribute data is written to
4918 Use STRING as a comment string in cleartext signatures and ASCII
4919 armored messages or keys (see '--armor'). The default behavior is
4920 not to use a comment string. '--comment' may be repeated multiple
4921 times to get multiple comment strings. '--no-comments' removes all
4922 comments. It is a good idea to keep the length of a single comment
4923 below 60 characters to avoid problems with mail programs wrapping
4924 such lines. Note that comment lines, like all other header lines,
4925 are not protected by the signature.
4929 Force inclusion of the version string in ASCII armored output. If
4930 given once only the name of the program and the major number is
4931 emitted, given twice the minor is also emitted, given thrice the
4932 micro is added, and given four times an operating system
4933 identification is also emitted. '--no-emit-version' (default)
4934 disables the version line.
4936 '--sig-notation {NAME=VALUE}'
4937 '--cert-notation {NAME=VALUE}'
4938 '-N, --set-notation {NAME=VALUE}'
4939 Put the name value pair into the signature as notation data. NAME
4940 must consist only of printable characters or spaces, and must
4941 contain a '@' character in the form keyname@domain.example.com
4942 (substituting the appropriate keyname and domain name, of course).
4943 This is to help prevent pollution of the IETF reserved notation
4944 namespace. The '--expert' flag overrides the '@' check. VALUE may
4945 be any printable string; it will be encoded in UTF-8, so you should
4946 check that your '--display-charset' is set correctly. If you
4947 prefix NAME with an exclamation mark (!), the notation data will be
4948 flagged as critical (rfc4880:5.2.3.16). '--sig-notation' sets a
4949 notation for data signatures. '--cert-notation' sets a notation
4950 for key signatures (certifications). '--set-notation' sets both.
4952 There are special codes that may be used in notation names. "%k"
4953 will be expanded into the key ID of the key being signed, "%K" into
4954 the long key ID of the key being signed, "%f" into the fingerprint
4955 of the key being signed, "%s" into the key ID of the key making the
4956 signature, "%S" into the long key ID of the key making the
4957 signature, "%g" into the fingerprint of the key making the
4958 signature (which might be a subkey), "%p" into the fingerprint of
4959 the primary key of the key making the signature, "%c" into the
4960 signature count from the OpenPGP smartcard, and "%%" results in a
4961 single "%". %k, %K, and %f are only meaningful when making a key
4962 signature (certification), and %c is only meaningful when using the
4965 '--known-notation NAME'
4966 Adds NAME to a list of known critical signature notations. The
4967 effect of this is that gpg will not mark a signature with a
4968 critical signature notation of that name as bad. Note that gpg
4969 already knows by default about a few critical signatures notation
4972 '--sig-policy-url STRING'
4973 '--cert-policy-url STRING'
4974 '--set-policy-url STRING'
4975 Use STRING as a Policy URL for signatures (rfc4880:5.2.3.20). If
4976 you prefix it with an exclamation mark (!), the policy URL packet
4977 will be flagged as critical. '--sig-policy-url' sets a policy url
4978 for data signatures. '--cert-policy-url' sets a policy url for key
4979 signatures (certifications). '--set-policy-url' sets both.
4981 The same %-expandos used for notation data are available here as
4984 '--sig-keyserver-url STRING'
4985 Use STRING as a preferred keyserver URL for data signatures. If
4986 you prefix it with an exclamation mark (!), the keyserver URL
4987 packet will be flagged as critical.
4989 The same %-expandos used for notation data are available here as
4992 '--set-filename STRING'
4993 Use STRING as the filename which is stored inside messages. This
4994 overrides the default, which is to use the actual filename of the
4995 file being encrypted. Using the empty string for STRING
4996 effectively removes the filename from the output.
4998 '--for-your-eyes-only'
4999 '--no-for-your-eyes-only'
5000 Set the 'for your eyes only' flag in the message. This causes
5001 GnuPG to refuse to save the file unless the '--output' option is
5002 given, and PGP to use a "secure viewer" with a claimed
5003 Tempest-resistant font to display the message. This option
5004 overrides '--set-filename'. '--no-for-your-eyes-only' disables
5007 '--use-embedded-filename'
5008 '--no-use-embedded-filename'
5009 Try to create a file with a name as embedded in the data. This can
5010 be a dangerous option as it enables overwriting files. Defaults to
5011 no. Note that the option '--output' overrides this option.
5013 '--cipher-algo NAME'
5014 Use NAME as cipher algorithm. Running the program with the command
5015 '--version' yields a list of supported algorithms. If this is not
5016 used the cipher algorithm is selected from the preferences stored
5017 with the key. In general, you do not want to use this option as it
5018 allows you to violate the OpenPGP standard. The option
5019 '--personal-cipher-preferences' is the safe way to accomplish the
5023 Specify that the AEAD algorithm NAME is to be used. This is useful
5024 for symmetric encryption where no key preference are available to
5025 select the AEAD algorithm. Running 'gpg' with option '--version'
5026 shows the available AEAD algorithms. In general, you do not want
5027 to use this option as it allows you to violate the OpenPGP
5028 standard. The option '--personal-aead-preferences' is the safe way
5029 to accomplish the same thing.
5031 '--digest-algo NAME'
5032 Use NAME as the message digest algorithm. Running the program with
5033 the command '--version' yields a list of supported algorithms. In
5034 general, you do not want to use this option as it allows you to
5035 violate the OpenPGP standard. The option
5036 '--personal-digest-preferences' is the safe way to accomplish the
5039 '--compress-algo NAME'
5040 Use compression algorithm NAME. "zlib" is RFC-1950 ZLIB
5041 compression. "zip" is RFC-1951 ZIP compression which is used by
5042 PGP. "bzip2" is a more modern compression scheme that can compress
5043 some things better than zip or zlib, but at the cost of more memory
5044 used during compression and decompression. "uncompressed" or
5045 "none" disables compression. If this option is not used, the
5046 default behavior is to examine the recipient key preferences to see
5047 which algorithms the recipient supports. If all else fails, ZIP is
5048 used for maximum compatibility.
5050 ZLIB may give better compression results than ZIP, as the
5051 compression window size is not limited to 8k. BZIP2 may give even
5052 better compression results than that, but will use a significantly
5053 larger amount of memory while compressing and decompressing. This
5054 may be significant in low memory situations. Note, however, that
5055 PGP (all versions) only supports ZIP compression. Using any
5056 algorithm other than ZIP or "none" will make the message unreadable
5057 with PGP. In general, you do not want to use this option as it
5058 allows you to violate the OpenPGP standard. The option
5059 '--personal-compress-preferences' is the safe way to accomplish the
5062 '--cert-digest-algo NAME'
5063 Use NAME as the message digest algorithm used when signing a key.
5064 Running the program with the command '--version' yields a list of
5065 supported algorithms. Be aware that if you choose an algorithm
5066 that GnuPG supports but other OpenPGP implementations do not, then
5067 some users will not be able to use the key signatures you make, or
5068 quite possibly your entire key. Note also that a public key
5069 algorithm must be compatible with the specified digest algorithm;
5070 thus selecting an arbitrary digest algorithm may result in error
5071 messages from lower crypto layers or lead to security flaws.
5073 '--disable-cipher-algo NAME'
5074 Never allow the use of NAME as cipher algorithm. The given name
5075 will not be checked so that a later loaded algorithm will still get
5078 '--disable-pubkey-algo NAME'
5079 Never allow the use of NAME as public key algorithm. The given
5080 name will not be checked so that a later loaded algorithm will
5085 Do not put the recipient key IDs into encrypted messages. This
5086 helps to hide the receivers of the message and is a limited
5087 countermeasure against traffic analysis.(1) On the receiving side,
5088 it may slow down the decryption process because all available
5089 secret keys must be tried. '--no-throw-keyids' disables this
5090 option. This option is essentially the same as using
5091 '--hidden-recipient' for all recipients.
5093 '--not-dash-escaped'
5094 This option changes the behavior of cleartext signatures so that
5095 they can be used for patch files. You should not send such an
5096 armored file via email because all spaces and line endings are
5097 hashed too. You can not use this option for data which has 5
5098 dashes at the beginning of a line, patch files don't have this. A
5099 special armor header line tells GnuPG about this cleartext
5102 '--escape-from-lines'
5103 '--no-escape-from-lines'
5104 Because some mailers change lines starting with "From " to ">From "
5105 it is good to handle such lines in a special way when creating
5106 cleartext signatures to prevent the mail system from breaking the
5107 signature. Note that all other PGP versions do it this way too.
5108 Enabled by default. '--no-escape-from-lines' disables this option.
5110 '--passphrase-repeat N'
5111 Specify how many times 'gpg' will request a new passphrase be
5112 repeated. This is useful for helping memorize a passphrase.
5113 Defaults to 1 repetition; can be set to 0 to disable any passphrase
5114 repetition. Note that a N greater than 1 will pop up the pinentry
5115 window N+1 times even if a modern pinentry with two entry fields is
5119 Read the passphrase from file descriptor N. Only the first line
5120 will be read from file descriptor N. If you use 0 for N, the
5121 passphrase will be read from STDIN. This can only be used if only
5122 one passphrase is supplied.
5124 Note that since Version 2.0 this passphrase is only used if the
5125 option '--batch' has also been given. Since Version 2.1 the
5126 '--pinentry-mode' also needs to be set to 'loopback'.
5128 '--passphrase-file FILE'
5129 Read the passphrase from file FILE. Only the first line will be
5130 read from file FILE. This can only be used if only one passphrase
5131 is supplied. Obviously, a passphrase stored in a file is of
5132 questionable security if other users can read this file. Don't use
5133 this option if you can avoid it.
5135 Note that since Version 2.0 this passphrase is only used if the
5136 option '--batch' has also been given. Since Version 2.1 the
5137 '--pinentry-mode' also needs to be set to 'loopback'.
5139 '--passphrase STRING'
5140 Use STRING as the passphrase. This can only be used if only one
5141 passphrase is supplied. Obviously, this is of very questionable
5142 security on a multi-user system. Don't use this option if you can
5145 Note that since Version 2.0 this passphrase is only used if the
5146 option '--batch' has also been given. Since Version 2.1 the
5147 '--pinentry-mode' also needs to be set to 'loopback'.
5149 '--pinentry-mode MODE'
5150 Set the pinentry mode to MODE. Allowed values for MODE are:
5152 Use the default of the agent, which is 'ask'.
5154 Force the use of the Pinentry.
5156 Emulate use of Pinentry's cancel button.
5158 Return a Pinentry error ("No Pinentry").
5160 Redirect Pinentry queries to the caller. Note that in
5161 contrast to Pinentry the user is not prompted again if he
5162 enters a bad password.
5165 Disable the passphrase cache used for symmetrical en- and
5166 decryption. This cache is based on the message specific salt value
5169 '--request-origin ORIGIN'
5170 Tell gpg to assume that the operation ultimately originated at
5171 ORIGIN. Depending on the origin certain restrictions are applied
5172 and the Pinentry may include an extra note on the origin.
5173 Supported values for ORIGIN are: 'local' which is the default,
5174 'remote' to indicate a remote origin or 'browser' for an operation
5175 requested by a web browser.
5178 This is a replacement for the deprecated shared-memory IPC mode.
5179 If this option is enabled, user input on questions is not expected
5180 from the TTY but from the given file descriptor. It should be used
5181 together with '--status-fd'. See the file doc/DETAILS in the
5182 source distribution for details on how to use it.
5184 '--command-file FILE'
5185 Same as '--command-fd', except the commands are read out of file
5188 '--allow-non-selfsigned-uid'
5189 '--no-allow-non-selfsigned-uid'
5190 Allow the import and use of keys with user IDs which are not
5191 self-signed. This is not recommended, as a non self-signed user ID
5192 is trivial to forge. '--no-allow-non-selfsigned-uid' disables.
5194 '--allow-freeform-uid'
5195 Disable all checks on the form of the user ID while generating a
5196 new one. This option should only be used in very special
5197 environments as it does not ensure the de-facto standard format of
5200 '--ignore-time-conflict'
5201 GnuPG normally checks that the timestamps associated with keys and
5202 signatures have plausible values. However, sometimes a signature
5203 seems to be older than the key due to clock problems. This option
5204 makes these checks just a warning. See also '--ignore-valid-from'
5205 for timestamp issues on subkeys.
5207 '--ignore-valid-from'
5208 GnuPG normally does not select and use subkeys created in the
5209 future. This option allows the use of such keys and thus exhibits
5210 the pre-1.0.7 behaviour. You should not use this option unless
5211 there is some clock problem. See also '--ignore-time-conflict' for
5212 timestamp issues with signatures.
5214 '--ignore-crc-error'
5215 The ASCII armor used by OpenPGP is protected by a CRC checksum
5216 against transmission errors. Occasionally the CRC gets mangled
5217 somewhere on the transmission channel but the actual content (which
5218 is protected by the OpenPGP protocol anyway) is still okay. This
5219 option allows GnuPG to ignore CRC errors.
5221 '--ignore-mdc-error'
5222 This option changes a MDC integrity protection failure into a
5223 warning. It is required to decrypt old messages which did not use
5224 an MDC. It may also be useful if a message is partially garbled,
5225 but it is necessary to get as much data as possible out of that
5226 garbled message. Be aware that a missing or failed MDC can be an
5227 indication of an attack. Use with great caution; see also option
5230 '--allow-old-cipher-algos'
5231 Old cipher algorithms like 3DES, IDEA, or CAST5 encrypt data using
5232 blocks of 64 bits; modern algorithms use blocks of 128 bit instead.
5233 To avoid certain attack on these old algorithms it is suggested not
5234 to encrypt more than 150 MiByte using the same key. For this
5235 reason gpg does not allow the use of 64 bit block size algorithms
5236 for encryption unless this option is specified.
5238 '--allow-weak-digest-algos'
5239 Signatures made with known-weak digest algorithms are normally
5240 rejected with an "invalid digest algorithm" message. This option
5241 allows the verification of signatures made with such weak
5242 algorithms. MD5 is the only digest algorithm considered weak by
5243 default. See also '--weak-digest' to reject other digest
5246 '--weak-digest NAME'
5247 Treat the specified digest algorithm as weak. Signatures made over
5248 weak digests algorithms are normally rejected. This option can be
5249 supplied multiple times if multiple algorithms should be considered
5250 weak. See also '--allow-weak-digest-algos' to disable rejection of
5251 weak digests. MD5 is always considered weak, and does not need to
5252 be listed explicitly.
5254 '--allow-weak-key-signatures'
5255 To avoid a minor risk of collision attacks on third-party key
5256 signatures made using SHA-1, those key signatures are considered
5257 invalid. This options allows to override this restriction.
5259 '--no-default-keyring'
5260 Do not add the default keyrings to the list of keyrings. Note that
5261 GnuPG will not operate without any keyrings, so if you use this
5262 option and do not provide alternate keyrings via '--keyring' or
5263 '--secret-keyring', then GnuPG will still use the default public or
5267 Do not use any keyring at all. This overrides the default and all
5268 options which specify keyrings.
5271 Skip the signature verification step. This may be used to make the
5272 decryption faster if the signature verification is not needed.
5275 Print key listings delimited by colons (like '--with-colons') and
5276 print the public key data.
5280 Same as '--list-keys', but the signatures are listed too. This
5281 command has the same effect as using '--list-keys' with
5282 '--with-sig-list'. Note that in contrast to '--check-signatures'
5283 the key signatures are not verified. This command can be used to
5284 create a list of signing keys missing in the local keyring; for
5287 gpg --list-sigs --with-colons USERID | \
5288 awk -F: '$1=="sig" && $2=="?" {if($13){print $13}else{print $5}}'
5291 Changes the output of the list commands to work faster; this is
5292 achieved by leaving some parts empty. Some applications don't need
5293 the user ID and the trust information given in the listings. By
5294 using this options they can get a faster listing. The exact
5295 behaviour of this option may change in future versions. If you are
5296 missing some information, don't use this option.
5299 This is not for normal use. Use the source to see for what it
5303 This is not for normal use. Use the source to see for what it
5306 '--show-session-key'
5307 Display the session key used for one message. See
5308 '--override-session-key' for the counterpart of this option.
5310 We think that Key Escrow is a Bad Thing; however the user should
5311 have the freedom to decide whether to go to prison or to reveal the
5312 content of one specific message without compromising all messages
5313 ever encrypted for one secret key.
5315 You can also use this option if you receive an encrypted message
5316 which is abusive or offensive, to prove to the administrators of
5317 the messaging system that the ciphertext transmitted corresponds to
5318 an inappropriate plaintext so they can take action against the
5321 '--override-session-key STRING'
5322 '--override-session-key-fd FD'
5323 Don't use the public key but the session key STRING respective the
5324 session key taken from the first line read from file descriptor FD.
5325 The format of this string is the same as the one printed by
5326 '--show-session-key'. This option is normally not used but comes
5327 handy in case someone forces you to reveal the content of an
5328 encrypted message; using this option you can do this without
5329 handing out the secret key. Note that using
5330 '--override-session-key' may reveal the session key to all local
5331 users via the global process table. Often it is useful to combine
5332 this option with '--no-keyring'.
5335 '--no-ask-sig-expire'
5336 When making a data signature, prompt for an expiration time. If
5337 this option is not specified, the expiration time set via
5338 '--default-sig-expire' is used. '--no-ask-sig-expire' disables
5341 '--default-sig-expire'
5342 The default expiration time to use for signature expiration. Valid
5343 values are "0" for no expiration, a number followed by the letter d
5344 (for days), w (for weeks), m (for months), or y (for years) (for
5345 example "2m" for two months, or "5y" for five years), or an
5346 absolute date in the form YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to "0".
5349 '--no-ask-cert-expire'
5350 When making a key signature, prompt for an expiration time. If
5351 this option is not specified, the expiration time set via
5352 '--default-cert-expire' is used. '--no-ask-cert-expire' disables
5355 '--default-cert-expire'
5356 The default expiration time to use for key signature expiration.
5357 Valid values are "0" for no expiration, a number followed by the
5358 letter d (for days), w (for weeks), m (for months), or y (for
5359 years) (for example "2m" for two months, or "5y" for five years),
5360 or an absolute date in the form YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to "0".
5362 '--default-new-key-algo STRING'
5363 This option can be used to change the default algorithms for key
5364 generation. The STRING is similar to the arguments required for
5365 the command '--quick-add-key' but slightly different. For example
5366 the current default of '"rsa2048/cert,sign+rsa2048/encr"' (or
5367 '"rsa3072"') can be changed to the value of what we currently call
5368 future default, which is '"ed25519/cert,sign+cv25519/encr"'. You
5369 need to consult the source code to learn the details. Note that
5370 the advanced key generation commands can always be used to specify
5371 a key algorithm directly.
5373 '--no-auto-trust-new-key'
5374 When creating a new key the ownertrust of the new key is set to
5375 ultimate. This option disables this and the user needs to manually
5376 assign an ownertrust value.
5379 This option modifies the behaviour of the commands
5380 '--quick-sign-key', '--quick-lsign-key', and the "sign"
5381 sub-commands of '--edit-key' by forcing the creation of a key
5382 signature, even if one already exists.
5384 '--allow-secret-key-import'
5385 This is an obsolete option and is not used anywhere.
5387 '--allow-multiple-messages'
5388 '--no-allow-multiple-messages'
5389 These are obsolete options; they have no more effect since GnuPG
5392 '--enable-special-filenames'
5393 This option enables a mode in which filenames of the form '-&n',
5394 where n is a non-negative decimal number, refer to the file
5395 descriptor n and not to a file with that name.
5397 '--no-expensive-trust-checks'
5398 Experimental use only.
5400 '--preserve-permissions'
5401 Don't change the permissions of a secret keyring back to user
5402 read/write only. Use this option only if you really know what you
5405 '--default-preference-list STRING'
5406 Set the list of default preferences to STRING. This preference
5407 list is used for new keys and becomes the default for "setpref" in
5408 the '--edit-key' menu.
5410 '--default-keyserver-url NAME'
5411 Set the default keyserver URL to NAME. This keyserver will be used
5412 as the keyserver URL when writing a new self-signature on a key,
5413 which includes key generation and changing preferences.
5416 Display various internal configuration parameters of GnuPG. This
5417 option is intended for external programs that call GnuPG to perform
5418 tasks, and is thus not generally useful. See the file
5419 'doc/DETAILS' in the source distribution for the details of which
5420 configuration items may be listed. '--list-config' is only usable
5421 with '--with-colons' set.
5423 '--list-gcrypt-config'
5424 Display various internal configuration parameters of Libgcrypt.
5427 This command is similar to '--list-config' but in general only
5428 internally used by the 'gpgconf' tool.
5431 This is more or less dummy action. However it parses the
5432 configuration file and returns with failure if the configuration
5433 file would prevent 'gpg' from startup. Thus it may be used to run
5434 a syntax check on the configuration file.
5437 Change the current user to UID which may either be a number or a
5438 name. This can be used from the root account to run gpg for
5439 another user. If UID is not the current UID a standard PATH is set
5440 and the envvar GNUPGHOME is unset. To override the latter the
5441 option '--homedir' can be used. This option has only an effect
5442 when used on the command line. This option has currently no effect
5445 ---------- Footnotes ----------
5447 (1) Using a little social engineering anyone who is able to decrypt
5448 the message can check whether one of the other recipients is the one he
5452 File: gnupg.info, Node: Deprecated Options, Prev: GPG Esoteric Options, Up: GPG Options
5454 4.2.7 Deprecated options
5455 ------------------------
5459 Causes '--list-keys', '--list-signatures', '--list-public-keys',
5460 '--list-secret-keys', and verifying a signature to also display the
5461 photo ID attached to the key, if any. See also '--photo-viewer'.
5462 These options are deprecated. Use '--list-options
5463 [no-]show-photos' and/or '--verify-options [no-]show-photos'
5467 Display the keyring name at the head of key listings to show which
5468 keyring a given key resides on. This option is deprecated: use
5469 '--list-options [no-]show-keyring' instead.
5472 Identical to '--trust-model always'. This option is deprecated.
5475 '--no-show-notation'
5476 Show signature notations in the '--list-signatures' or
5477 '--check-signatures' listings as well as when verifying a signature
5478 with a notation in it. These options are deprecated. Use
5479 '--list-options [no-]show-notation' and/or '--verify-options
5480 [no-]show-notation' instead.
5483 '--no-show-policy-url'
5484 Show policy URLs in the '--list-signatures' or '--check-signatures'
5485 listings as well as when verifying a signature with a policy URL in
5486 it. These options are deprecated. Use '--list-options
5487 [no-]show-policy-url' and/or '--verify-options
5488 [no-]show-policy-url' instead.
5491 File: gnupg.info, Node: GPG Configuration, Next: GPG Examples, Prev: GPG Options, Up: Invoking GPG
5493 4.3 Configuration files
5494 =======================
5496 There are a few configuration files to control certain aspects of
5497 'gpg''s operation. Unless noted, they are expected in the current home
5498 directory (*note option --homedir::).
5501 This is the standard configuration file read by 'gpg' on startup.
5502 It may contain any valid long option; the leading two dashes may
5503 not be entered and the option may not be abbreviated. This default
5504 name may be changed on the command line (*note gpg-option
5505 --options::). You should backup this file.
5507 Note that on larger installations, it is useful to put predefined
5508 files into the directory '/etc/skel/.gnupg' so that newly created users
5509 start up with a working configuration. For existing users a small
5510 helper script is provided to create these files (*note addgnupghome::).
5512 For internal purposes 'gpg' creates and maintains a few other files;
5513 They all live in the current home directory (*note option --homedir::).
5514 Only the 'gpg' program may modify these files.
5517 This is the default home directory which is used if neither the
5518 environment variable 'GNUPGHOME' nor the option '--homedir' is
5521 '~/.gnupg/pubring.gpg'
5522 The public keyring using a legacy format. You should backup this
5525 If this file is not available, 'gpg' defaults to the new keybox
5526 format and creates a file 'pubring.kbx' unless that file already
5527 exists in which case that file will also be used for OpenPGP keys.
5529 Note that in the case that both files, 'pubring.gpg' and
5530 'pubring.kbx' exists but the latter has no OpenPGP keys, the legacy
5531 file 'pubring.gpg' will be used. Take care: GnuPG versions before
5532 2.1 will always use the file 'pubring.gpg' because they do not know
5533 about the new keybox format. In the case that you have to use
5534 GnuPG 1.4 to decrypt archived data you should keep this file.
5536 '~/.gnupg/pubring.gpg.lock'
5537 The lock file for the public keyring.
5539 '~/.gnupg/pubring.kbx'
5540 The public keyring using the new keybox format. This file is
5541 shared with 'gpgsm'. You should backup this file. See above for
5542 the relation between this file and it predecessor.
5544 To convert an existing 'pubring.gpg' file to the keybox format, you
5545 first backup the ownertrust values, then rename 'pubring.gpg' to
5546 'publickeys.backup', so it won’t be recognized by any GnuPG
5547 version, run import, and finally restore the ownertrust values:
5550 $ gpg --export-ownertrust >otrust.lst
5551 $ mv pubring.gpg publickeys.backup
5552 $ gpg --import-options restore --import publickeys.backups
5553 $ gpg --import-ownertrust otrust.lst
5555 '~/.gnupg/pubring.kbx.lock'
5556 The lock file for 'pubring.kbx'.
5558 '~/.gnupg/secring.gpg'
5559 The legacy secret keyring as used by GnuPG versions before 2.1. It
5560 is not used by GnuPG 2.1 and later. You may want to keep it in
5561 case you have to use GnuPG 1.4 to decrypt archived data.
5563 '~/.gnupg/secring.gpg.lock'
5564 The lock file for the legacy secret keyring.
5566 '~/.gnupg/.gpg-v21-migrated'
5567 File indicating that a migration to GnuPG 2.1 has been done.
5569 '~/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg'
5570 The trust database. There is no need to backup this file; it is
5571 better to backup the ownertrust values (*note option
5572 --export-ownertrust::).
5574 '~/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg.lock'
5575 The lock file for the trust database.
5577 '~/.gnupg/random_seed'
5578 A file used to preserve the state of the internal random pool.
5580 '~/.gnupg/openpgp-revocs.d/'
5581 This is the directory where gpg stores pre-generated revocation
5582 certificates. The file name corresponds to the OpenPGP fingerprint
5583 of the respective key. It is suggested to backup those
5584 certificates and if the primary private key is not stored on the
5585 disk to move them to an external storage device. Anyone who can
5586 access these files is able to revoke the corresponding key. You
5587 may want to print them out. You should backup all files in this
5588 directory and take care to keep this backup closed away.
5590 Operation is further controlled by a few environment variables:
5593 Used to locate the default home directory.
5596 If set directory used instead of "~/.gnupg".
5599 This variable is obsolete; it was used by GnuPG versions before
5603 This value is passed via gpg-agent to pinentry. It is useful to
5604 convey extra information to a custom pinentry.
5608 Used to size some displays to the full size of the screen.
5611 Apart from its use by GNU, it is used in the W32 version to
5612 override the language selection done through the Registry. If used
5613 and set to a valid and available language name (LANGID), the file
5614 with the translation is loaded from 'GPGDIR/gnupg.nls/LANGID.mo'.
5615 Here GPGDIR is the directory out of which the gpg binary has been
5616 loaded. If it can't be loaded the Registry is tried and as last
5617 resort the native Windows locale system is used.
5619 When calling the gpg-agent component 'gpg' sends a set of environment
5620 variables to gpg-agent. The names of these variables can be listed
5623 gpg-connect-agent 'getinfo std_env_names' /bye | awk '$1=="D" {print $2}'
5626 File: gnupg.info, Node: GPG Examples, Next: Unattended Usage of GPG, Prev: GPG Configuration, Up: Invoking GPG
5631 gpg -se -r 'Bob' 'file'
5632 sign and encrypt for user Bob
5634 gpg -clear-sign 'file'
5635 make a cleartext signature
5638 make a detached signature
5640 gpg -u 0x12345678 -sb 'file'
5641 make a detached signature with the key 0x12345678
5643 gpg -list-keys 'user_ID'
5646 gpg -fingerprint 'user_ID'
5649 gpg -verify 'pgpfile'
5650 gpg -verify 'sigfile' ['datafile']
5651 Verify the signature of the file but do not output the data unless
5652 requested. The second form is used for detached signatures, where
5653 'sigfile' is the detached signature (either ASCII armored or
5654 binary) and 'datafile' are the signed data; if this is not given,
5655 the name of the file holding the signed data is constructed by
5656 cutting off the extension (".asc" or ".sig") of 'sigfile' or by
5657 asking the user for the filename. If the option '--output' is also
5658 used the signed data is written to the file specified by that
5659 option; use '-' to write the signed data to stdout.
5664 The options '--import-filter' and '--export-filter' use expressions with
5665 this syntax (square brackets indicate an optional part and curly braces
5666 a repetition, white space between the elements are allowed):
5668 [lc] {[{flag}] PROPNAME op VALUE [lc]}
5670 The name of a property (PROPNAME) may only consist of letters, digits
5671 and underscores. The description for the filter type describes which
5672 properties are defined. If an undefined property is used it evaluates
5673 to the empty string. Unless otherwise noted, the VALUE must always be
5674 given and may not be the empty string. No quoting is defined for the
5675 value, thus the value may not contain the strings '&&' or '||', which
5676 are used as logical connection operators. The flag '--' can be used to
5677 remove this restriction.
5679 Numerical values are computed as long int; standard C notation
5680 applies. LC is the logical connection operator; either '&&' for a
5681 conjunction or '||' for a disjunction. A conjunction is assumed at the
5682 begin of an expression. Conjunctions have higher precedence than
5683 disjunctions. If VALUE starts with one of the characters used in any OP
5684 a space after the OP is required.
5686 The supported operators (OP) are:
5689 Substring must match.
5692 Substring must not match.
5695 The full string must match.
5698 The full string must not match.
5701 The numerical value must match.
5704 The numerical value must not match.
5707 The numerical value of the field must be LE than the value.
5710 The numerical value of the field must be LT than the value.
5713 The numerical value of the field must be GT than the value.
5716 The numerical value of the field must be GE than the value.
5719 The string value of the field must be less or equal than the value.
5722 The string value of the field must be less than the value.
5725 The string value of the field must be greater than the value.
5728 The string value of the field must be greater or equal than the
5732 True if value is not empty (no value allowed).
5735 True if value is empty (no value allowed).
5738 Alias for "PROPNAME != 0" (no value allowed).
5741 Alias for "PROPNAME == 0" (no value allowed).
5743 Values for FLAG must be space separated. The supported flags are:
5746 VALUE spans to the end of the expression.
5748 The string match in this part is done case-sensitive.
5750 The filter options concatenate several specifications for a filter of
5751 the same type. For example the four options in this example:
5753 --import-filter keep-uid="uid =~ Alfa"
5754 --import-filter keep-uid="&& uid !~ Test"
5755 --import-filter keep-uid="|| uid =~ Alpha"
5756 --import-filter keep-uid="uid !~ Test"
5758 which is equivalent to
5761 keep-uid="uid =~ Alfa" && uid !~ Test" || uid =~ Alpha" && "uid !~ Test"
5763 imports only the user ids of a key containing the strings "Alfa" or
5764 "Alpha" but not the string "test".
5769 The program returns 0 if there are no severe errors, 1 if at least a
5770 signature was bad, and other error codes for fatal errors.
5772 Note that signature verification requires exact knowledge of what has
5773 been signed and by whom it has been signed. Using only the return code
5774 is thus not an appropriate way to verify a signature by a script.
5775 Either make proper use or the status codes or use the 'gpgv' tool which
5776 has been designed to make signature verification easy for scripts.
5781 Use a good password for your user account and make sure that all
5782 security issues are always fixed on your machine. Also employ diligent
5783 physical protection to your machine. Consider to use a good passphrase
5784 as a last resort protection to your secret key in the case your machine
5785 gets stolen. It is important that your secret key is never leaked.
5786 Using an easy to carry around token or smartcard with the secret key is
5789 If you are going to verify detached signatures, make sure that the
5790 program knows about it; either give both filenames on the command line
5791 or use '-' to specify STDIN.
5793 For scripted or other unattended use of 'gpg' make sure to use the
5794 machine-parseable interface and not the default interface which is
5795 intended for direct use by humans. The machine-parseable interface
5796 provides a stable and well documented API independent of the locale or
5797 future changes of 'gpg'. To enable this interface use the options
5798 '--with-colons' and '--status-fd'. For certain operations the option
5799 '--command-fd' may come handy too. See this man page and the file
5800 'DETAILS' for the specification of the interface. Note that the GnuPG
5801 "info" pages as well as the PDF version of the GnuPG manual features a
5802 chapter on unattended use of GnuPG. As an alternative the library
5803 'GPGME' can be used as a high-level abstraction on top of that
5806 INTEROPERABILITY WITH OTHER OPENPGP PROGRAMS
5807 ********************************************
5809 GnuPG tries to be a very flexible implementation of the OpenPGP
5810 standard. In particular, GnuPG implements many of the optional parts of
5811 the standard, such as the SHA-512 hash, and the ZLIB and BZIP2
5812 compression algorithms. It is important to be aware that not all
5813 OpenPGP programs implement these optional algorithms and that by forcing
5814 their use via the '--cipher-algo', '--digest-algo',
5815 '--cert-digest-algo', or '--compress-algo' options in GnuPG, it is
5816 possible to create a perfectly valid OpenPGP message, but one that
5817 cannot be read by the intended recipient.
5819 There are dozens of variations of OpenPGP programs available, and
5820 each supports a slightly different subset of these optional algorithms.
5821 For example, until recently, no (unhacked) version of PGP supported the
5822 BLOWFISH cipher algorithm. A message using BLOWFISH simply could not be
5823 read by a PGP user. By default, GnuPG uses the standard OpenPGP
5824 preferences system that will always do the right thing and create
5825 messages that are usable by all recipients, regardless of which OpenPGP
5826 program they use. Only override this safe default if you really know
5829 If you absolutely must override the safe default, or if the
5830 preferences on a given key are invalid for some reason, you are far
5831 better off using the '--pgp6', '--pgp7', or '--pgp8' options. These
5832 options are safe as they do not force any particular algorithms in
5833 violation of OpenPGP, but rather reduce the available algorithms to a
5839 On older systems this program should be installed as setuid(root). This
5840 is necessary to lock memory pages. Locking memory pages prevents the
5841 operating system from writing memory pages (which may contain
5842 passphrases or other sensitive material) to disk. If you get no warning
5843 message about insecure memory your operating system supports locking
5844 without being root. The program drops root privileges as soon as locked
5845 memory is allocated.
5847 Note also that some systems (especially laptops) have the ability to
5848 "suspend to disk" (also known as "safe sleep" or "hibernate"). This
5849 writes all memory to disk before going into a low power or even powered
5850 off mode. Unless measures are taken in the operating system to protect
5851 the saved memory, passphrases or other sensitive material may be
5852 recoverable from it later.
5854 Before you report a bug you should first search the mailing list
5855 archives for similar problems and second check whether such a bug has
5856 already been reported to our bug tracker at <https://bugs.gnupg.org>.
5859 File: gnupg.info, Node: Unattended Usage of GPG, Prev: GPG Examples, Up: Invoking GPG
5861 4.5 Unattended Usage
5862 ====================
5864 'gpg' is often used as a backend engine by other software. To help with
5865 this a machine interface has been defined to have an unambiguous way to
5866 do this. The options '--status-fd' and '--batch' are almost always
5871 * Programmatic use of GnuPG:: Programmatic use of GnuPG
5872 * Ephemeral home directories:: Ephemeral home directories
5873 * The quick key manipulation interface:: The quick key manipulation interface
5874 * Unattended GPG key generation:: Unattended key generation
5877 File: gnupg.info, Node: Programmatic use of GnuPG, Next: Ephemeral home directories, Up: Unattended Usage of GPG
5879 4.5.1 Programmatic use of GnuPG
5880 -------------------------------
5882 Please consider using GPGME instead of calling 'gpg' directly. GPGME
5883 offers a stable, backend-independent interface for many cryptographic
5884 operations. It supports OpenPGP and S/MIME, and also allows interaction
5885 with various GnuPG components.
5887 GPGME provides a C-API, and comes with bindings for C++, Qt, and
5888 Python. Bindings for other languages are available.
5891 File: gnupg.info, Node: Ephemeral home directories, Next: The quick key manipulation interface, Prev: Programmatic use of GnuPG, Up: Unattended Usage of GPG
5893 4.5.2 Ephemeral home directories
5894 --------------------------------
5896 Sometimes you want to contain effects of some operation, for example you
5897 want to import a key to inspect it, but you do not want this key to be
5898 added to your keyring. In earlier versions of GnuPG, it was possible to
5899 specify alternate keyring files for both public and secret keys. In
5900 modern GnuPG versions, however, we changed how secret keys are stored in
5901 order to better protect secret key material, and it was not possible to
5902 preserve this interface.
5904 The preferred way to do this is to use ephemeral home directories.
5905 This technique works across all versions of GnuPG.
5907 Create a temporary directory, create (or copy) a configuration that
5908 meets your needs, make 'gpg' use this directory either using the
5909 environment variable GNUPGHOME, or the option '--homedir'. GPGME
5910 supports this too on a per-context basis, by modifying the engine info
5911 of contexts. Now execute whatever operation you like, import and export
5912 key material as necessary. Once finished, you can delete the directory.
5913 All GnuPG backend services that were started will detect this and shut
5917 File: gnupg.info, Node: The quick key manipulation interface, Next: Unattended GPG key generation, Prev: Ephemeral home directories, Up: Unattended Usage of GPG
5919 4.5.3 The quick key manipulation interface
5920 ------------------------------------------
5922 Recent versions of GnuPG have an interface to manipulate keys without
5923 using the interactive command '--edit-key'. This interface was added
5924 mainly for the benefit of GPGME (please consider using GPGME, see the
5925 manual subsection "Programmatic use of GnuPG"). This interface is
5926 described in the subsection "How to manage your keys".
5929 File: gnupg.info, Node: Unattended GPG key generation, Prev: The quick key manipulation interface, Up: Unattended Usage of GPG
5931 4.5.4 Unattended key generation
5932 -------------------------------
5934 The command '--generate-key' may be used along with the option '--batch'
5935 for unattended key generation. This is the most flexible way of
5936 generating keys, but it is also the most complex one. Consider using
5937 the quick key manipulation interface described in the previous
5938 subsection "The quick key manipulation interface".
5940 The parameters for the key are either read from stdin or given as a
5941 file on the command line. The format of the parameter file is as
5944 * Text only, line length is limited to about 1000 characters.
5945 * UTF-8 encoding must be used to specify non-ASCII characters.
5946 * Empty lines are ignored.
5947 * Leading and trailing white space is ignored.
5948 * A hash sign as the first non white space character indicates a
5950 * Control statements are indicated by a leading percent sign, the
5951 arguments are separated by white space from the keyword.
5952 * Parameters are specified by a keyword, followed by a colon.
5953 Arguments are separated by white space.
5954 * The first parameter must be 'Key-Type'; control statements may be
5956 * The order of the parameters does not matter except for 'Key-Type'
5957 which must be the first parameter. The parameters are only used
5958 for the generated keyblock (primary and subkeys); parameters from
5959 previous sets are not used. Some syntactically checks may be
5961 * Key generation takes place when either the end of the parameter
5962 file is reached, the next 'Key-Type' parameter is encountered or at
5963 the control statement '%commit' is encountered.
5968 Print TEXT as diagnostic.
5971 Suppress actual key generation (useful for syntax checking).
5974 Perform the key generation. Note that an implicit commit is done
5975 at the next Key-Type parameter.
5978 Do not write the key to the default or commandline given keyring
5979 but to FILENAME. This must be given before the first commit to
5980 take place, duplicate specification of the same filename is
5981 ignored, the last filename before a commit is used. The filename
5982 is used until a new filename is used (at commit points) and all
5983 keys are written to that file. If a new filename is given, this
5984 file is created (and overwrites an existing one).
5986 See the previous subsection "Ephemeral home directories" for a more
5987 robust way to contain side-effects.
5990 This option is a no-op for GnuPG 2.1 and later.
5992 See the previous subsection "Ephemeral home directories".
5996 This option is a no-op for GnuPG 2.1 and later.
5999 Using this option allows the creation of keys without any
6000 passphrase protection. This option is mainly intended for
6004 If given the keys are created using a faster and a somewhat less
6005 secure random number generator. This option may be used for keys
6006 which are only used for a short time and do not require full
6007 cryptographic strength. It takes only effect if used together with
6008 the control statement '%no-protection'.
6013 Starts a new parameter block by giving the type of the primary key.
6014 The algorithm must be capable of signing. This is a required
6015 parameter. ALGO may either be an OpenPGP algorithm number or a
6016 string with the algorithm name. The special value 'default' may be
6017 used for ALGO to create the default key type; in this case a
6018 'Key-Usage' shall not be given and 'default' also be used for
6022 The requested length of the generated key in bits. The default is
6023 returned by running the command 'gpg --gpgconf-list'. For ECC keys
6024 this parameter is ignored.
6027 The requested elliptic curve of the generated key. This is a
6028 required parameter for ECC keys. It is ignored for non-ECC keys.
6031 This is optional and used to generate a CSR or certificate for an
6032 already existing key. Key-Length will be ignored when given.
6034 Key-Usage: USAGE-LIST
6035 Space or comma delimited list of key usages. Allowed values are
6036 'encrypt', 'sign', and 'auth'. This is used to generate the key
6037 flags. Please make sure that the algorithm is capable of this
6038 usage. Note that OpenPGP requires that all primary keys are
6039 capable of certification, so no matter what usage is given here,
6040 the 'cert' flag will be on. If no 'Key-Usage' is specified and the
6041 'Key-Type' is not 'default', all allowed usages for that particular
6042 algorithm are used; if it is not given but 'default' is used the
6043 usage will be 'sign'.
6046 This generates a secondary key (subkey). Currently only one subkey
6047 can be handled. See also 'Key-Type' above.
6049 Subkey-Length: NBITS
6050 Length of the secondary key (subkey) in bits. The default is
6051 returned by running the command 'gpg --gpgconf-list'.
6054 Key curve for a subkey; similar to 'Key-Curve'.
6056 Subkey-Usage: USAGE-LIST
6057 Key usage lists for a subkey; similar to 'Key-Usage'.
6060 If you want to specify a passphrase for the secret key, enter it
6061 here. Default is to use the Pinentry dialog to ask for a
6065 Name-Comment: COMMENT
6067 The three parts of a user name. Remember to use UTF-8 encoding
6068 here. If you don't give any of them, no user ID is created.
6070 Expire-Date: ISO-DATE|(NUMBER[d|w|m|y])
6071 Set the expiration date for the key (and the subkey). It may
6072 either be entered in ISO date format (e.g. "20000815T145012") or
6073 as number of days, weeks, month or years after the creation date.
6074 The special notation "seconds=N" is also allowed to specify a
6075 number of seconds since creation. Without a letter days are
6076 assumed. Note that there is no check done on the overflow of the
6077 type used by OpenPGP for timestamps. Thus you better make sure
6078 that the given value make sense. Although OpenPGP works with time
6079 intervals, GnuPG uses an absolute value internally and thus the
6080 last year we can represent is 2105.
6082 Creation-Date: ISO-DATE
6083 Set the creation date of the key as stored in the key information
6084 and which is also part of the fingerprint calculation. Either a
6085 date like "1986-04-26" or a full timestamp like "19860426T042640"
6086 may be used. The time is considered to be UTC. The special
6087 notation "seconds=N" may be used to directly specify a the number
6088 of seconds since Epoch (Unix time). If it is not given the current
6092 Set the cipher, hash, and compression preference values for this
6093 key. This expects the same type of string as the sub-command
6094 'setpref' in the '--edit-key' menu.
6096 Revoker: ALGO:FPR [sensitive]
6097 Add a designated revoker to the generated key. Algo is the public
6098 key algorithm of the designated revoker (i.e. RSA=1, DSA=17, etc.)
6099 FPR is the fingerprint of the designated revoker. The optional
6100 'sensitive' flag marks the designated revoker as sensitive
6101 information. Only v4 keys may be designated revokers.
6104 This is an optional parameter that specifies the preferred
6105 keyserver URL for the key.
6108 This is an optional parameter only used with the status lines
6109 KEY_CREATED and KEY_NOT_CREATED. STRING may be up to 100 characters
6110 and should not contain spaces. It is useful for batch key
6111 generation to associate a key parameter block with a status line.
6113 Here is an example on how to create a key in an ephemeral home
6115 $ export GNUPGHOME="$(mktemp -d)"
6117 %echo Generating a basic OpenPGP key
6122 Name-Real: Joe Tester
6123 Name-Comment: with stupid passphrase
6124 Name-Email: joe@foo.bar
6127 # Do a commit here, so that we can later print "done" :-)
6131 $ gpg --batch --generate-key foo
6133 $ gpg --list-secret-keys
6134 /tmp/tmp.0NQxB74PEf/pubring.kbx
6135 -------------------------------
6136 sec dsa1024 2016-12-16 [SCA]
6137 768E895903FC1C44045C8CB95EEBDB71E9E849D0
6138 uid [ultimate] Joe Tester (with stupid passphrase) <joe@foo.bar>
6139 ssb elg1024 2016-12-16 [E]
6141 If you want to create a key with the default algorithms you would use
6143 %echo Generating a default key
6145 Subkey-Type: default
6146 Name-Real: Joe Tester
6147 Name-Comment: with stupid passphrase
6148 Name-Email: joe@foo.bar
6151 # Do a commit here, so that we can later print "done" :-)
6156 File: gnupg.info, Node: Invoking GPGSM, Next: Invoking SCDAEMON, Prev: Invoking GPG, Up: Top
6161 'gpgsm' is a tool similar to 'gpg' to provide digital encryption and
6162 signing services on X.509 certificates and the CMS protocol. It is
6163 mainly used as a backend for S/MIME mail processing. 'gpgsm' includes a
6164 full featured certificate management and complies with all rules defined
6165 for the German Sphinx project.
6167 *Note Option Index::, for an index to 'GPGSM''s commands and options.
6171 * GPGSM Commands:: List of all commands.
6172 * GPGSM Options:: List of all options.
6173 * GPGSM Configuration:: Configuration files.
6174 * GPGSM Examples:: Some usage examples.
6176 Developer information:
6177 * Unattended Usage:: Using 'gpgsm' from other programs.
6178 * GPGSM Protocol:: The protocol the server mode uses.
6181 File: gnupg.info, Node: GPGSM Commands, Next: GPGSM Options, Up: Invoking GPGSM
6186 Commands are not distinguished from options except for the fact that
6187 only one command is allowed.
6191 * General GPGSM Commands:: Commands not specific to the functionality.
6192 * Operational GPGSM Commands:: Commands to select the type of operation.
6193 * Certificate Management:: How to manage certificates.
6196 File: gnupg.info, Node: General GPGSM Commands, Next: Operational GPGSM Commands, Up: GPGSM Commands
6198 5.1.1 Commands not specific to the function
6199 -------------------------------------------
6202 Print the program version and licensing information. Note that you
6203 cannot abbreviate this command.
6206 Print a usage message summarizing the most useful command-line
6207 options. Note that you cannot abbreviate this command.
6210 Print warranty information. Note that you cannot abbreviate this
6214 Print a list of all available options and commands. Note that you
6215 cannot abbreviate this command.
6218 File: gnupg.info, Node: Operational GPGSM Commands, Next: Certificate Management, Prev: General GPGSM Commands, Up: GPGSM Commands
6220 5.1.2 Commands to select the type of operation
6221 ----------------------------------------------
6224 Perform an encryption. The keys the data is encrypted to must be
6225 set using the option '--recipient'.
6228 Perform a decryption; the type of input is automatically
6229 determined. It may either be in binary form or PEM encoded;
6230 automatic determination of base-64 encoding is not done.
6233 Create a digital signature. The key used is either the fist one
6234 found in the keybox or those set with the '--local-user' option.
6237 Check a signature file for validity. Depending on the arguments a
6238 detached signature may also be checked.
6241 Run in server mode and wait for commands on the 'stdin'.
6243 '--call-dirmngr COMMAND [ARGS]'
6244 Behave as a Dirmngr client issuing the request COMMAND with the
6245 optional list of ARGS. The output of the Dirmngr is printed
6246 stdout. Please note that file names given as arguments should have
6247 an absolute file name (i.e. commencing with '/') because they are
6248 passed verbatim to the Dirmngr and the working directory of the
6249 Dirmngr might not be the same as the one of this client. Currently
6250 it is not possible to pass data via stdin to the Dirmngr. COMMAND
6251 should not contain spaces.
6253 This is command is required for certain maintaining tasks of the
6254 dirmngr where a dirmngr must be able to call back to 'gpgsm'. See
6255 the Dirmngr manual for details.
6257 '--call-protect-tool ARGUMENTS'
6258 Certain maintenance operations are done by an external program call
6259 'gpg-protect-tool'; this is usually not installed in a directory
6260 listed in the PATH variable. This command provides a simple
6261 wrapper to access this tool. ARGUMENTS are passed verbatim to this
6262 command; use '--help' to get a list of supported operations.
6265 File: gnupg.info, Node: Certificate Management, Prev: Operational GPGSM Commands, Up: GPGSM Commands
6267 5.1.3 How to manage the certificates and keys
6268 ---------------------------------------------
6272 This command allows the creation of a certificate signing request
6273 or a self-signed certificate. It is commonly used along with the
6274 '--output' option to save the created CSR or certificate into a
6275 file. If used with the '--batch' a parameter file is used to
6276 create the CSR or certificate and it is further possible to create
6277 non-self-signed certificates.
6281 List all available certificates stored in the local key database.
6282 Note that the displayed data might be reformatted for better human
6283 readability and illegal characters are replaced by safe
6286 '--list-secret-keys'
6288 List all available certificates for which a corresponding a secret
6291 '--list-external-keys PATTERN'
6292 List certificates matching PATTERN using an external server. This
6293 utilizes the 'dirmngr' service.
6296 Same as '--list-keys' but also prints all keys making up the chain.
6300 List all available certificates stored in the local key database
6301 using a format useful mainly for debugging.
6304 Same as '--dump-keys' but also prints all keys making up the chain.
6306 '--dump-secret-keys'
6307 List all available certificates for which a corresponding a secret
6308 key is available using a format useful mainly for debugging.
6310 '--dump-external-keys PATTERN'
6311 List certificates matching PATTERN using an external server. This
6312 utilizes the 'dirmngr' service. It uses a format useful mainly for
6315 '--keydb-clear-some-cert-flags'
6316 This is a debugging aid to reset certain flags in the key database
6317 which are used to cache certain certificate statuses. It is
6318 especially useful if a bad CRL or a weird running OCSP responder
6319 did accidentally revoke certificate. There is no security issue
6320 with this command because 'gpgsm' always make sure that the
6321 validity of a certificate is checked right before it is used.
6323 '--delete-keys PATTERN'
6324 Delete the keys matching PATTERN. Note that there is no command to
6325 delete the secret part of the key directly. In case you need to do
6326 this, you should run the command 'gpgsm --dump-secret-keys KEYID'
6327 before you delete the key, copy the string of hex-digits in the
6328 "keygrip" line and delete the file consisting of these hex-digits
6329 and the suffix '.key' from the 'private-keys-v1.d' directory below
6330 our GnuPG home directory (usually '~/.gnupg').
6332 '--export [PATTERN]'
6333 Export all certificates stored in the Keybox or those specified by
6334 the optional PATTERN. Those pattern consist of a list of user ids
6335 (*note how-to-specify-a-user-id::). When used along with the
6336 '--armor' option a few informational lines are prepended before
6337 each block. There is one limitation: As there is no commonly
6338 agreed upon way to pack more than one certificate into an ASN.1
6339 structure, the binary export (i.e. without using 'armor') works
6340 only for the export of one certificate. Thus it is required to
6341 specify a PATTERN which yields exactly one certificate. Ephemeral
6342 certificate are only exported if all PATTERN are given as
6343 fingerprints or keygrips.
6345 '--export-secret-key-p12 KEY-ID'
6346 Export the private key and the certificate identified by KEY-ID
6347 using the PKCS#12 format. When used with the '--armor' option a
6348 few informational lines are prepended to the output. Note, that
6349 the PKCS#12 format is not very secure and proper transport security
6350 should be used to convey the exported key. (*Note option
6353 '--export-secret-key-p8 KEY-ID'
6354 '--export-secret-key-raw KEY-ID'
6355 Export the private key of the certificate identified by KEY-ID with
6356 any encryption stripped. The '...-raw' command exports in PKCS#1
6357 format; the '...-p8' command exports in PKCS#8 format. When used
6358 with the '--armor' option a few informational lines are prepended
6359 to the output. These commands are useful to prepare a key for use
6363 Import the certificates from the PEM or binary encoded files as
6364 well as from signed-only messages. This command may also be used
6365 to import a secret key from a PKCS#12 file.
6368 Read information about the private keys from the smartcard and
6369 import the certificates from there. This command utilizes the
6370 'gpg-agent' and in turn the 'scdaemon'.
6372 '--change-passphrase USER_ID'
6374 Change the passphrase of the private key belonging to the
6375 certificate specified as USER_ID. Note, that changing the
6376 passphrase/PIN of a smartcard is not yet supported.
6379 File: gnupg.info, Node: GPGSM Options, Next: GPGSM Configuration, Prev: GPGSM Commands, Up: Invoking GPGSM
6384 'GPGSM' features a bunch of options to control the exact behaviour and
6385 to change the default configuration.
6389 * Configuration Options:: How to change the configuration.
6390 * Certificate Options:: Certificate related options.
6391 * Input and Output:: Input and Output.
6392 * CMS Options:: How to change how the CMS is created.
6393 * Esoteric Options:: Doing things one usually do not want to do.
6396 File: gnupg.info, Node: Configuration Options, Next: Certificate Options, Up: GPGSM Options
6398 5.2.1 How to change the configuration
6399 -------------------------------------
6401 These options are used to change the configuration and are usually found
6405 Reads configuration from FILE instead of from the default per-user
6406 configuration file. The default configuration file is named
6407 'gpgsm.conf' and expected in the '.gnupg' directory directly below
6408 the home directory of the user.
6411 Set the name of the home directory to DIR. If this option is not
6412 used, the home directory defaults to '~/.gnupg'. It is only
6413 recognized when given on the command line. It also overrides any
6414 home directory stated through the environment variable 'GNUPGHOME'
6415 or (on Windows systems) by means of the Registry entry
6416 HKCU\SOFTWARE\GNU\GNUPG:HOMEDIR.
6418 On Windows systems it is possible to install GnuPG as a portable
6419 application. In this case only this command line option is
6420 considered, all other ways to set a home directory are ignored.
6422 To install GnuPG as a portable application under Windows, create an
6423 empty file named 'gpgconf.ctl' in the same directory as the tool
6424 'gpgconf.exe'. The root of the installation is then that
6425 directory; or, if 'gpgconf.exe' has been installed directly below a
6426 directory named 'bin', its parent directory. You also need to make
6427 sure that the following directories exist and are writable:
6428 'ROOT/home' for the GnuPG home and 'ROOT/usr/local/var/cache/gnupg'
6429 for internal cache files.
6433 Outputs additional information while running. You can increase the
6434 verbosity by giving several verbose commands to 'gpgsm', such as
6437 '--keyserver STRING'
6438 Add an LDAP server to use for certificate and CRL lookup. This
6439 option can be given multiple times to configure more than one LDAP
6440 server. Note that the 'dirmngr' can in addition be configured with
6441 a default list of LDAP servers to be used after those configured
6442 with this option. The syntax of STRING is:
6444 HOSTNAME:PORT:USERNAME:PASSWORD:BASE_DN:FLAGS
6446 The only defined flag is 'ldaps' to specify that a TLS connections
6447 shall be used. Flags are comma delimited; unknown flags are
6450 Note that all parts of that string are expected to be UTF-8
6451 encoded. This may lead to problems if the PASSWORD has originally
6452 been encoded as Latin-1; in such a case better configure such an
6453 LDAP server using the global configuration of 'dirmngr'.
6455 Here is an example which uses the default port, no username, no
6456 password, and requests a TLS connection:
6458 --keyserver ldap.pca.dfn.de::::o=DFN-Verein,c=DE:ldaps
6460 '--policy-file FILENAME'
6461 Change the default name of the policy file to FILENAME. The
6462 default name is 'policies.txt'.
6464 '--agent-program FILE'
6465 Specify an agent program to be used for secret key operations. The
6466 default value is determined by running the command 'gpgconf'. Note
6467 that the pipe symbol ('|') is used for a regression test suite hack
6468 and may thus not be used in the file name.
6470 '--dirmngr-program FILE'
6471 Specify a dirmngr program to be used for CRL checks. The default
6472 value is '/usr/local/bin/dirmngr'.
6474 '--prefer-system-dirmngr'
6475 This option is obsolete and ignored.
6478 Entirely disable the use of the Dirmngr.
6481 Do not start the gpg-agent or the dirmngr if it has not yet been
6482 started and its service is required. This option is mostly useful
6483 on machines where the connection to gpg-agent has been redirected
6484 to another machines. If dirmngr is required on the remote machine,
6485 it may be started manually using 'gpgconf --launch dirmngr'.
6487 '--no-secmem-warning'
6488 Do not print a warning when the so called "secure memory" cannot be
6492 When running in server mode, append all logging output to FILE.
6493 Use 'socket://' to log to socket.
6496 File: gnupg.info, Node: Certificate Options, Next: Input and Output, Prev: Configuration Options, Up: GPGSM Options
6498 5.2.2 Certificate related options
6499 ---------------------------------
6501 '--enable-policy-checks'
6502 '--disable-policy-checks'
6503 By default policy checks are enabled. These options may be used to
6506 '--enable-crl-checks'
6507 '--disable-crl-checks'
6508 By default the CRL checks are enabled and the DirMngr is used to
6509 check for revoked certificates. The disable option is most useful
6510 with an off-line network connection to suppress this check and also
6511 to avoid that new certificates introduce a web bug by including a
6512 certificate specific CRL DP. The disable option also disables an
6513 issuer certificate lookup via the authorityInfoAccess property of
6514 the certificate; the '--enable-issuer-key-retrieve' can be used to
6515 make use of that property anyway.
6517 '--enable-trusted-cert-crl-check'
6518 '--disable-trusted-cert-crl-check'
6519 By default the CRL for trusted root certificates are checked like
6520 for any other certificates. This allows a CA to revoke its own
6521 certificates voluntary without the need of putting all ever issued
6522 certificates into a CRL. The disable option may be used to switch
6523 this extra check off. Due to the caching done by the Dirmngr,
6524 there will not be any noticeable performance gain. Note, that this
6525 also disables possible OCSP checks for trusted root certificates.
6526 A more specific way of disabling this check is by adding the
6527 "relax" keyword to the root CA line of the 'trustlist.txt'
6529 '--force-crl-refresh'
6530 Tell the dirmngr to reload the CRL for each request. For better
6531 performance, the dirmngr will actually optimize this by suppressing
6532 the loading for short time intervals (e.g. 30 minutes). This
6533 option is useful to make sure that a fresh CRL is available for
6534 certificates hold in the keybox. The suggested way of doing this
6535 is by using it along with the option '--with-validation' for a key
6536 listing command. This option should not be used in a configuration
6539 '--enable-issuer-based-crl-check'
6540 Run a CRL check even for certificates which do not have any CRL
6541 distribution point. This requires that a suitable LDAP server has
6542 been configured in Dirmngr and that the CRL can be found using the
6543 issuer. This option reverts to what GnuPG did up to version
6544 2.2.20. This option is in general not useful.
6548 By default OCSP checks are disabled. The enable option may be used
6549 to enable OCSP checks via Dirmngr. If CRL checks are also enabled,
6550 CRLs will be used as a fallback if for some reason an OCSP request
6551 will not succeed. Note, that you have to allow OCSP requests in
6552 Dirmngr's configuration too (option '--allow-ocsp') and configure
6553 Dirmngr properly. If you do not do so you will get the error code
6556 '--auto-issuer-key-retrieve'
6557 If a required certificate is missing while validating the chain of
6558 certificates, try to load that certificate from an external
6559 location. This usually means that Dirmngr is employed to search
6560 for the certificate. Note that this option makes a "web bug" like
6561 behavior possible. LDAP server operators can see which keys you
6562 request, so by sending you a message signed by a brand new key
6563 (which you naturally will not have on your local keybox), the
6564 operator can tell both your IP address and the time when you
6565 verified the signature.
6567 '--validation-model NAME'
6568 This option changes the default validation model. The only
6569 possible values are "shell" (which is the default), "chain" which
6570 forces the use of the chain model and "steed" for a new simplified
6571 model. The chain model is also used if an option in the
6572 'trustlist.txt' or an attribute of the certificate requests it.
6573 However the standard model (shell) is in that case always tried
6576 '--ignore-cert-extension OID'
6577 Add OID to the list of ignored certificate extensions. The OID is
6578 expected to be in dotted decimal form, like '2.5.29.3'. This
6579 option may be used more than once. Critical flagged certificate
6580 extensions matching one of the OIDs in the list are treated as if
6581 they are actually handled and thus the certificate will not be
6582 rejected due to an unknown critical extension. Use this option
6583 with care because extensions are usually flagged as critical for a
6587 File: gnupg.info, Node: Input and Output, Next: CMS Options, Prev: Certificate Options, Up: GPGSM Options
6589 5.2.3 Input and Output
6590 ----------------------
6594 Create PEM encoded output. Default is binary output.
6597 Create Base-64 encoded output; i.e. PEM without the header lines.
6600 Assume the input data is PEM encoded. Default is to autodetect the
6601 encoding but this is may fail.
6604 Assume the input data is plain base-64 encoded.
6607 Assume the input data is binary encoded.
6609 '--p12-charset NAME'
6610 'gpgsm' uses the UTF-8 encoding when encoding passphrases for
6611 PKCS#12 files. This option may be used to force the passphrase to
6612 be encoded in the specified encoding NAME. This is useful if the
6613 application used to import the key uses a different encoding and
6614 thus will not be able to import a file generated by 'gpgsm'.
6615 Commonly used values for NAME are 'Latin1' and 'CP850'. Note that
6616 'gpgsm' itself automagically imports any file with a passphrase
6617 encoded to the most commonly used encodings.
6619 '--default-key USER_ID'
6620 Use USER_ID as the standard key for signing. This key is used if
6621 no other key has been defined as a signing key. Note, that the
6622 first '--local-users' option also sets this key if it has not yet
6623 been set; however '--default-key' always overrides this.
6625 '--local-user USER_ID'
6627 Set the user(s) to be used for signing. The default is the first
6628 secret key found in the database.
6632 Encrypt to the user id NAME. There are several ways a user id may
6633 be given (*note how-to-specify-a-user-id::).
6637 Write output to FILE. The default is to write it to stdout.
6640 Displays extra information with the '--list-keys' commands.
6641 Especially a line tagged 'grp' is printed which tells you the
6642 keygrip of a key. This string is for example used as the file name
6643 of the secret key. Implies '--with-colons'.
6646 When doing a key listing, do a full validation check for each key
6647 and print the result. This is usually a slow operation because it
6648 requires a CRL lookup and other operations.
6650 When used along with '--import', a validation of the certificate to
6651 import is done and only imported if it succeeds the test. Note
6652 that this does not affect an already available certificate in the
6653 DB. This option is therefore useful to simply verify a certificate.
6655 '--with-md5-fingerprint'
6656 For standard key listings, also print the MD5 fingerprint of the
6660 Include the keygrip in standard key listings. Note that the
6661 keygrip is always listed in '--with-colons' mode.
6664 Include info about the presence of a secret key in public key
6665 listings done with '--with-colons'.
6668 File: gnupg.info, Node: CMS Options, Next: Esoteric Options, Prev: Input and Output, Up: GPGSM Options
6670 5.2.4 How to change how the CMS is created
6671 ------------------------------------------
6674 Using N of -2 includes all certificate except for the root cert, -1
6675 includes all certs, 0 does not include any certs, 1 includes only
6676 the signers cert and all other positive values include up to N
6677 certificates starting with the signer cert. The default is -2.
6680 Use the cipher algorithm with the ASN.1 object identifier OID for
6681 encryption. For convenience the strings '3DES', 'AES' and 'AES256'
6682 may be used instead of their OIDs. The default is 'AES'
6683 (2.16.840.1.101.3.4.1.2).
6685 '--digest-algo name'
6686 Use 'name' as the message digest algorithm. Usually this algorithm
6687 is deduced from the respective signing certificate. This option
6688 forces the use of the given algorithm and may lead to severe
6689 interoperability problems.
6692 File: gnupg.info, Node: Esoteric Options, Prev: CMS Options, Up: GPGSM Options
6694 5.2.5 Doing things one usually do not want to do
6695 ------------------------------------------------
6698 Change the current user to UID which may either be a number or a
6699 name. This can be used from the root account to run gpgsm for
6700 another user. If UID is not the current UID a standard PATH is set
6701 and the envvar GNUPGHOME is unset. To override the latter the
6702 option '--homedir' can be used. This option has only an effect
6703 when used on the command line. This option has currently no effect
6706 '--extra-digest-algo NAME'
6707 Sometimes signatures are broken in that they announce a different
6708 digest algorithm than actually used. 'gpgsm' uses a one-pass data
6709 processing model and thus needs to rely on the announced digest
6710 algorithms to properly hash the data. As a workaround this option
6711 may be used to tell 'gpgsm' to also hash the data using the
6712 algorithm NAME; this slows processing down a little bit but allows
6713 verification of such broken signatures. If 'gpgsm' prints an error
6714 like "digest algo 8 has not been enabled" you may want to try this
6715 option, with 'SHA256' for NAME.
6717 '--faked-system-time EPOCH'
6718 This option is only useful for testing; it sets the system time
6719 back or forth to EPOCH which is the number of seconds elapsed since
6720 the year 1970. Alternatively EPOCH may be given as a full ISO time
6721 string (e.g. "20070924T154812").
6723 '--with-ephemeral-keys'
6724 Include ephemeral flagged keys in the output of key listings. Note
6725 that they are included anyway if the key specification for a
6726 listing is given as fingerprint or keygrip.
6728 '--debug-level LEVEL'
6729 Select the debug level for investigating problems. LEVEL may be a
6730 numeric value or by a keyword:
6733 No debugging at all. A value of less than 1 may be used
6734 instead of the keyword.
6736 Some basic debug messages. A value between 1 and 2 may be
6737 used instead of the keyword.
6739 More verbose debug messages. A value between 3 and 5 may be
6740 used instead of the keyword.
6742 Even more detailed messages. A value between 6 and 8 may be
6743 used instead of the keyword.
6745 All of the debug messages you can get. A value greater than 8
6746 may be used instead of the keyword. The creation of hash
6747 tracing files is only enabled if the keyword is used.
6749 How these messages are mapped to the actual debugging flags is not
6750 specified and may change with newer releases of this program. They
6751 are however carefully selected to best aid in debugging.
6754 Set debug flags. All flags are or-ed and FLAGS may be given in C
6755 syntax (e.g. 0x0042) or as a comma separated list of flag names.
6756 To get a list of all supported flags the single word "help" can be
6757 used. This option is only useful for debugging and the behavior
6758 may change at any time without notice.
6760 Note, that all flags set using this option may get overridden by
6764 Same as '--debug=0xffffffff'
6766 '--debug-allow-core-dump'
6767 Usually 'gpgsm' tries to avoid dumping core by well written code
6768 and by disabling core dumps for security reasons. However, bugs
6769 are pretty durable beasts and to squash them it is sometimes useful
6770 to have a core dump. This option enables core dumps unless the Bad
6771 Thing happened before the option parsing.
6773 '--debug-no-chain-validation'
6774 This is actually not a debugging option but only useful as such.
6775 It lets 'gpgsm' bypass all certificate chain validation checks.
6777 '--debug-ignore-expiration'
6778 This is actually not a debugging option but only useful as such.
6779 It lets 'gpgsm' ignore all notAfter dates, this is used by the
6783 Read the passphrase from file descriptor 'n'. Only the first line
6784 will be read from file descriptor 'n'. If you use 0 for 'n', the
6785 passphrase will be read from STDIN. This can only be used if only
6786 one passphrase is supplied.
6788 Note that this passphrase is only used if the option '--batch' has
6791 '--pinentry-mode mode'
6792 Set the pinentry mode to 'mode'. Allowed values for 'mode' are:
6794 Use the default of the agent, which is 'ask'.
6796 Force the use of the Pinentry.
6798 Emulate use of Pinentry's cancel button.
6800 Return a Pinentry error ("No Pinentry").
6802 Redirect Pinentry queries to the caller. Note that in
6803 contrast to Pinentry the user is not prompted again if he
6804 enters a bad password.
6806 '--request-origin ORIGIN'
6807 Tell gpgsm to assume that the operation ultimately originated at
6808 ORIGIN. Depending on the origin certain restrictions are applied
6809 and the Pinentry may include an extra note on the origin.
6810 Supported values for ORIGIN are: 'local' which is the default,
6811 'remote' to indicate a remote origin or 'browser' for an operation
6812 requested by a web browser.
6814 '--no-common-certs-import'
6815 Suppress the import of common certificates on keybox creation.
6817 All the long options may also be given in the configuration file
6818 after stripping off the two leading dashes.
6821 File: gnupg.info, Node: GPGSM Configuration, Next: GPGSM Examples, Prev: GPGSM Options, Up: Invoking GPGSM
6823 5.3 Configuration files
6824 =======================
6826 There are a few configuration files to control certain aspects of
6827 'gpgsm''s operation. Unless noted, they are expected in the current
6828 home directory (*note option --homedir::).
6831 This is the standard configuration file read by 'gpgsm' on startup.
6832 It may contain any valid long option; the leading two dashes may
6833 not be entered and the option may not be abbreviated. This default
6834 name may be changed on the command line (*note gpgsm-option
6835 --options::). You should backup this file.
6838 This is a list of allowed CA policies. This file should list the
6839 object identifiers of the policies line by line. Empty lines and
6840 lines starting with a hash mark are ignored. Policies missing in
6841 this file and not marked as critical in the certificate will print
6842 only a warning; certificates with policies marked as critical and
6843 not listed in this file will fail the signature verification. You
6844 should backup this file.
6846 For example, to allow only the policy 2.289.9.9, the file should
6853 This is the list of root certificates used for qualified
6854 certificates. They are defined as certificates capable of creating
6855 legally binding signatures in the same way as handwritten
6856 signatures are. Comments start with a hash mark and empty lines
6857 are ignored. Lines do have a length limit but this is not a
6858 serious limitation as the format of the entries is fixed and
6859 checked by 'gpgsm': A non-comment line starts with optional
6860 whitespace, followed by exactly 40 hex characters, white space and
6861 a lowercased 2 letter country code. Additional data delimited with
6862 by a white space is current ignored but might late be used for
6865 Note that even if a certificate is listed in this file, this does
6866 not mean that the certificate is trusted; in general the
6867 certificates listed in this file need to be listed also in
6868 'trustlist.txt'. This is a global file an installed in the sysconf
6869 directory (e.g. '/etc/gnupg/qualified.txt').
6871 Every time 'gpgsm' uses a certificate for signing or verification
6872 this file will be consulted to check whether the certificate under
6873 question has ultimately been issued by one of these CAs. If this
6874 is the case the user will be informed that the verified signature
6875 represents a legally binding ("qualified") signature. When
6876 creating a signature using such a certificate an extra prompt will
6877 be issued to let the user confirm that such a legally binding
6878 signature shall really be created.
6880 Because this software has not yet been approved for use with such
6881 certificates, appropriate notices will be shown to indicate this
6885 This is plain text file with a few help entries used with
6886 'pinentry' as well as a large list of help items for 'gpg' and
6887 'gpgsm'. The standard file has English help texts; to install
6888 localized versions use filenames like 'help.LL.txt' with LL
6889 denoting the locale. GnuPG comes with a set of predefined help
6890 files in the data directory (e.g.
6891 '/usr/local/share/gnupg/gnupg/help.de.txt') and allows overriding
6892 of any help item by help files stored in the system configuration
6893 directory (e.g. '/etc/gnupg/help.de.txt'). For a reference of the
6894 help file's syntax, please see the installed 'help.txt' file.
6897 This file is a collection of common certificates used to populated
6898 a newly created 'pubring.kbx'. An administrator may replace this
6899 file with a custom one. The format is a concatenation of PEM
6900 encoded X.509 certificates. This global file is installed in the
6901 data directory (e.g. '/usr/local/share/gnupg/com-certs.pem').
6903 Note that on larger installations, it is useful to put predefined
6904 files into the directory '/etc/skel/.gnupg/' so that newly created users
6905 start up with a working configuration. For existing users a small
6906 helper script is provided to create these files (*note addgnupghome::).
6908 For internal purposes 'gpgsm' creates and maintains a few other
6909 files; they all live in the current home directory (*note option
6910 --homedir::). Only 'gpgsm' may modify these files.
6913 This a database file storing the certificates as well as meta
6914 information. For debugging purposes the tool 'kbxutil' may be used
6915 to show the internal structure of this file. You should backup
6919 This content of this file is used to maintain the internal state of
6920 the random number generator across invocations. The same file is
6921 used by other programs of this software too.
6924 If this file exists 'gpgsm' will first try to connect to this
6925 socket for accessing 'gpg-agent' before starting a new 'gpg-agent'
6926 instance. Under Windows this socket (which in reality be a plain
6927 file describing a regular TCP listening port) is the standard way
6928 of connecting the 'gpg-agent'.
6931 File: gnupg.info, Node: GPGSM Examples, Next: Unattended Usage, Prev: GPGSM Configuration, Up: Invoking GPGSM
6936 $ gpgsm -er goo@bar.net <plaintext >ciphertext
6939 File: gnupg.info, Node: Unattended Usage, Next: GPGSM Protocol, Prev: GPGSM Examples, Up: Invoking GPGSM
6941 5.5 Unattended Usage
6942 ====================
6944 'gpgsm' is often used as a backend engine by other software. To help
6945 with this a machine interface has been defined to have an unambiguous
6946 way to do this. This is most likely used with the '--server' command
6947 but may also be used in the standard operation mode by using the
6948 '--status-fd' option.
6952 * Automated signature checking:: Automated signature checking.
6953 * CSR and certificate creation:: CSR and certificate creation.
6956 File: gnupg.info, Node: Automated signature checking, Next: CSR and certificate creation, Up: Unattended Usage
6958 5.5.1 Automated signature checking
6959 ----------------------------------
6961 It is very important to understand the semantics used with signature
6962 verification. Checking a signature is not as simple as it may sound and
6963 so the operation is a bit complicated. In most cases it is required to
6964 look at several status lines. Here is a table of all cases a signed
6967 The signature is valid
6968 This does mean that the signature has been successfully verified,
6969 the certificates are all sane. However there are two subcases with
6970 important information: One of the certificates may have expired or
6971 a signature of a message itself as expired. It is a sound practise
6972 to consider such a signature still as valid but additional
6973 information should be displayed. Depending on the subcase 'gpgsm'
6974 will issue these status codes:
6975 signature valid and nothing did expire
6976 'GOODSIG', 'VALIDSIG', 'TRUST_FULLY'
6977 signature valid but at least one certificate has expired
6978 'EXPKEYSIG', 'VALIDSIG', 'TRUST_FULLY'
6979 signature valid but expired
6980 'EXPSIG', 'VALIDSIG', 'TRUST_FULLY' Note, that this case is
6981 currently not implemented.
6983 The signature is invalid
6984 This means that the signature verification failed (this is an
6985 indication of a transfer error, a program error or tampering with
6986 the message). 'gpgsm' issues one of these status codes sequences:
6988 'GOODSIG, VALIDSIG TRUST_NEVER'
6990 Error verifying a signature
6991 For some reason the signature could not be verified, i.e. it
6992 cannot be decided whether the signature is valid or invalid. A
6993 common reason for this is a missing certificate.
6996 File: gnupg.info, Node: CSR and certificate creation, Prev: Automated signature checking, Up: Unattended Usage
6998 5.5.2 CSR and certificate creation
6999 ----------------------------------
7001 The command '--generate-key' may be used along with the option '--batch'
7002 to either create a certificate signing request (CSR) or an X.509
7003 certificate. This is controlled by a parameter file; the format of this
7006 * Text only, line length is limited to about 1000 characters.
7007 * UTF-8 encoding must be used to specify non-ASCII characters.
7008 * Empty lines are ignored.
7009 * Leading and trailing while space is ignored.
7010 * A hash sign as the first non white space character indicates a
7012 * Control statements are indicated by a leading percent sign, the
7013 arguments are separated by white space from the keyword.
7014 * Parameters are specified by a keyword, followed by a colon.
7015 Arguments are separated by white space.
7016 * The first parameter must be 'Key-Type', control statements may be
7018 * The order of the parameters does not matter except for 'Key-Type'
7019 which must be the first parameter. The parameters are only used
7020 for the generated CSR/certificate; parameters from previous sets
7021 are not used. Some syntactically checks may be performed.
7022 * Key generation takes place when either the end of the parameter
7023 file is reached, the next 'Key-Type' parameter is encountered or at
7024 the control statement '%commit' is encountered.
7029 Print TEXT as diagnostic.
7032 Suppress actual key generation (useful for syntax checking).
7035 Perform the key generation. Note that an implicit commit is done
7036 at the next Key-Type parameter.
7041 Starts a new parameter block by giving the type of the primary key.
7042 The algorithm must be capable of signing. This is a required
7043 parameter. The supported values for ALGO are 'rsa', 'ecdsa', and
7047 The requested length of a generated key in bits. Defaults to 3072.
7048 The value is ignored for ECC algorithms.
7051 This is optional and used to generate a CSR or certificate for an
7052 already existing key. Key-Length will be ignored when given.
7054 Key-Usage: USAGE-LIST
7055 Space or comma delimited list of key usage, allowed values are
7056 'encrypt', 'sign' and 'cert'. This is used to generate the
7057 keyUsage extension. Please make sure that the algorithm is capable
7058 of this usage. Default is to allow encrypt and sign.
7060 Name-DN: SUBJECT-NAME
7061 This is the Distinguished Name (DN) of the subject in RFC-2253
7065 This is an email address for the altSubjectName. This parameter is
7066 optional but may occur several times to add several email addresses
7070 The is an DNS name for the altSubjectName. This parameter is
7071 optional but may occur several times to add several DNS names to a
7075 This is an URI for the altSubjectName. This parameter is optional
7076 but may occur several times to add several URIs to a certificate.
7078 Additional parameters used to create a certificate (in contrast to a
7079 certificate signing request):
7082 If this parameter is given an X.509 certificate will be generated.
7083 SN is expected to be a hex string representing an unsigned integer
7084 of arbitrary length. The special value 'random' can be used to
7085 create a 64 bit random serial number.
7087 Issuer-DN: ISSUER-NAME
7088 This is the DN name of the issuer in RFC-2253 format. If it is not
7089 set it will default to the subject DN and a special GnuPG extension
7090 will be included in the certificate to mark it as a standalone
7093 Creation-Date: ISO-DATE
7094 Not-Before: ISO-DATE
7095 Set the notBefore date of the certificate. Either a date like
7096 '1986-04-26' or '1986-04-26 12:00' or a standard ISO timestamp like
7097 '19860426T042640' may be used. The time is considered to be UTC.
7098 If it is not given the current date is used.
7100 Expire-Date: ISO-DATE
7102 Set the notAfter date of the certificate. Either a date like
7103 '2063-04-05' or '2063-04-05 17:00' or a standard ISO timestamp like
7104 '20630405T170000' may be used. The time is considered to be UTC.
7105 If it is not given a default value in the not too far future is
7108 Signing-Key: KEYGRIP
7109 This gives the keygrip of the key used to sign the certificate. If
7110 it is not given a self-signed certificate will be created. For
7111 compatibility with future versions, it is suggested to prefix the
7114 Hash-Algo: HASH-ALGO
7115 Use HASH-ALGO for this CSR or certificate. The supported hash
7116 algorithms are: 'sha1', 'sha256', 'sha384' and 'sha512'; they may
7117 also be specified with uppercase letters. The default is 'sha256'.
7119 Authority-Key-Id: HEXSTRING
7120 Insert the decoded value of HEXSTRING as authorityKeyIdentifier.
7121 If this is not given and an ECC algorithm is used the public part
7122 of the certified public key is used as authorityKeyIdentifier. To
7123 inhibit any authorityKeyIdentifier use the special value 'none' for
7126 Subject-Key-Id: HEXSTRING
7127 Insert the decoded value of HEXSTRING as subjectKeyIdentifier. If
7128 this is not given and an ECC algorithm is used the public part of
7129 the signing key is used as authorityKeyIdentifier. To inhibit any
7130 subjectKeyIdentifier use the special value 'none' for HEXSTRING.
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