1 @c Copyright (C) 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007,
2 @c 2008, 2009, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 @c This is part of the GnuPG manual.
4 @c For copying conditions, see the file gnupg.texi.
10 @cindex GPG command options
11 @cindex command options
12 @cindex options, GPG command
20 \- OpenPGP encryption and signing tool
37 @command{@gpgname} is the OpenPGP part of the GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG). It
38 is a tool to provide digital encryption and signing services using the
39 OpenPGP standard. @command{@gpgname} features complete key management and
40 all bells and whistles you can expect from a decent OpenPGP
43 In contrast to the standalone command gpg from GnuPG 1.x, which is
44 might be better suited for server and embedded platforms, the 2.x
45 version is commonly installed under the name @command{gpg2} and
46 targeted to the desktop as it requires several other modules to be
50 The old 1.x version will be kept maintained and it is possible to
51 install both versions on the same system. Documentation for the old
52 GnuPG 1.x command is available as a man page and at
53 @inforef{Top,GnuPG 1,gpg}.
55 @xref{Option Index}, for an index to @command{@gpgname}'s commands and options.
59 * GPG Commands:: List of all commands.
60 * GPG Options:: List of all options.
61 * GPG Configuration:: Configuration files.
62 * GPG Examples:: Some usage examples.
64 Developer information:
65 * Unattended Usage of GPG:: Using @command{gpg} from other programs.
68 @c * GPG Protocol:: The protocol the server mode uses.
71 @c *******************************************
72 @c *************** ****************
73 @c *************** COMMANDS ****************
74 @c *************** ****************
75 @c *******************************************
80 Commands are not distinguished from options except for the fact that
81 only one command is allowed.
83 @command{@gpgname} may be run with no commands, in which case it will
84 perform a reasonable action depending on the type of file it is given
85 as input (an encrypted message is decrypted, a signature is verified,
86 a file containing keys is listed).
88 Please remember that option as well as command parsing stops as soon as
89 a non-option is encountered, you can explicitly stop parsing by
90 using the special option @option{--}.
94 * General GPG Commands:: Commands not specific to the functionality.
95 * Operational GPG Commands:: Commands to select the type of operation.
96 * OpenPGP Key Management:: How to manage your keys.
100 @c *******************************************
101 @c ********** GENERAL COMMANDS *************
102 @c *******************************************
103 @node General GPG Commands
104 @subsection Commands not specific to the function
109 Print the program version and licensing information. Note that you
110 cannot abbreviate this command.
115 Print a usage message summarizing the most useful command line options.
116 Note that you cannot abbreviate this command.
120 Print warranty information.
123 @opindex dump-options
124 Print a list of all available options and commands. Note that you cannot
125 abbreviate this command.
129 @c *******************************************
130 @c ******** OPERATIONAL COMMANDS ***********
131 @c *******************************************
132 @node Operational GPG Commands
133 @subsection Commands to select the type of operation
141 Make a signature. This command may be combined with @option{--encrypt}
142 (for a signed and encrypted message), @option{--symmetric} (for a
143 signed and symmetrically encrypted message), or @option{--encrypt} and
144 @option{--symmetric} together (for a signed message that may be
145 decrypted via a secret key or a passphrase). The key to be used for
146 signing is chosen by default or can be set with the
147 @option{--local-user} and @option{--default-key} options.
151 Make a clear text signature. The content in a clear text signature is
152 readable without any special software. OpenPGP software is only needed
153 to verify the signature. Clear text signatures may modify end-of-line
154 whitespace for platform independence and are not intended to be
155 reversible. The key to be used for signing is chosen by default or
156 can be set with the @option{--local-user} and @option{--default-key}
163 Make a detached signature.
168 Encrypt data. This option may be combined with @option{--sign} (for a
169 signed and encrypted message), @option{--symmetric} (for a message that
170 may be decrypted via a secret key or a passphrase), or @option{--sign}
171 and @option{--symmetric} together (for a signed message that may be
172 decrypted via a secret key or a passphrase).
177 Encrypt with a symmetric cipher using a passphrase. The default
178 symmetric cipher used is @value{GPGSYMENCALGO}, but may be chosen with the
179 @option{--cipher-algo} option. This option may be combined with
180 @option{--sign} (for a signed and symmetrically encrypted message),
181 @option{--encrypt} (for a message that may be decrypted via a secret key
182 or a passphrase), or @option{--sign} and @option{--encrypt} together
183 (for a signed message that may be decrypted via a secret key or a
188 Store only (make a simple RFC1991 literal data packet).
193 Decrypt the file given on the command line (or STDIN if no file
194 is specified) and write it to STDOUT (or the file specified with
195 @option{--output}). If the decrypted file is signed, the signature is also
196 verified. This command differs from the default operation, as it never
197 writes to the filename which is included in the file and it rejects
198 files which don't begin with an encrypted message.
202 Assume that the first argument is a signed file and verify it without
203 generating any output. With no arguments, the signature packet is
204 read from STDIN. If only a one argument is given, it is expected to
205 be a complete signature.
207 With more than 1 argument, the first should be a detached signature
208 and the remaining files ake up the the signed data. To read the signed
209 data from STDIN, use @samp{-} as the second filename. For security
210 reasons a detached signature cannot read the signed material from
211 STDIN without denoting it in the above way.
213 Note: If the option @option{--batch} is not used, @command{@gpgname}
214 may assume that a single argument is a file with a detached signature
215 and it will try to find a matching data file by stripping certain
216 suffixes. Using this historical feature to verify a detached
217 signature is strongly discouraged; always specify the data file too.
219 Note: When verifying a cleartext signature, @command{gpg} verifies
220 only what makes up the cleartext signed data and not any extra data
221 outside of the cleartext signature or header lines following directly
222 the dash marker line. The option @code{--output} may be used to write
223 out the actual signed data; but there are other pitfalls with this
224 format as well. It is suggested to avoid cleartext signatures in
225 favor of detached signatures.
229 This modifies certain other commands to accept multiple files for
230 processing on the command line or read from STDIN with each filename on
231 a separate line. This allows for many files to be processed at
232 once. @option{--multifile} may currently be used along with
233 @option{--verify}, @option{--encrypt}, and @option{--decrypt}. Note that
234 @option{--multifile --verify} may not be used with detached signatures.
237 @opindex verify-files
238 Identical to @option{--multifile --verify}.
240 @item --encrypt-files
241 @opindex encrypt-files
242 Identical to @option{--multifile --encrypt}.
244 @item --decrypt-files
245 @opindex decrypt-files
246 Identical to @option{--multifile --decrypt}.
250 @itemx --list-public-keys
252 List all keys from the public keyrings, or just the keys given on the
255 Avoid using the output of this command in scripts or other programs as
256 it is likely to change as GnuPG changes. See @option{--with-colons} for a
257 machine-parseable key listing command that is appropriate for use in
258 scripts and other programs.
260 @item --list-secret-keys
262 @opindex list-secret-keys
263 List all keys from the secret keyrings, or just the ones given on the
264 command line. A @code{#} after the letters @code{sec} means that the
265 secret key is not usable (for example, if it was created via
266 @option{--export-secret-subkeys}).
270 Same as @option{--list-keys}, but the signatures are listed too.
271 This command has the same effect as
272 using @option{--list-keys} with @option{--with-sig-list}.
274 For each signature listed, there are several flags in between the "sig"
275 tag and keyid. These flags give additional information about each
276 signature. From left to right, they are the numbers 1-3 for certificate
277 check level (see @option{--ask-cert-level}), "L" for a local or
278 non-exportable signature (see @option{--lsign-key}), "R" for a
279 nonRevocable signature (see the @option{--edit-key} command "nrsign"),
280 "P" for a signature that contains a policy URL (see
281 @option{--cert-policy-url}), "N" for a signature that contains a
282 notation (see @option{--cert-notation}), "X" for an eXpired signature
283 (see @option{--ask-cert-expire}), and the numbers 1-9 or "T" for 10 and
284 above to indicate trust signature levels (see the @option{--edit-key}
289 Same as @option{--list-sigs}, but the signatures are verified. Note
290 that for performance reasons the revocation status of a signing key is
292 This command has the same effect as
293 using @option{--list-keys} with @option{--with-sig-check}.
295 The status of the verification is indicated by a flag directly following
296 the "sig" tag (and thus before the flags described above for
297 @option{--list-sigs}). A "!" indicates that the signature has been
298 successfully verified, a "-" denotes a bad signature and a "%" is used
299 if an error occurred while checking the signature (e.g. a non supported
304 Locate the keys given as arguments. This command basically uses the
305 same algorithm as used when locating keys for encryption or signing and
306 may thus be used to see what keys @command{@gpgname} might use. In
307 particular external methods as defined by @option{--auto-key-locate} may
308 be used to locate a key. Only public keys are listed.
312 List all keys (or the specified ones) along with their
313 fingerprints. This is the same output as @option{--list-keys} but with
314 the additional output of a line with the fingerprint. May also be
315 combined with @option{--list-sigs} or @option{--check-sigs}. If this
316 command is given twice, the fingerprints of all secondary keys are
320 @opindex list-packets
321 List only the sequence of packets. This is mainly useful for
322 debugging. When used with option @option{--verbose} the actual MPI
323 values are dumped and not only their lengths.
328 Present a menu to work with a smartcard. The subcommand "help" provides
329 an overview on available commands. For a detailed description, please
330 see the Card HOWTO at
331 https://gnupg.org/documentation/howtos.html#GnuPG-cardHOWTO .
335 Show the content of the smart card.
339 Present a menu to allow changing the PIN of a smartcard. This
340 functionality is also available as the subcommand "passwd" with the
341 @option{--card-edit} command.
343 @item --delete-keys @code{name}
344 @itemx --delete-keys @code{name}
345 Remove key from the public keyring. In batch mode either @option{--yes} is
346 required or the key must be specified by fingerprint. This is a
347 safeguard against accidental deletion of multiple keys.
349 @item --delete-secret-keys @code{name}
350 @opindex delete-secret-keys
351 Remove key from the secret keyring. In batch mode the key
352 must be specified by fingerprint.
354 @item --delete-secret-and-public-key @code{name}
355 @opindex delete-secret-and-public-key
356 Same as @option{--delete-key}, but if a secret key exists, it will be
357 removed first. In batch mode the key must be specified by fingerprint.
361 Either export all keys from all keyrings (default keyrings and those
362 registered via option @option{--keyring}), or if at least one name is given,
363 those of the given name. The exported keys are written to STDOUT or to the
364 file given with option @option{--output}. Use together with
365 @option{--armor} to mail those keys.
367 @item --send-keys @code{key IDs}
369 Similar to @option{--export} but sends the keys to a keyserver.
370 Fingerprints may be used instead of key IDs. Option @option{--keyserver}
371 must be used to give the name of this keyserver. Don't send your
372 complete keyring to a keyserver --- select only those keys which are new
373 or changed by you. If no key IDs are given, @command{gpg} does nothing.
375 @item --export-secret-keys
376 @itemx --export-secret-subkeys
377 @opindex export-secret-keys
378 @opindex export-secret-subkeys
379 Same as @option{--export}, but exports the secret keys instead. The
380 exported keys are written to STDOUT or to the file given with option
381 @option{--output}. This command is often used along with the option
382 @option{--armor} to allow easy printing of the key for paper backup;
383 however the external tool @command{paperkey} does a better job for
384 creating backups on paper. Note that exporting a secret key can be a
385 security risk if the exported keys are send over an insecure channel.
387 The second form of the command has the special property to render the
388 secret part of the primary key useless; this is a GNU extension to
389 OpenPGP and other implementations can not be expected to successfully
390 import such a key. Its intended use is to generated a full key with
391 an additional signing subkey on a dedicated machine and then using
392 this command to export the key without the primary key to the main
395 GnuPG may ask you to enter the passphrase for the key. This is
396 required because the internal protection method of the secret key is
397 different from the one specified by the OpenPGP protocol.
402 Import/merge keys. This adds the given keys to the
403 keyring. The fast version is currently just a synonym.
405 There are a few other options which control how this command works.
406 Most notable here is the @option{--import-options merge-only} option
407 which does not insert new keys but does only the merging of new
408 signatures, user-IDs and subkeys.
410 @item --recv-keys @code{key IDs}
412 Import the keys with the given key IDs from a keyserver. Option
413 @option{--keyserver} must be used to give the name of this keyserver.
416 @opindex refresh-keys
417 Request updates from a keyserver for keys that already exist on the
418 local keyring. This is useful for updating a key with the latest
419 signatures, user IDs, etc. Calling this with no arguments will refresh
420 the entire keyring. Option @option{--keyserver} must be used to give the
421 name of the keyserver for all keys that do not have preferred keyservers
422 set (see @option{--keyserver-options honor-keyserver-url}).
424 @item --search-keys @code{names}
426 Search the keyserver for the given names. Multiple names given here will
427 be joined together to create the search string for the keyserver.
428 Option @option{--keyserver} must be used to give the name of this
429 keyserver. Keyservers that support different search methods allow using
430 the syntax specified in "How to specify a user ID" below. Note that
431 different keyserver types support different search methods. Currently
432 only LDAP supports them all.
434 @item --fetch-keys @code{URIs}
436 Retrieve keys located at the specified URIs. Note that different
437 installations of GnuPG may support different protocols (HTTP, FTP,
440 @item --update-trustdb
441 @opindex update-trustdb
442 Do trust database maintenance. This command iterates over all keys and
443 builds the Web of Trust. This is an interactive command because it may
444 have to ask for the "ownertrust" values for keys. The user has to give
445 an estimation of how far she trusts the owner of the displayed key to
446 correctly certify (sign) other keys. GnuPG only asks for the ownertrust
447 value if it has not yet been assigned to a key. Using the
448 @option{--edit-key} menu, the assigned value can be changed at any time.
450 @item --check-trustdb
451 @opindex check-trustdb
452 Do trust database maintenance without user interaction. From time to
453 time the trust database must be updated so that expired keys or
454 signatures and the resulting changes in the Web of Trust can be
455 tracked. Normally, GnuPG will calculate when this is required and do it
456 automatically unless @option{--no-auto-check-trustdb} is set. This
457 command can be used to force a trust database check at any time. The
458 processing is identical to that of @option{--update-trustdb} but it
459 skips keys with a not yet defined "ownertrust".
461 For use with cron jobs, this command can be used together with
462 @option{--batch} in which case the trust database check is done only if
463 a check is needed. To force a run even in batch mode add the option
466 @anchor{option --export-ownertrust}
467 @item --export-ownertrust
468 @opindex export-ownertrust
469 Send the ownertrust values to STDOUT. This is useful for backup purposes
470 as these values are the only ones which can't be re-created from a
471 corrupted trustdb. Example:
474 @gpgname{} --export-ownertrust > otrust.txt
479 @item --import-ownertrust
480 @opindex import-ownertrust
481 Update the trustdb with the ownertrust values stored in @code{files} (or
482 STDIN if not given); existing values will be overwritten. In case of a
483 severely damaged trustdb and if you have a recent backup of the
484 ownertrust values (e.g. in the file @file{otrust.txt}, you may re-create
485 the trustdb using these commands:
490 @gpgname{} --import-ownertrust < otrust.txt
495 @item --rebuild-keydb-caches
496 @opindex rebuild-keydb-caches
497 When updating from version 1.0.6 to 1.0.7 this command should be used
498 to create signature caches in the keyring. It might be handy in other
501 @item --print-md @code{algo}
504 Print message digest of algorithm ALGO for all given files or STDIN.
505 With the second form (or a deprecated "*" as algo) digests for all
506 available algorithms are printed.
508 @item --gen-random @code{0|1|2} @code{count}
510 Emit @var{count} random bytes of the given quality level 0, 1 or 2. If
511 @var{count} is not given or zero, an endless sequence of random bytes
512 will be emitted. If used with @option{--armor} the output will be
513 base64 encoded. PLEASE, don't use this command unless you know what
514 you are doing; it may remove precious entropy from the system!
516 @item --gen-prime @code{mode} @code{bits}
518 Use the source, Luke :-). The output format is still subject to change.
525 Pack or unpack an arbitrary input into/from an OpenPGP ASCII armor.
526 This is a GnuPG extension to OpenPGP and in general not very useful.
531 @c Run gpg in server mode. This feature is not yet ready for use and
532 @c thus not documented.
537 @c *******************************************
538 @c ******* KEY MANGEMENT COMMANDS **********
539 @c *******************************************
540 @node OpenPGP Key Management
541 @subsection How to manage your keys
543 This section explains the main commands for key management
547 @item --quick-gen-key @code{user-id}
548 @opindex quick-gen-key
549 This is a simple command to generate a standard key with one user id.
550 In contrast to @option{--gen-key} the key is generated directly
551 without the need to answer a bunch of prompts. Unless the option
552 @option{--yes} is given, the key creation will be canceled if the
553 given user id already exists in the key ring.
555 If invoked directly on the console without any special options an
556 answer to a ``Continue?'' style confirmation prompt is required. In
557 case the user id already exists in the key ring a second prompt to
558 force the creation of the key will show up.
560 If this command is used with @option{--batch},
561 @option{--pinentry-mode} has been set to @code{loopback}, and one of
562 the passphrase options (@option{--passphrase},
563 @option{--passphrase-fd}, or @option{passphrase-file}) is used, the
564 supplied passphrase is used for the new key and the agent does not ask
565 for it. To create a key without any protection @code{--passphrase ''}
570 Generate a new key pair using the current default parameters. This is
571 the standard command to create a new key.
575 Generate a new key pair with dialogs for all options. This is an
576 extended version of @option{--gen-key}.
578 There is also a feature which allows you to create keys in batch
579 mode. See the the manual section ``Unattended key generation'' on how
582 @item --gen-revoke @code{name}
584 Generate a revocation certificate for the complete key. To revoke
585 a subkey or a signature, use the @option{--edit} command.
587 @item --desig-revoke @code{name}
588 @opindex desig-revoke
589 Generate a designated revocation certificate for a key. This allows a
590 user (with the permission of the keyholder) to revoke someone else's
596 Present a menu which enables you to do most of the key management
597 related tasks. It expects the specification of a key on the command
600 @c ******** Begin Edit-key Options **********
605 Toggle selection of user ID or photographic user ID with index @code{n}.
606 Use @code{*} to select all and @code{0} to deselect all.
610 Toggle selection of subkey with index @code{n}.
611 Use @code{*} to select all and @code{0} to deselect all.
614 @opindex keyedit:sign
615 Make a signature on key of user @code{name} If the key is not yet
616 signed by the default user (or the users given with -u), the program
617 displays the information of the key again, together with its
618 fingerprint and asks whether it should be signed. This question is
619 repeated for all users specified with
623 @opindex keyedit:lsign
624 Same as "sign" but the signature is marked as non-exportable and will
625 therefore never be used by others. This may be used to make keys
626 valid only in the local environment.
629 @opindex keyedit:nrsign
630 Same as "sign" but the signature is marked as non-revocable and can
631 therefore never be revoked.
634 @opindex keyedit:tsign
635 Make a trust signature. This is a signature that combines the notions
636 of certification (like a regular signature), and trust (like the
637 "trust" command). It is generally only useful in distinct communities
642 Note that "l" (for local / non-exportable), "nr" (for non-revocable,
643 and "t" (for trust) may be freely mixed and prefixed to "sign" to
644 create a signature of any type desired.
650 @opindex keyedit:delsig
651 Delete a signature. Note that it is not possible to retract a signature,
652 once it has been send to the public (i.e. to a keyserver). In that case
653 you better use @code{revsig}.
656 @opindex keyedit:revsig
657 Revoke a signature. For every signature which has been generated by
658 one of the secret keys, GnuPG asks whether a revocation certificate
662 @opindex keyedit:check
663 Check the signatures on all selected user IDs.
666 @opindex keyedit:adduid
667 Create an additional user ID.
670 @opindex keyedit:addphoto
671 Create a photographic user ID. This will prompt for a JPEG file that
672 will be embedded into the user ID. Note that a very large JPEG will make
673 for a very large key. Also note that some programs will display your
674 JPEG unchanged (GnuPG), and some programs will scale it to fit in a
678 @opindex keyedit:showphoto
679 Display the selected photographic user ID.
682 @opindex keyedit:deluid
683 Delete a user ID or photographic user ID. Note that it is not
684 possible to retract a user id, once it has been send to the public
685 (i.e. to a keyserver). In that case you better use @code{revuid}.
688 @opindex keyedit:revuid
689 Revoke a user ID or photographic user ID.
692 @opindex keyedit:primary
693 Flag the current user id as the primary one, removes the primary user
694 id flag from all other user ids and sets the timestamp of all affected
695 self-signatures one second ahead. Note that setting a photo user ID
696 as primary makes it primary over other photo user IDs, and setting a
697 regular user ID as primary makes it primary over other regular user
701 @opindex keyedit:keyserver
702 Set a preferred keyserver for the specified user ID(s). This allows
703 other users to know where you prefer they get your key from. See
704 @option{--keyserver-options honor-keyserver-url} for more on how this
705 works. Setting a value of "none" removes an existing preferred
709 @opindex keyedit:notation
710 Set a name=value notation for the specified user ID(s). See
711 @option{--cert-notation} for more on how this works. Setting a value of
712 "none" removes all notations, setting a notation prefixed with a minus
713 sign (-) removes that notation, and setting a notation name (without the
714 =value) prefixed with a minus sign removes all notations with that name.
717 @opindex keyedit:pref
718 List preferences from the selected user ID. This shows the actual
719 preferences, without including any implied preferences.
722 @opindex keyedit:showpref
723 More verbose preferences listing for the selected user ID. This shows
724 the preferences in effect by including the implied preferences of 3DES
725 (cipher), SHA-1 (digest), and Uncompressed (compression) if they are
726 not already included in the preference list. In addition, the
727 preferred keyserver and signature notations (if any) are shown.
729 @item setpref @code{string}
730 @opindex keyedit:setpref
731 Set the list of user ID preferences to @code{string} for all (or just
732 the selected) user IDs. Calling setpref with no arguments sets the
733 preference list to the default (either built-in or set via
734 @option{--default-preference-list}), and calling setpref with "none"
735 as the argument sets an empty preference list. Use @command{@gpgname
736 --version} to get a list of available algorithms. Note that while you
737 can change the preferences on an attribute user ID (aka "photo ID"),
738 GnuPG does not select keys via attribute user IDs so these preferences
739 will not be used by GnuPG.
741 When setting preferences, you should list the algorithms in the order
742 which you'd like to see them used by someone else when encrypting a
743 message to your key. If you don't include 3DES, it will be
744 automatically added at the end. Note that there are many factors that
745 go into choosing an algorithm (for example, your key may not be the
746 only recipient), and so the remote OpenPGP application being used to
747 send to you may or may not follow your exact chosen order for a given
748 message. It will, however, only choose an algorithm that is present
749 on the preference list of every recipient key. See also the
750 INTEROPERABILITY WITH OTHER OPENPGP PROGRAMS section below.
753 @opindex keyedit:addkey
754 Add a subkey to this key.
757 @opindex keyedit:addcardkey
758 Generate a subkey on a card and add it to this key.
761 @opindex keyedit:keytocard
762 Transfer the selected secret subkey (or the primary key if no subkey
763 has been selected) to a smartcard. The secret key in the keyring will
764 be replaced by a stub if the key could be stored successfully on the
765 card and you use the save command later. Only certain key types may be
766 transferred to the card. A sub menu allows you to select on what card
767 to store the key. Note that it is not possible to get that key back
768 from the card - if the card gets broken your secret key will be lost
769 unless you have a backup somewhere.
771 @item bkuptocard @code{file}
772 @opindex keyedit:bkuptocard
773 Restore the given file to a card. This command may be used to restore a
774 backup key (as generated during card initialization) to a new card. In
775 almost all cases this will be the encryption key. You should use this
776 command only with the corresponding public key and make sure that the
777 file given as argument is indeed the backup to restore. You should then
778 select 2 to restore as encryption key. You will first be asked to enter
779 the passphrase of the backup key and then for the Admin PIN of the card.
782 @opindex keyedit:delkey
783 Remove a subkey (secondary key). Note that it is not possible to retract
784 a subkey, once it has been send to the public (i.e. to a keyserver). In
785 that case you better use @code{revkey}.
788 @opindex keyedit:revkey
792 @opindex keyedit:expire
793 Change the key or subkey expiration time. If a subkey is selected, the
794 expiration time of this subkey will be changed. With no selection, the
795 key expiration of the primary key is changed.
798 @opindex keyedit:trust
799 Change the owner trust value for the key. This updates the trust-db
800 immediately and no save is required.
804 @opindex keyedit:disable
805 @opindex keyedit:enable
806 Disable or enable an entire key. A disabled key can not normally be
810 @opindex keyedit:addrevoker
811 Add a designated revoker to the key. This takes one optional argument:
812 "sensitive". If a designated revoker is marked as sensitive, it will
813 not be exported by default (see export-options).
816 @opindex keyedit:passwd
817 Change the passphrase of the secret key.
820 @opindex keyedit:toggle
821 This is dummy command which exists only for backward compatibility.
824 @opindex keyedit:clean
825 Compact (by removing all signatures except the selfsig) any user ID
826 that is no longer usable (e.g. revoked, or expired). Then, remove any
827 signatures that are not usable by the trust calculations.
828 Specifically, this removes any signature that does not validate, any
829 signature that is superseded by a later signature, revoked signatures,
830 and signatures issued by keys that are not present on the keyring.
833 @opindex keyedit:minimize
834 Make the key as small as possible. This removes all signatures from
835 each user ID except for the most recent self-signature.
838 @opindex keyedit:cross-certify
839 Add cross-certification signatures to signing subkeys that may not
840 currently have them. Cross-certification signatures protect against a
841 subtle attack against signing subkeys. See
842 @option{--require-cross-certification}. All new keys generated have
843 this signature by default, so this option is only useful to bring
844 older keys up to date.
847 @opindex keyedit:save
848 Save all changes to the key rings and quit.
851 @opindex keyedit:quit
852 Quit the program without updating the
857 The listing shows you the key with its secondary keys and all user
858 ids. The primary user id is indicated by a dot, and selected keys or
859 user ids are indicated by an asterisk. The trust
860 value is displayed with the primary key: the first is the assigned owner
861 trust and the second is the calculated trust value. Letters are used for
868 No ownertrust assigned / not yet calculated.
872 calculation has failed; probably due to an expired key.
875 Not enough information for calculation.
878 Never trust this key.
890 @c ******** End Edit-key Options **********
892 @item --sign-key @code{name}
894 Signs a public key with your secret key. This is a shortcut version of
895 the subcommand "sign" from @option{--edit}.
897 @item --lsign-key @code{name}
899 Signs a public key with your secret key but marks it as
900 non-exportable. This is a shortcut version of the subcommand "lsign"
901 from @option{--edit-key}.
903 @item --quick-sign-key @code{fpr} [@code{names}]
904 @itemx --quick-lsign-key @code{fpr} [@code{names}]
905 @opindex quick-sign-key
906 @opindex quick-lsign-key
907 Directly sign a key from the passphrase without any further user
908 interaction. The @code{fpr} must be the verified primary fingerprint
909 of a key in the local keyring. If no @code{names} are given, all
910 useful user ids are signed; with given [@code{names}] only useful user
911 ids matching one of theses names are signed. The command
912 @option{--quick-lsign-key} marks the signatures as non-exportable. If
913 such a non-exportable signature already exists the
914 @option{--quick-sign-key} turns it into a exportable signature.
916 This command uses reasonable defaults and thus does not provide the
917 full flexibility of the "sign" subcommand from @option{--edit-key}.
918 Its intended use is to help unattended key signing by utilizing a list
919 of verified fingerprints.
921 @item --quick-adduid @var{user-id} @var{new-user-id}
922 @opindex quick-adduid
923 This command adds a new user id to an existing key. In contrast to
924 the interactive sub-command @code{adduid} of @option{--edit-key} the
925 @var{new-user-id} is added verbatim with only leading and trailing
926 white space removed, it is expected to be UTF-8 encoded, and no checks
927 on its form are applied.
929 @item --passwd @var{user_id}
931 Change the passphrase of the secret key belonging to the certificate
932 specified as @var{user_id}. This is a shortcut for the sub-command
933 @code{passwd} of the edit key menu.
938 @c *******************************************
939 @c *************** ****************
940 @c *************** OPTIONS ****************
941 @c *************** ****************
942 @c *******************************************
945 @section Option Summary
947 @command{@gpgname} features a bunch of options to control the exact
948 behaviour and to change the default configuration.
951 * GPG Configuration Options:: How to change the configuration.
952 * GPG Key related Options:: Key related options.
953 * GPG Input and Output:: Input and Output.
954 * OpenPGP Options:: OpenPGP protocol specific options.
955 * Compliance Options:: Compliance options.
956 * GPG Esoteric Options:: Doing things one usually don't want to do.
957 * Deprecated Options:: Deprecated options.
960 Long options can be put in an options file (default
961 "~/.gnupg/gpg.conf"). Short option names will not work - for example,
962 "armor" is a valid option for the options file, while "a" is not. Do not
963 write the 2 dashes, but simply the name of the option and any required
964 arguments. Lines with a hash ('#') as the first non-white-space
965 character are ignored. Commands may be put in this file too, but that is
966 not generally useful as the command will execute automatically with
967 every execution of gpg.
969 Please remember that option parsing stops as soon as a non-option is
970 encountered, you can explicitly stop parsing by using the special option
973 @c *******************************************
974 @c ******** CONFIGURATION OPTIONS **********
975 @c *******************************************
976 @node GPG Configuration Options
977 @subsection How to change the configuration
979 These options are used to change the configuration and are usually found
984 @item --default-key @var{name}
986 Use @var{name} as the default key to sign with. If this option is not
987 used, the default key is the first key found in the secret keyring.
988 Note that @option{-u} or @option{--local-user} overrides this option.
990 @item --default-recipient @var{name}
991 @opindex default-recipient
992 Use @var{name} as default recipient if option @option{--recipient} is
993 not used and don't ask if this is a valid one. @var{name} must be
996 @item --default-recipient-self
997 @opindex default-recipient-self
998 Use the default key as default recipient if option @option{--recipient} is not
999 used and don't ask if this is a valid one. The default key is the first
1000 one from the secret keyring or the one set with @option{--default-key}.
1002 @item --no-default-recipient
1003 @opindex no-default-recipient
1004 Reset @option{--default-recipient} and @option{--default-recipient-self}.
1008 Give more information during processing. If used
1009 twice, the input data is listed in detail.
1013 Reset verbose level to 0.
1017 Try to be as quiet as possible.
1023 Use batch mode. Never ask, do not allow interactive commands.
1024 @option{--no-batch} disables this option. Note that even with a
1025 filename given on the command line, gpg might still need to read from
1026 STDIN (in particular if gpg figures that the input is a
1027 detached signature and no data file has been specified). Thus if you
1028 do not want to feed data via STDIN, you should connect STDIN to
1033 Make sure that the TTY (terminal) is never used for any output.
1034 This option is needed in some cases because GnuPG sometimes prints
1035 warnings to the TTY even if @option{--batch} is used.
1039 Assume "yes" on most questions.
1043 Assume "no" on most questions.
1046 @item --list-options @code{parameters}
1047 @opindex list-options
1048 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options used when
1049 listing keys and signatures (that is, @option{--list-keys},
1050 @option{--list-sigs}, @option{--list-public-keys},
1051 @option{--list-secret-keys}, and the @option{--edit-key} functions).
1052 Options can be prepended with a @option{no-} (after the two dashes) to
1053 give the opposite meaning. The options are:
1058 @opindex list-options:show-photos
1059 Causes @option{--list-keys}, @option{--list-sigs},
1060 @option{--list-public-keys}, and @option{--list-secret-keys} to
1061 display any photo IDs attached to the key. Defaults to no. See also
1062 @option{--photo-viewer}. Does not work with @option{--with-colons}:
1063 see @option{--attribute-fd} for the appropriate way to get photo data
1064 for scripts and other frontends.
1067 @opindex list-options:show-usage
1068 Show usage information for keys and subkeys in the standard key
1069 listing. This is a list of letters indicating the allowed usage for a
1070 key (@code{E}=encryption, @code{S}=signing, @code{C}=certification,
1071 @code{A}=authentication). Defaults to no.
1073 @item show-policy-urls
1074 @opindex list-options:show-policy-urls
1075 Show policy URLs in the @option{--list-sigs} or @option{--check-sigs}
1076 listings. Defaults to no.
1078 @item show-notations
1079 @itemx show-std-notations
1080 @itemx show-user-notations
1081 @opindex list-options:show-notations
1082 @opindex list-options:show-std-notations
1083 @opindex list-options:show-user-notations
1084 Show all, IETF standard, or user-defined signature notations in the
1085 @option{--list-sigs} or @option{--check-sigs} listings. Defaults to no.
1087 @item show-keyserver-urls
1088 @opindex list-options:show-keyserver-urls
1089 Show any preferred keyserver URL in the @option{--list-sigs} or
1090 @option{--check-sigs} listings. Defaults to no.
1092 @item show-uid-validity
1093 @opindex list-options:show-uid-validity
1094 Display the calculated validity of user IDs during key listings.
1097 @item show-unusable-uids
1098 @opindex list-options:show-unusable-uids
1099 Show revoked and expired user IDs in key listings. Defaults to no.
1101 @item show-unusable-subkeys
1102 @opindex list-options:show-unusable-subkeys
1103 Show revoked and expired subkeys in key listings. Defaults to no.
1106 @opindex list-options:show-keyring
1107 Display the keyring name at the head of key listings to show which
1108 keyring a given key resides on. Defaults to no.
1110 @item show-sig-expire
1111 @opindex list-options:show-sig-expire
1112 Show signature expiration dates (if any) during @option{--list-sigs} or
1113 @option{--check-sigs} listings. Defaults to no.
1115 @item show-sig-subpackets
1116 @opindex list-options:show-sig-subpackets
1117 Include signature subpackets in the key listing. This option can take an
1118 optional argument list of the subpackets to list. If no argument is
1119 passed, list all subpackets. Defaults to no. This option is only
1120 meaningful when using @option{--with-colons} along with
1121 @option{--list-sigs} or @option{--check-sigs}.
1125 @item --verify-options @code{parameters}
1126 @opindex verify-options
1127 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options used when
1128 verifying signatures. Options can be prepended with a `no-' to give
1129 the opposite meaning. The options are:
1134 @opindex verify-options:show-photos
1135 Display any photo IDs present on the key that issued the signature.
1136 Defaults to no. See also @option{--photo-viewer}.
1138 @item show-policy-urls
1139 @opindex verify-options:show-policy-urls
1140 Show policy URLs in the signature being verified. Defaults to no.
1142 @item show-notations
1143 @itemx show-std-notations
1144 @itemx show-user-notations
1145 @opindex verify-options:show-notations
1146 @opindex verify-options:show-std-notations
1147 @opindex verify-options:show-user-notations
1148 Show all, IETF standard, or user-defined signature notations in the
1149 signature being verified. Defaults to IETF standard.
1151 @item show-keyserver-urls
1152 @opindex verify-options:show-keyserver-urls
1153 Show any preferred keyserver URL in the signature being verified.
1156 @item show-uid-validity
1157 @opindex verify-options:show-uid-validity
1158 Display the calculated validity of the user IDs on the key that issued
1159 the signature. Defaults to no.
1161 @item show-unusable-uids
1162 @opindex verify-options:show-unusable-uids
1163 Show revoked and expired user IDs during signature verification.
1166 @item show-primary-uid-only
1167 @opindex verify-options:show-primary-uid-only
1168 Show only the primary user ID during signature verification. That is
1169 all the AKA lines as well as photo Ids are not shown with the signature
1170 verification status.
1173 @opindex verify-options:pka-lookups
1174 Enable PKA lookups to verify sender addresses. Note that PKA is based
1175 on DNS, and so enabling this option may disclose information on when
1176 and what signatures are verified or to whom data is encrypted. This
1177 is similar to the "web bug" described for the auto-key-retrieve
1180 @item pka-trust-increase
1181 @opindex verify-options:pka-trust-increase
1182 Raise the trust in a signature to full if the signature passes PKA
1183 validation. This option is only meaningful if pka-lookups is set.
1186 @item --enable-large-rsa
1187 @itemx --disable-large-rsa
1188 @opindex enable-large-rsa
1189 @opindex disable-large-rsa
1190 With --gen-key and --batch, enable the creation of larger RSA secret
1191 keys than is generally recommended (up to 8192 bits). These large
1192 keys are more expensive to use, and their signatures and
1193 certifications are also larger.
1196 @itemx --disable-dsa2
1197 @opindex enable-dsa2
1198 @opindex disable-dsa2
1199 Enable hash truncation for all DSA keys even for old DSA Keys up to
1200 1024 bit. This is also the default with @option{--openpgp}. Note
1201 that older versions of GnuPG also required this flag to allow the
1202 generation of DSA larger than 1024 bit.
1204 @item --photo-viewer @code{string}
1205 @opindex photo-viewer
1206 This is the command line that should be run to view a photo ID. "%i"
1207 will be expanded to a filename containing the photo. "%I" does the
1208 same, except the file will not be deleted once the viewer exits.
1209 Other flags are "%k" for the key ID, "%K" for the long key ID, "%f"
1210 for the key fingerprint, "%t" for the extension of the image type
1211 (e.g. "jpg"), "%T" for the MIME type of the image (e.g. "image/jpeg"),
1212 "%v" for the single-character calculated validity of the image being
1213 viewed (e.g. "f"), "%V" for the calculated validity as a string (e.g.
1214 "full"), "%U" for a base32 encoded hash of the user ID,
1215 and "%%" for an actual percent sign. If neither %i or %I are present,
1216 then the photo will be supplied to the viewer on standard input.
1218 The default viewer is "xloadimage -fork -quiet -title 'KeyID 0x%k'
1219 STDIN". Note that if your image viewer program is not secure, then
1220 executing it from GnuPG does not make it secure.
1222 @item --exec-path @code{string}
1224 Sets a list of directories to search for photo viewers and keyserver
1225 helpers. If not provided, keyserver helpers use the compiled-in
1226 default directory, and photo viewers use the $PATH environment
1228 Note, that on W32 system this value is ignored when searching for
1231 @item --keyring @code{file}
1233 Add @code{file} to the current list of keyrings. If @code{file} begins
1234 with a tilde and a slash, these are replaced by the $HOME directory. If
1235 the filename does not contain a slash, it is assumed to be in the GnuPG
1236 home directory ("~/.gnupg" if @option{--homedir} or $GNUPGHOME is not
1239 Note that this adds a keyring to the current list. If the intent is to
1240 use the specified keyring alone, use @option{--keyring} along with
1241 @option{--no-default-keyring}.
1243 @item --secret-keyring @code{file}
1244 @opindex secret-keyring
1245 This is an obsolete option and ignored. All secret keys are stored in
1246 the @file{private-keys-v1.d} directory below the GnuPG home directory.
1248 @item --primary-keyring @code{file}
1249 @opindex primary-keyring
1250 Designate @code{file} as the primary public keyring. This means that
1251 newly imported keys (via @option{--import} or keyserver
1252 @option{--recv-from}) will go to this keyring.
1254 @item --trustdb-name @code{file}
1255 @opindex trustdb-name
1256 Use @code{file} instead of the default trustdb. If @code{file} begins
1257 with a tilde and a slash, these are replaced by the $HOME directory. If
1258 the filename does not contain a slash, it is assumed to be in the GnuPG
1259 home directory (@file{~/.gnupg} if @option{--homedir} or $GNUPGHOME is
1262 @include opt-homedir.texi
1265 @item --display-charset @code{name}
1266 @opindex display-charset
1267 Set the name of the native character set. This is used to convert
1268 some informational strings like user IDs to the proper UTF-8 encoding.
1269 Note that this has nothing to do with the character set of data to be
1270 encrypted or signed; GnuPG does not recode user-supplied data. If
1271 this option is not used, the default character set is determined from
1272 the current locale. A verbosity level of 3 shows the chosen set.
1273 Valid values for @code{name} are:
1278 @opindex display-charset:iso-8859-1
1279 This is the Latin 1 set.
1282 @opindex display-charset:iso-8859-2
1286 @opindex display-charset:iso-8859-15
1287 This is currently an alias for
1291 @opindex display-charset:koi8-r
1292 The usual Russian set (rfc1489).
1295 @opindex display-charset:utf-8
1296 Bypass all translations and assume
1297 that the OS uses native UTF-8 encoding.
1300 @item --utf8-strings
1301 @itemx --no-utf8-strings
1302 @opindex utf8-strings
1303 Assume that command line arguments are given as UTF8 strings. The
1304 default (@option{--no-utf8-strings}) is to assume that arguments are
1305 encoded in the character set as specified by
1306 @option{--display-charset}. These options affect all following
1307 arguments. Both options may be used multiple times.
1309 @anchor{gpg-option --options}
1310 @item --options @code{file}
1312 Read options from @code{file} and do not try to read them from the
1313 default options file in the homedir (see @option{--homedir}). This
1314 option is ignored if used in an options file.
1318 Shortcut for @option{--options /dev/null}. This option is detected
1319 before an attempt to open an option file. Using this option will also
1320 prevent the creation of a @file{~/.gnupg} homedir.
1323 @itemx --compress-level @code{n}
1324 @itemx --bzip2-compress-level @code{n}
1325 @opindex compress-level
1326 @opindex bzip2-compress-level
1327 Set compression level to @code{n} for the ZIP and ZLIB compression
1328 algorithms. The default is to use the default compression level of zlib
1329 (normally 6). @option{--bzip2-compress-level} sets the compression level
1330 for the BZIP2 compression algorithm (defaulting to 6 as well). This is a
1331 different option from @option{--compress-level} since BZIP2 uses a
1332 significant amount of memory for each additional compression level.
1333 @option{-z} sets both. A value of 0 for @code{n} disables compression.
1335 @item --bzip2-decompress-lowmem
1336 @opindex bzip2-decompress-lowmem
1337 Use a different decompression method for BZIP2 compressed files. This
1338 alternate method uses a bit more than half the memory, but also runs
1339 at half the speed. This is useful under extreme low memory
1340 circumstances when the file was originally compressed at a high
1341 @option{--bzip2-compress-level}.
1344 @item --mangle-dos-filenames
1345 @itemx --no-mangle-dos-filenames
1346 @opindex mangle-dos-filenames
1347 @opindex no-mangle-dos-filenames
1348 Older version of Windows cannot handle filenames with more than one
1349 dot. @option{--mangle-dos-filenames} causes GnuPG to replace (rather
1350 than add to) the extension of an output filename to avoid this
1351 problem. This option is off by default and has no effect on non-Windows
1354 @item --ask-cert-level
1355 @itemx --no-ask-cert-level
1356 @opindex ask-cert-level
1357 When making a key signature, prompt for a certification level. If this
1358 option is not specified, the certification level used is set via
1359 @option{--default-cert-level}. See @option{--default-cert-level} for
1360 information on the specific levels and how they are
1361 used. @option{--no-ask-cert-level} disables this option. This option
1364 @item --default-cert-level @code{n}
1365 @opindex default-cert-level
1366 The default to use for the check level when signing a key.
1368 0 means you make no particular claim as to how carefully you verified
1371 1 means you believe the key is owned by the person who claims to own
1372 it but you could not, or did not verify the key at all. This is
1373 useful for a "persona" verification, where you sign the key of a
1376 2 means you did casual verification of the key. For example, this
1377 could mean that you verified the key fingerprint and checked the
1378 user ID on the key against a photo ID.
1380 3 means you did extensive verification of the key. For example, this
1381 could mean that you verified the key fingerprint with the owner of the
1382 key in person, and that you checked, by means of a hard to forge
1383 document with a photo ID (such as a passport) that the name of the key
1384 owner matches the name in the user ID on the key, and finally that you
1385 verified (by exchange of email) that the email address on the key
1386 belongs to the key owner.
1388 Note that the examples given above for levels 2 and 3 are just that:
1389 examples. In the end, it is up to you to decide just what "casual"
1390 and "extensive" mean to you.
1392 This option defaults to 0 (no particular claim).
1394 @item --min-cert-level
1395 @opindex min-cert-level
1396 When building the trust database, treat any signatures with a
1397 certification level below this as invalid. Defaults to 2, which
1398 disregards level 1 signatures. Note that level 0 "no particular
1399 claim" signatures are always accepted.
1401 @item --trusted-key @code{long key ID}
1402 @opindex trusted-key
1403 Assume that the specified key (which must be given
1404 as a full 8 byte key ID) is as trustworthy as one of
1405 your own secret keys. This option is useful if you
1406 don't want to keep your secret keys (or one of them)
1407 online but still want to be able to check the validity of a given
1408 recipient's or signator's key.
1410 @item --trust-model @code{pgp|classic|direct|always|auto}
1411 @opindex trust-model
1412 Set what trust model GnuPG should follow. The models are:
1417 @opindex trust-mode:pgp
1418 This is the Web of Trust combined with trust signatures as used in PGP
1419 5.x and later. This is the default trust model when creating a new
1423 @opindex trust-mode:classic
1424 This is the standard Web of Trust as introduced by PGP 2.
1427 @opindex trust-mode:direct
1428 Key validity is set directly by the user and not calculated via the
1432 @opindex trust-mode:always
1433 Skip key validation and assume that used keys are always fully
1434 valid. You generally won't use this unless you are using some
1435 external validation scheme. This option also suppresses the
1436 "[uncertain]" tag printed with signature checks when there is no
1437 evidence that the user ID is bound to the key. Note that this
1438 trust model still does not allow the use of expired, revoked, or
1442 @opindex trust-mode:auto
1443 Select the trust model depending on whatever the internal trust
1444 database says. This is the default model if such a database already
1448 @item --auto-key-locate @code{parameters}
1449 @itemx --no-auto-key-locate
1450 @opindex auto-key-locate
1451 GnuPG can automatically locate and retrieve keys as needed using this
1452 option. This happens when encrypting to an email address (in the
1453 "user@@example.com" form), and there are no user@@example.com keys on
1454 the local keyring. This option takes any number of the following
1455 mechanisms, in the order they are to be tried:
1460 Locate a key using DNS CERT, as specified in rfc4398.
1463 Locate a key using DNS PKA.
1466 Using DNS Service Discovery, check the domain in question for any LDAP
1467 keyservers to use. If this fails, attempt to locate the key using the
1468 PGP Universal method of checking @samp{ldap://keys.(thedomain)}.
1471 Locate a key using whatever keyserver is defined using the
1472 @option{--keyserver} option.
1475 In addition, a keyserver URL as used in the @option{--keyserver} option
1476 may be used here to query that particular keyserver.
1479 Locate the key using the local keyrings. This mechanism allows to
1480 select the order a local key lookup is done. Thus using
1481 @samp{--auto-key-locate local} is identical to
1482 @option{--no-auto-key-locate}.
1485 This flag disables the standard local key lookup, done before any of the
1486 mechanisms defined by the @option{--auto-key-locate} are tried. The
1487 position of this mechanism in the list does not matter. It is not
1488 required if @code{local} is also used.
1491 Clear all defined mechanisms. This is useful to override
1492 mechanisms given in a config file.
1496 @item --keyid-format @code{short|0xshort|long|0xlong}
1497 @opindex keyid-format
1498 Select how to display key IDs. "short" is the traditional 8-character
1499 key ID. "long" is the more accurate (but less convenient)
1500 16-character key ID. Add an "0x" to either to include an "0x" at the
1501 beginning of the key ID, as in 0x99242560. Note that this option is
1502 ignored if the option --with-colons is used.
1504 @item --keyserver @code{name}
1506 Use @code{name} as your keyserver. This is the server that
1507 @option{--recv-keys}, @option{--send-keys}, and @option{--search-keys}
1508 will communicate with to receive keys from, send keys to, and search for
1509 keys on. The format of the @code{name} is a URI:
1510 `scheme:[//]keyservername[:port]' The scheme is the type of keyserver:
1511 "hkp" for the HTTP (or compatible) keyservers, "ldap" for the LDAP
1512 keyservers, or "mailto" for the Graff email keyserver. Note that your
1513 particular installation of GnuPG may have other keyserver types
1514 available as well. Keyserver schemes are case-insensitive. After the
1515 keyserver name, optional keyserver configuration options may be
1516 provided. These are the same as the global @option{--keyserver-options}
1517 from below, but apply only to this particular keyserver.
1519 Most keyservers synchronize with each other, so there is generally no
1520 need to send keys to more than one server. The keyserver
1521 @code{hkp://keys.gnupg.net} uses round robin DNS to give a different
1522 keyserver each time you use it.
1524 @item --keyserver-options @code{name=value}
1525 @opindex keyserver-options
1526 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for the
1527 keyserver. Options can be prefixed with a `no-' to give the opposite
1528 meaning. Valid import-options or export-options may be used here as
1529 well to apply to importing (@option{--recv-key}) or exporting
1530 (@option{--send-key}) a key from a keyserver. While not all options
1531 are available for all keyserver types, some common options are:
1535 @item include-revoked
1536 When searching for a key with @option{--search-keys}, include keys that
1537 are marked on the keyserver as revoked. Note that not all keyservers
1538 differentiate between revoked and unrevoked keys, and for such
1539 keyservers this option is meaningless. Note also that most keyservers do
1540 not have cryptographic verification of key revocations, and so turning
1541 this option off may result in skipping keys that are incorrectly marked
1544 @item include-disabled
1545 When searching for a key with @option{--search-keys}, include keys that
1546 are marked on the keyserver as disabled. Note that this option is not
1547 used with HKP keyservers.
1549 @item auto-key-retrieve
1550 This option enables the automatic retrieving of keys from a keyserver
1551 when verifying signatures made by keys that are not on the local
1554 Note that this option makes a "web bug" like behavior possible.
1555 Keyserver operators can see which keys you request, so by sending you
1556 a message signed by a brand new key (which you naturally will not have
1557 on your local keyring), the operator can tell both your IP address and
1558 the time when you verified the signature.
1560 @item honor-keyserver-url
1561 When using @option{--refresh-keys}, if the key in question has a preferred
1562 keyserver URL, then use that preferred keyserver to refresh the key
1563 from. In addition, if auto-key-retrieve is set, and the signature
1564 being verified has a preferred keyserver URL, then use that preferred
1565 keyserver to fetch the key from. Note that this option introduces a
1566 "web bug": The creator of the key can see when the keys is
1567 refreshed. Thus this option is not enabled by default.
1569 @item honor-pka-record
1570 If auto-key-retrieve is set, and the signature being verified has a
1571 PKA record, then use the PKA information to fetch the key. Defaults
1574 @item include-subkeys
1575 When receiving a key, include subkeys as potential targets. Note that
1576 this option is not used with HKP keyservers, as they do not support
1577 retrieving keys by subkey id.
1580 Tell the keyserver helper program how long (in seconds) to try and
1581 perform a keyserver action before giving up. Note that performing
1582 multiple actions at the same time uses this timeout value per action.
1583 For example, when retrieving multiple keys via @option{--recv-keys}, the
1584 timeout applies separately to each key retrieval, and not to the
1585 @option{--recv-keys} command as a whole. Defaults to 30 seconds.
1587 @item http-proxy=@code{value}
1588 Set the proxy to use for HTTP and HKP keyservers.
1589 This overrides any proxy defined in @file{dirmngr.conf}.
1592 This option has no more function since GnuPG 2.1. Use the
1593 @code{dirmngr} configuration options instead.
1596 This option has no more function since GnuPG 2.1. Use the
1597 @code{dirmngr} configuration options instead.
1600 This option has no more function since GnuPG 2.1. Use the
1601 @code{dirmngr} configuration options instead.
1604 This option has no more function since GnuPG 2.1. Use the
1605 @code{dirmngr} configuration options instead.
1609 @item --completes-needed @code{n}
1610 @opindex compliant-needed
1611 Number of completely trusted users to introduce a new
1612 key signer (defaults to 1).
1614 @item --marginals-needed @code{n}
1615 @opindex marginals-needed
1616 Number of marginally trusted users to introduce a new
1617 key signer (defaults to 3)
1619 @item --max-cert-depth @code{n}
1620 @opindex max-cert-depth
1621 Maximum depth of a certification chain (default is 5).
1623 @item --no-sig-cache
1624 @opindex no-sig-cache
1625 Do not cache the verification status of key signatures.
1626 Caching gives a much better performance in key listings. However, if
1627 you suspect that your public keyring is not save against write
1628 modifications, you can use this option to disable the caching. It
1629 probably does not make sense to disable it because all kind of damage
1630 can be done if someone else has write access to your public keyring.
1632 @item --auto-check-trustdb
1633 @itemx --no-auto-check-trustdb
1634 @opindex auto-check-trustdb
1635 If GnuPG feels that its information about the Web of Trust has to be
1636 updated, it automatically runs the @option{--check-trustdb} command
1637 internally. This may be a time consuming
1638 process. @option{--no-auto-check-trustdb} disables this option.
1641 @itemx --no-use-agent
1643 This is dummy option. @command{@gpgname} always requires the agent.
1645 @item --gpg-agent-info
1646 @opindex gpg-agent-info
1647 This is dummy option. It has no effect when used with @command{gpg2}.
1650 @item --agent-program @var{file}
1651 @opindex agent-program
1652 Specify an agent program to be used for secret key operations. The
1653 default value is determined by running @command{gpgconf} with the
1654 option @option{--list-dirs}. Note that the pipe symbol (@code{|}) is
1655 used for a regression test suite hack and may thus not be used in the
1658 @item --dirmngr-program @var{file}
1659 @opindex dirmngr-program
1660 Specify a dirmngr program to be used for keyserver access. The
1661 default value is @file{@value{BINDIR}/dirmngr}. This is only used as a
1662 fallback when the environment variable @code{DIRMNGR_INFO} is not set or
1663 a running dirmngr cannot be connected.
1665 @item --no-autostart
1666 @opindex no-autostart
1667 Do not start the gpg-agent or the dirmngr if it has not yet been
1668 started and its service is required. This option is mostly useful on
1669 machines where the connection to gpg-agent has been redirected to
1670 another machines. If dirmngr is required on the remote machine, it
1671 may be started manually using @command{gpgconf --launch dirmngr}.
1675 Lock the databases the first time a lock is requested
1676 and do not release the lock until the process
1679 @item --lock-multiple
1680 @opindex lock-multiple
1681 Release the locks every time a lock is no longer
1682 needed. Use this to override a previous @option{--lock-once}
1687 Disable locking entirely. This option should be used only in very
1688 special environments, where it can be assured that only one process
1689 is accessing those files. A bootable floppy with a stand-alone
1690 encryption system will probably use this. Improper usage of this
1691 option may lead to data and key corruption.
1693 @item --exit-on-status-write-error
1694 @opindex exit-on-status-write-error
1695 This option will cause write errors on the status FD to immediately
1696 terminate the process. That should in fact be the default but it never
1697 worked this way and thus we need an option to enable this, so that the
1698 change won't break applications which close their end of a status fd
1699 connected pipe too early. Using this option along with
1700 @option{--enable-progress-filter} may be used to cleanly cancel long
1701 running gpg operations.
1703 @item --limit-card-insert-tries @code{n}
1704 @opindex limit-card-insert-tries
1705 With @code{n} greater than 0 the number of prompts asking to insert a
1706 smartcard gets limited to N-1. Thus with a value of 1 gpg won't at
1707 all ask to insert a card if none has been inserted at startup. This
1708 option is useful in the configuration file in case an application does
1709 not know about the smartcard support and waits ad infinitum for an
1712 @item --no-random-seed-file
1713 @opindex no-random-seed-file
1714 GnuPG uses a file to store its internal random pool over invocations.
1715 This makes random generation faster; however sometimes write operations
1716 are not desired. This option can be used to achieve that with the cost of
1717 slower random generation.
1720 @opindex no-greeting
1721 Suppress the initial copyright message.
1723 @item --no-secmem-warning
1724 @opindex no-secmem-warning
1725 Suppress the warning about "using insecure memory".
1727 @item --no-permission-warning
1728 @opindex permission-warning
1729 Suppress the warning about unsafe file and home directory (@option{--homedir})
1730 permissions. Note that the permission checks that GnuPG performs are
1731 not intended to be authoritative, but rather they simply warn about
1732 certain common permission problems. Do not assume that the lack of a
1733 warning means that your system is secure.
1735 Note that the warning for unsafe @option{--homedir} permissions cannot be
1736 suppressed in the gpg.conf file, as this would allow an attacker to
1737 place an unsafe gpg.conf file in place, and use this file to suppress
1738 warnings about itself. The @option{--homedir} permissions warning may only be
1739 suppressed on the command line.
1741 @item --no-mdc-warning
1742 @opindex no-mdc-warning
1743 Suppress the warning about missing MDC integrity protection.
1745 @item --require-secmem
1746 @itemx --no-require-secmem
1747 @opindex require-secmem
1748 Refuse to run if GnuPG cannot get secure memory. Defaults to no
1749 (i.e. run, but give a warning).
1752 @item --require-cross-certification
1753 @itemx --no-require-cross-certification
1754 @opindex require-cross-certification
1755 When verifying a signature made from a subkey, ensure that the cross
1756 certification "back signature" on the subkey is present and valid. This
1757 protects against a subtle attack against subkeys that can sign.
1758 Defaults to @option{--require-cross-certification} for
1764 Allow the user to do certain nonsensical or "silly" things like
1765 signing an expired or revoked key, or certain potentially incompatible
1766 things like generating unusual key types. This also disables certain
1767 warning messages about potentially incompatible actions. As the name
1768 implies, this option is for experts only. If you don't fully
1769 understand the implications of what it allows you to do, leave this
1770 off. @option{--no-expert} disables this option.
1775 @c *******************************************
1776 @c ******** KEY RELATED OPTIONS ************
1777 @c *******************************************
1778 @node GPG Key related Options
1779 @subsection Key related options
1783 @item --recipient @var{name}
1786 Encrypt for user id @var{name}. If this option or
1787 @option{--hidden-recipient} is not specified, GnuPG asks for the user-id
1788 unless @option{--default-recipient} is given.
1790 @item --hidden-recipient @var{name}
1792 @opindex hidden-recipient
1793 Encrypt for user ID @var{name}, but hide the key ID of this user's
1794 key. This option helps to hide the receiver of the message and is a
1795 limited countermeasure against traffic analysis. If this option or
1796 @option{--recipient} is not specified, GnuPG asks for the user ID unless
1797 @option{--default-recipient} is given.
1799 @item --encrypt-to @code{name}
1801 Same as @option{--recipient} but this one is intended for use in the
1802 options file and may be used with your own user-id as an
1803 "encrypt-to-self". These keys are only used when there are other
1804 recipients given either by use of @option{--recipient} or by the asked
1805 user id. No trust checking is performed for these user ids and even
1806 disabled keys can be used.
1808 @item --hidden-encrypt-to @code{name}
1809 @opindex hidden-encrypt-to
1810 Same as @option{--hidden-recipient} but this one is intended for use in the
1811 options file and may be used with your own user-id as a hidden
1812 "encrypt-to-self". These keys are only used when there are other
1813 recipients given either by use of @option{--recipient} or by the asked user id.
1814 No trust checking is performed for these user ids and even disabled
1817 @item --no-encrypt-to
1818 @opindex no-encrypt-to
1819 Disable the use of all @option{--encrypt-to} and
1820 @option{--hidden-encrypt-to} keys.
1822 @item --group @code{name=value1 }
1824 Sets up a named group, which is similar to aliases in email programs.
1825 Any time the group name is a recipient (@option{-r} or
1826 @option{--recipient}), it will be expanded to the values
1827 specified. Multiple groups with the same name are automatically merged
1828 into a single group.
1830 The values are @code{key IDs} or fingerprints, but any key description
1831 is accepted. Note that a value with spaces in it will be treated as
1832 two different values. Note also there is only one level of expansion
1833 --- you cannot make an group that points to another group. When used
1834 from the command line, it may be necessary to quote the argument to
1835 this option to prevent the shell from treating it as multiple
1838 @item --ungroup @code{name}
1840 Remove a given entry from the @option{--group} list.
1844 Remove all entries from the @option{--group} list.
1846 @item --local-user @var{name}
1849 Use @var{name} as the key to sign with. Note that this option overrides
1850 @option{--default-key}.
1852 @item --try-secret-key @var{name}
1853 @opindex try-secret-key
1854 For hidden recipients GPG needs to know the keys to use for trial
1855 decryption. The key set with @option{--default-key} is always tried
1856 first, but this is often not sufficient. This option allows to set more
1857 keys to be used for trial decryption. Although any valid user-id
1858 specification may be used for @var{name} it makes sense to use at least
1859 the long keyid to avoid ambiguities. Note that gpg-agent might pop up a
1860 pinentry for a lot keys to do the trial decryption. If you want to stop
1861 all further trial decryption you may use close-window button instead of
1864 @item --try-all-secrets
1865 @opindex try-all-secrets
1866 Don't look at the key ID as stored in the message but try all secret
1867 keys in turn to find the right decryption key. This option forces the
1868 behaviour as used by anonymous recipients (created by using
1869 @option{--throw-keyids} or @option{--hidden-recipient}) and might come
1870 handy in case where an encrypted message contains a bogus key ID.
1872 @item --skip-hidden-recipients
1873 @itemx --no-skip-hidden-recipients
1874 @opindex skip-hidden-recipients
1875 @opindex no-skip-hidden-recipients
1876 During decryption skip all anonymous recipients. This option helps in
1877 the case that people use the hidden recipients feature to hide there
1878 own encrypt-to key from others. If oneself has many secret keys this
1879 may lead to a major annoyance because all keys are tried in turn to
1880 decrypt something which was not really intended for it. The drawback
1881 of this option is that it is currently not possible to decrypt a
1882 message which includes real anonymous recipients.
1887 @c *******************************************
1888 @c ******** INPUT AND OUTPUT ***************
1889 @c *******************************************
1890 @node GPG Input and Output
1891 @subsection Input and Output
1898 Create ASCII armored output. The default is to create the binary
1903 Assume the input data is not in ASCII armored format.
1905 @item --output @var{file}
1906 @itemx -o @var{file}
1908 Write output to @var{file}.
1910 @item --max-output @code{n}
1912 This option sets a limit on the number of bytes that will be generated
1913 when processing a file. Since OpenPGP supports various levels of
1914 compression, it is possible that the plaintext of a given message may be
1915 significantly larger than the original OpenPGP message. While GnuPG
1916 works properly with such messages, there is often a desire to set a
1917 maximum file size that will be generated before processing is forced to
1918 stop by the OS limits. Defaults to 0, which means "no limit".
1920 @item --import-options @code{parameters}
1921 @opindex import-options
1922 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for
1923 importing keys. Options can be prepended with a `no-' to give the
1924 opposite meaning. The options are:
1928 @item import-local-sigs
1929 Allow importing key signatures marked as "local". This is not
1930 generally useful unless a shared keyring scheme is being used.
1933 @item keep-ownertrust
1934 Normally possible still existing ownertrust values of a key are
1935 cleared if a key is imported. This is in general desirable so that
1936 a formerly deleted key does not automatically gain an ownertrust
1937 values merely due to import. On the other hand it is sometimes
1938 necessary to re-import a trusted set of keys again but keeping
1939 already assigned ownertrust values. This can be achived by using
1942 @item repair-pks-subkey-bug
1943 During import, attempt to repair the damage caused by the PKS keyserver
1944 bug (pre version 0.9.6) that mangles keys with multiple subkeys. Note
1945 that this cannot completely repair the damaged key as some crucial data
1946 is removed by the keyserver, but it does at least give you back one
1947 subkey. Defaults to no for regular @option{--import} and to yes for
1948 keyserver @option{--recv-keys}.
1951 During import, allow key updates to existing keys, but do not allow
1952 any new keys to be imported. Defaults to no.
1955 After import, compact (remove all signatures except the
1956 self-signature) any user IDs from the new key that are not usable.
1957 Then, remove any signatures from the new key that are not usable.
1958 This includes signatures that were issued by keys that are not present
1959 on the keyring. This option is the same as running the @option{--edit-key}
1960 command "clean" after import. Defaults to no.
1962 @item import-minimal
1963 Import the smallest key possible. This removes all signatures except
1964 the most recent self-signature on each user ID. This option is the
1965 same as running the @option{--edit-key} command "minimize" after import.
1969 @item --export-options @code{parameters}
1970 @opindex export-options
1971 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for
1972 exporting keys. Options can be prepended with a `no-' to give the
1973 opposite meaning. The options are:
1977 @item export-local-sigs
1978 Allow exporting key signatures marked as "local". This is not
1979 generally useful unless a shared keyring scheme is being used.
1982 @item export-attributes
1983 Include attribute user IDs (photo IDs) while exporting. This is
1984 useful to export keys if they are going to be used by an OpenPGP
1985 program that does not accept attribute user IDs. Defaults to yes.
1987 @item export-sensitive-revkeys
1988 Include designated revoker information that was marked as
1989 "sensitive". Defaults to no.
1991 @c Since GnuPG 2.1 gpg-agent manages the secret key and thus the
1992 @c export-reset-subkey-passwd hack is not anymore justified. Such use
1993 @c cases may be implemented using a specialized secret key export
1995 @c @item export-reset-subkey-passwd
1996 @c When using the @option{--export-secret-subkeys} command, this option resets
1997 @c the passphrases for all exported subkeys to empty. This is useful
1998 @c when the exported subkey is to be used on an unattended machine where
1999 @c a passphrase doesn't necessarily make sense. Defaults to no.
2002 Compact (remove all signatures from) user IDs on the key being
2003 exported if the user IDs are not usable. Also, do not export any
2004 signatures that are not usable. This includes signatures that were
2005 issued by keys that are not present on the keyring. This option is
2006 the same as running the @option{--edit-key} command "clean" before export
2007 except that the local copy of the key is not modified. Defaults to
2010 @item export-minimal
2011 Export the smallest key possible. This removes all signatures except the
2012 most recent self-signature on each user ID. This option is the same as
2013 running the @option{--edit-key} command "minimize" before export except
2014 that the local copy of the key is not modified. Defaults to no.
2018 @opindex with-colons
2019 Print key listings delimited by colons. Note that the output will be
2020 encoded in UTF-8 regardless of any @option{--display-charset} setting. This
2021 format is useful when GnuPG is called from scripts and other programs
2022 as it is easily machine parsed. The details of this format are
2023 documented in the file @file{doc/DETAILS}, which is included in the GnuPG
2024 source distribution.
2027 @item --print-pka-records
2028 @opindex print-pka-records
2029 Modify the output of the list commands to print PKA records suitable
2030 to put into DNS zone files. An ORIGIN line is printed before each
2031 record to allow diverting the records to the corresponding zone file.
2033 @item --fixed-list-mode
2034 @opindex fixed-list-mode
2035 Do not merge primary user ID and primary key in @option{--with-colon}
2036 listing mode and print all timestamps as seconds since 1970-01-01.
2037 Since GnuPG 2.0.10, this mode is always used and thus this option is
2038 obsolete; it does not harm to use it though.
2040 @item --legacy-list-mode
2041 @opindex legacy-list-mode
2042 Revert to the pre-2.1 public key list mode. This only affects the
2043 human readable output and not the machine interface
2044 (i.e. @code{--with-colons}). Note that the legacy format does not
2045 allow to convey suitable information for elliptic curves.
2047 @item --with-fingerprint
2048 @opindex with-fingerprint
2049 Same as the command @option{--fingerprint} but changes only the format
2050 of the output and may be used together with another command.
2052 @item --with-icao-spelling
2053 @opindex with-icao-spelling
2054 Print the ICAO spelling of the fingerprint in addition to the hex digits.
2056 @item --with-keygrip
2057 @opindex with-keygrip
2058 Include the keygrip in the key listings.
2061 @opindex with-secret
2062 Include info about the presence of a secret key in public key listings
2063 done with @code{--with-colons}.
2067 @c *******************************************
2068 @c ******** OPENPGP OPTIONS ****************
2069 @c *******************************************
2070 @node OpenPGP Options
2071 @subsection OpenPGP protocol specific options.
2075 @item -t, --textmode
2076 @itemx --no-textmode
2078 Treat input files as text and store them in the OpenPGP canonical text
2079 form with standard "CRLF" line endings. This also sets the necessary
2080 flags to inform the recipient that the encrypted or signed data is text
2081 and may need its line endings converted back to whatever the local
2082 system uses. This option is useful when communicating between two
2083 platforms that have different line ending conventions (UNIX-like to Mac,
2084 Mac to Windows, etc). @option{--no-textmode} disables this option, and
2087 @item --force-v3-sigs
2088 @itemx --no-force-v3-sigs
2089 @item --force-v4-certs
2090 @itemx --no-force-v4-certs
2091 These options are obsolete and have no effect since GnuPG 2.1.
2095 Force the use of encryption with a modification detection code. This
2096 is always used with the newer ciphers (those with a blocksize greater
2097 than 64 bits), or if all of the recipient keys indicate MDC support in
2098 their feature flags.
2101 @opindex disable-mdc
2102 Disable the use of the modification detection code. Note that by
2103 using this option, the encrypted message becomes vulnerable to a
2104 message modification attack.
2106 @item --personal-cipher-preferences @code{string}
2107 @opindex personal-cipher-preferences
2108 Set the list of personal cipher preferences to @code{string}. Use
2109 @command{@gpgname --version} to get a list of available algorithms,
2110 and use @code{none} to set no preference at all. This allows the user
2111 to safely override the algorithm chosen by the recipient key
2112 preferences, as GPG will only select an algorithm that is usable by
2113 all recipients. The most highly ranked cipher in this list is also
2114 used for the @option{--symmetric} encryption command.
2116 @item --personal-digest-preferences @code{string}
2117 @opindex personal-digest-preferences
2118 Set the list of personal digest preferences to @code{string}. Use
2119 @command{@gpgname --version} to get a list of available algorithms,
2120 and use @code{none} to set no preference at all. This allows the user
2121 to safely override the algorithm chosen by the recipient key
2122 preferences, as GPG will only select an algorithm that is usable by
2123 all recipients. The most highly ranked digest algorithm in this list
2124 is also used when signing without encryption
2125 (e.g. @option{--clearsign} or @option{--sign}).
2127 @item --personal-compress-preferences @code{string}
2128 @opindex personal-compress-preferences
2129 Set the list of personal compression preferences to @code{string}.
2130 Use @command{@gpgname --version} to get a list of available
2131 algorithms, and use @code{none} to set no preference at all. This
2132 allows the user to safely override the algorithm chosen by the
2133 recipient key preferences, as GPG will only select an algorithm that
2134 is usable by all recipients. The most highly ranked compression
2135 algorithm in this list is also used when there are no recipient keys
2136 to consider (e.g. @option{--symmetric}).
2138 @item --s2k-cipher-algo @code{name}
2139 @opindex s2k-cipher-algo
2140 Use @code{name} as the cipher algorithm used to protect secret keys.
2141 The default cipher is @value{GPGSYMENCALGO}. This cipher is also used
2142 for symmetric encryption with a passphrase if
2143 @option{--personal-cipher-preferences} and @option{--cipher-algo} is
2146 @item --s2k-digest-algo @code{name}
2147 @opindex s2k-digest-algo
2148 Use @code{name} as the digest algorithm used to mangle the passphrases.
2149 The default algorithm is SHA-1.
2151 @item --s2k-mode @code{n}
2153 Selects how passphrases are mangled. If @code{n} is 0 a plain
2154 passphrase (which is not recommended) will be used, a 1 adds a salt to
2155 the passphrase and a 3 (the default) iterates the whole process a
2156 number of times (see --s2k-count). Unless @option{--rfc1991} is used,
2157 this mode is also used for symmetric encryption with a passphrase.
2159 @item --s2k-count @code{n}
2161 Specify how many times the passphrase mangling is repeated. This
2162 value may range between 1024 and 65011712 inclusive. The default is
2163 inquired from gpg-agent. Note that not all values in the
2164 1024-65011712 range are legal and if an illegal value is selected,
2165 GnuPG will round up to the nearest legal value. This option is only
2166 meaningful if @option{--s2k-mode} is 3.
2171 @c ***************************
2172 @c ******* Compliance ********
2173 @c ***************************
2174 @node Compliance Options
2175 @subsection Compliance options
2177 These options control what GnuPG is compliant to. Only one of these
2178 options may be active at a time. Note that the default setting of
2179 this is nearly always the correct one. See the INTEROPERABILITY WITH
2180 OTHER OPENPGP PROGRAMS section below before using one of these
2187 Use standard GnuPG behavior. This is essentially OpenPGP behavior
2188 (see @option{--openpgp}), but with some additional workarounds for common
2189 compatibility problems in different versions of PGP. This is the
2190 default option, so it is not generally needed, but it may be useful to
2191 override a different compliance option in the gpg.conf file.
2195 Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict OpenPGP
2196 behavior. Use this option to reset all previous options like
2197 @option{--s2k-*}, @option{--cipher-algo}, @option{--digest-algo} and
2198 @option{--compress-algo} to OpenPGP compliant values. All PGP
2199 workarounds are disabled.
2203 Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict RFC-4880
2204 behavior. Note that this is currently the same thing as
2209 Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict RFC-2440
2215 Try to be more RFC-1991 (PGP 2.x) compliant. This option is
2216 deprecated will be removed in GnuPG 2.1.
2220 Set up all options to be as PGP 2.x compliant as possible, and warn if
2221 an action is taken (e.g. encrypting to a non-RSA key) that will create
2222 a message that PGP 2.x will not be able to handle. Note that `PGP
2223 2.x' here means `MIT PGP 2.6.2'. There are other versions of PGP 2.x
2224 available, but the MIT release is a good common baseline.
2227 @option{--rfc1991 --disable-mdc --no-force-v4-certs
2228 --escape-from-lines --force-v3-sigs --allow-weak-digest-algos
2229 --cipher-algo IDEA --digest-algo MD5 --compress-algo ZIP}.
2230 It also disables @option{--textmode} when encrypting.
2232 This option is deprecated will be removed in GnuPG 2.1. The reason
2233 for dropping PGP-2 support is that the PGP 2 format is not anymore
2234 considered safe (for example due to the use of the broken MD5 algorithm).
2235 Note that the decryption of PGP-2 created messages will continue to work.
2240 Set up all options to be as PGP 6 compliant as possible. This
2241 restricts you to the ciphers IDEA (if the IDEA plugin is installed),
2242 3DES, and CAST5, the hashes MD5, SHA1 and RIPEMD160, and the
2243 compression algorithms none and ZIP. This also disables
2244 --throw-keyids, and making signatures with signing subkeys as PGP 6
2245 does not understand signatures made by signing subkeys.
2247 This option implies @option{--disable-mdc --escape-from-lines}.
2251 Set up all options to be as PGP 7 compliant as possible. This is
2252 identical to @option{--pgp6} except that MDCs are not disabled, and the
2253 list of allowable ciphers is expanded to add AES128, AES192, AES256, and
2258 Set up all options to be as PGP 8 compliant as possible. PGP 8 is a lot
2259 closer to the OpenPGP standard than previous versions of PGP, so all
2260 this does is disable @option{--throw-keyids} and set
2261 @option{--escape-from-lines}. All algorithms are allowed except for the
2262 SHA224, SHA384, and SHA512 digests.
2267 @c *******************************************
2268 @c ******** ESOTERIC OPTIONS ***************
2269 @c *******************************************
2270 @node GPG Esoteric Options
2271 @subsection Doing things one usually doesn't want to do.
2278 Don't make any changes (this is not completely implemented).
2282 Changes the behaviour of some commands. This is like @option{--dry-run} but
2283 different in some cases. The semantic of this command may be extended in
2284 the future. Currently it only skips the actual decryption pass and
2285 therefore enables a fast listing of the encryption keys.
2288 @itemx --interactive
2289 @opindex interactive
2290 Prompt before overwriting any files.
2292 @item --debug-level @var{level}
2293 @opindex debug-level
2294 Select the debug level for investigating problems. @var{level} may be
2295 a numeric value or by a keyword:
2299 No debugging at all. A value of less than 1 may be used instead of
2302 Some basic debug messages. A value between 1 and 2 may be used
2303 instead of the keyword.
2305 More verbose debug messages. A value between 3 and 5 may be used
2306 instead of the keyword.
2308 Even more detailed messages. A value between 6 and 8 may be used
2309 instead of the keyword.
2311 All of the debug messages you can get. A value greater than 8 may be
2312 used instead of the keyword. The creation of hash tracing files is
2313 only enabled if the keyword is used.
2316 How these messages are mapped to the actual debugging flags is not
2317 specified and may change with newer releases of this program. They are
2318 however carefully selected to best aid in debugging.
2320 @item --debug @var{flags}
2322 Set debugging flags. All flags are or-ed and @var{flags} may be given
2323 in C syntax (e.g. 0x0042) or as a comma separated list of flag names.
2324 To get a list of all supported flags the single word "help" can be
2329 Set all useful debugging flags.
2332 @opindex debug-iolbf
2333 Set stdout into line buffered mode. This option is only honored when
2334 given on the command line.
2336 @item --faked-system-time @var{epoch}
2337 @opindex faked-system-time
2338 This option is only useful for testing; it sets the system time back or
2339 forth to @var{epoch} which is the number of seconds elapsed since the year
2340 1970. Alternatively @var{epoch} may be given as a full ISO time string
2341 (e.g. "20070924T154812").
2343 @item --enable-progress-filter
2344 @opindex enable-progress-filter
2345 Enable certain PROGRESS status outputs. This option allows frontends
2346 to display a progress indicator while gpg is processing larger files.
2347 There is a slight performance overhead using it.
2349 @item --status-fd @code{n}
2351 Write special status strings to the file descriptor @code{n}.
2352 See the file DETAILS in the documentation for a listing of them.
2354 @item --status-file @code{file}
2355 @opindex status-file
2356 Same as @option{--status-fd}, except the status data is written to file
2359 @item --logger-fd @code{n}
2361 Write log output to file descriptor @code{n} and not to STDERR.
2363 @item --log-file @code{file}
2364 @itemx --logger-file @code{file}
2366 Same as @option{--logger-fd}, except the logger data is written to file
2367 @code{file}. Note that @option{--log-file} is only implemented for
2370 @item --attribute-fd @code{n}
2371 @opindex attribute-fd
2372 Write attribute subpackets to the file descriptor @code{n}. This is most
2373 useful for use with @option{--status-fd}, since the status messages are
2374 needed to separate out the various subpackets from the stream delivered
2375 to the file descriptor.
2377 @item --attribute-file @code{file}
2378 @opindex attribute-file
2379 Same as @option{--attribute-fd}, except the attribute data is written to
2382 @item --comment @code{string}
2383 @itemx --no-comments
2385 Use @code{string} as a comment string in clear text signatures and ASCII
2386 armored messages or keys (see @option{--armor}). The default behavior is
2387 not to use a comment string. @option{--comment} may be repeated multiple
2388 times to get multiple comment strings. @option{--no-comments} removes
2389 all comments. It is a good idea to keep the length of a single comment
2390 below 60 characters to avoid problems with mail programs wrapping such
2391 lines. Note that comment lines, like all other header lines, are not
2392 protected by the signature.
2394 @item --emit-version
2395 @itemx --no-emit-version
2396 @opindex emit-version
2397 Force inclusion of the version string in ASCII armored output. If
2398 given once only the name of the program and the major number is
2399 emitted (default), given twice the minor is also emitted, given triple
2400 the micro is added, and given quad an operating system identification
2401 is also emitted. @option{--no-emit-version} disables the version
2404 @item --sig-notation @code{name=value}
2405 @itemx --cert-notation @code{name=value}
2406 @itemx -N, --set-notation @code{name=value}
2407 @opindex sig-notation
2408 @opindex cert-notation
2409 @opindex set-notation
2410 Put the name value pair into the signature as notation data.
2411 @code{name} must consist only of printable characters or spaces, and
2412 must contain a '@@' character in the form keyname@@domain.example.com
2413 (substituting the appropriate keyname and domain name, of course). This
2414 is to help prevent pollution of the IETF reserved notation
2415 namespace. The @option{--expert} flag overrides the '@@'
2416 check. @code{value} may be any printable string; it will be encoded in
2417 UTF8, so you should check that your @option{--display-charset} is set
2418 correctly. If you prefix @code{name} with an exclamation mark (!), the
2419 notation data will be flagged as critical
2420 (rfc4880:5.2.3.16). @option{--sig-notation} sets a notation for data
2421 signatures. @option{--cert-notation} sets a notation for key signatures
2422 (certifications). @option{--set-notation} sets both.
2424 There are special codes that may be used in notation names. "%k" will
2425 be expanded into the key ID of the key being signed, "%K" into the
2426 long key ID of the key being signed, "%f" into the fingerprint of the
2427 key being signed, "%s" into the key ID of the key making the
2428 signature, "%S" into the long key ID of the key making the signature,
2429 "%g" into the fingerprint of the key making the signature (which might
2430 be a subkey), "%p" into the fingerprint of the primary key of the key
2431 making the signature, "%c" into the signature count from the OpenPGP
2432 smartcard, and "%%" results in a single "%". %k, %K, and %f are only
2433 meaningful when making a key signature (certification), and %c is only
2434 meaningful when using the OpenPGP smartcard.
2436 @item --sig-policy-url @code{string}
2437 @itemx --cert-policy-url @code{string}
2438 @itemx --set-policy-url @code{string}
2439 @opindex sig-policy-url
2440 @opindex cert-policy-url
2441 @opindex set-policy-url
2442 Use @code{string} as a Policy URL for signatures (rfc4880:5.2.3.20). If
2443 you prefix it with an exclamation mark (!), the policy URL packet will
2444 be flagged as critical. @option{--sig-policy-url} sets a policy url for
2445 data signatures. @option{--cert-policy-url} sets a policy url for key
2446 signatures (certifications). @option{--set-policy-url} sets both.
2448 The same %-expandos used for notation data are available here as well.
2450 @item --sig-keyserver-url @code{string}
2451 @opindex sig-keyserver-url
2452 Use @code{string} as a preferred keyserver URL for data signatures. If
2453 you prefix it with an exclamation mark (!), the keyserver URL packet
2454 will be flagged as critical.
2456 The same %-expandos used for notation data are available here as well.
2458 @item --set-filename @code{string}
2459 @opindex set-filename
2460 Use @code{string} as the filename which is stored inside messages.
2461 This overrides the default, which is to use the actual filename of the
2462 file being encrypted. Using the empty string for @var{string}
2463 effectively removes the filename from the output.
2465 @item --for-your-eyes-only
2466 @itemx --no-for-your-eyes-only
2467 @opindex for-your-eyes-only
2468 Set the `for your eyes only' flag in the message. This causes GnuPG to
2469 refuse to save the file unless the @option{--output} option is given,
2470 and PGP to use a "secure viewer" with a claimed Tempest-resistant font
2471 to display the message. This option overrides @option{--set-filename}.
2472 @option{--no-for-your-eyes-only} disables this option.
2474 @item --use-embedded-filename
2475 @itemx --no-use-embedded-filename
2476 @opindex use-embedded-filename
2477 Try to create a file with a name as embedded in the data. This can be
2478 a dangerous option as it allows to overwrite files. Defaults to no.
2480 @item --cipher-algo @code{name}
2481 @opindex cipher-algo
2482 Use @code{name} as cipher algorithm. Running the program with the
2483 command @option{--version} yields a list of supported algorithms. If
2484 this is not used the cipher algorithm is selected from the preferences
2485 stored with the key. In general, you do not want to use this option as
2486 it allows you to violate the OpenPGP standard.
2487 @option{--personal-cipher-preferences} is the safe way to accomplish the
2490 @item --digest-algo @code{name}
2491 @opindex digest-algo
2492 Use @code{name} as the message digest algorithm. Running the program
2493 with the command @option{--version} yields a list of supported algorithms. In
2494 general, you do not want to use this option as it allows you to
2495 violate the OpenPGP standard. @option{--personal-digest-preferences} is the
2496 safe way to accomplish the same thing.
2498 @item --compress-algo @code{name}
2499 @opindex compress-algo
2500 Use compression algorithm @code{name}. "zlib" is RFC-1950 ZLIB
2501 compression. "zip" is RFC-1951 ZIP compression which is used by PGP.
2502 "bzip2" is a more modern compression scheme that can compress some
2503 things better than zip or zlib, but at the cost of more memory used
2504 during compression and decompression. "uncompressed" or "none"
2505 disables compression. If this option is not used, the default
2506 behavior is to examine the recipient key preferences to see which
2507 algorithms the recipient supports. If all else fails, ZIP is used for
2508 maximum compatibility.
2510 ZLIB may give better compression results than ZIP, as the compression
2511 window size is not limited to 8k. BZIP2 may give even better
2512 compression results than that, but will use a significantly larger
2513 amount of memory while compressing and decompressing. This may be
2514 significant in low memory situations. Note, however, that PGP (all
2515 versions) only supports ZIP compression. Using any algorithm other
2516 than ZIP or "none" will make the message unreadable with PGP. In
2517 general, you do not want to use this option as it allows you to
2518 violate the OpenPGP standard. @option{--personal-compress-preferences} is the
2519 safe way to accomplish the same thing.
2521 @item --cert-digest-algo @code{name}
2522 @opindex cert-digest-algo
2523 Use @code{name} as the message digest algorithm used when signing a
2524 key. Running the program with the command @option{--version} yields a
2525 list of supported algorithms. Be aware that if you choose an algorithm
2526 that GnuPG supports but other OpenPGP implementations do not, then some
2527 users will not be able to use the key signatures you make, or quite
2528 possibly your entire key.
2530 @item --disable-cipher-algo @code{name}
2531 @opindex disable-cipher-algo
2532 Never allow the use of @code{name} as cipher algorithm.
2533 The given name will not be checked so that a later loaded algorithm
2534 will still get disabled.
2536 @item --disable-pubkey-algo @code{name}
2537 @opindex disable-pubkey-algo
2538 Never allow the use of @code{name} as public key algorithm.
2539 The given name will not be checked so that a later loaded algorithm
2540 will still get disabled.
2542 @item --throw-keyids
2543 @itemx --no-throw-keyids
2544 @opindex throw-keyids
2545 Do not put the recipient key IDs into encrypted messages. This helps to
2546 hide the receivers of the message and is a limited countermeasure
2547 against traffic analysis.@footnote{Using a little social engineering
2548 anyone who is able to decrypt the message can check whether one of the
2549 other recipients is the one he suspects.} On the receiving side, it may
2550 slow down the decryption process because all available secret keys must
2551 be tried. @option{--no-throw-keyids} disables this option. This option
2552 is essentially the same as using @option{--hidden-recipient} for all
2555 @item --not-dash-escaped
2556 @opindex not-dash-escaped
2557 This option changes the behavior of cleartext signatures
2558 so that they can be used for patch files. You should not
2559 send such an armored file via email because all spaces
2560 and line endings are hashed too. You can not use this
2561 option for data which has 5 dashes at the beginning of a
2562 line, patch files don't have this. A special armor header
2563 line tells GnuPG about this cleartext signature option.
2565 @item --escape-from-lines
2566 @itemx --no-escape-from-lines
2567 @opindex escape-from-lines
2568 Because some mailers change lines starting with "From " to ">From " it
2569 is good to handle such lines in a special way when creating cleartext
2570 signatures to prevent the mail system from breaking the signature. Note
2571 that all other PGP versions do it this way too. Enabled by
2572 default. @option{--no-escape-from-lines} disables this option.
2574 @item --passphrase-repeat @code{n}
2575 @opindex passphrase-repeat
2576 Specify how many times @command{@gpgname} will request a new
2577 passphrase be repeated. This is useful for helping memorize a
2578 passphrase. Defaults to 1 repetition.
2580 @item --passphrase-fd @code{n}
2581 @opindex passphrase-fd
2582 Read the passphrase from file descriptor @code{n}. Only the first line
2583 will be read from file descriptor @code{n}. If you use 0 for @code{n},
2584 the passphrase will be read from STDIN. This can only be used if only
2585 one passphrase is supplied.
2587 Note that this passphrase is only used if the option @option{--batch}
2588 has also been given. This is different from GnuPG version 1.x.
2590 @item --passphrase-file @code{file}
2591 @opindex passphrase-file
2592 Read the passphrase from file @code{file}. Only the first line will
2593 be read from file @code{file}. This can only be used if only one
2594 passphrase is supplied. Obviously, a passphrase stored in a file is
2595 of questionable security if other users can read this file. Don't use
2596 this option if you can avoid it.
2597 Note that this passphrase is only used if the option @option{--batch}
2598 has also been given. This is different from GnuPG version 1.x.
2600 @item --passphrase @code{string}
2602 Use @code{string} as the passphrase. This can only be used if only one
2603 passphrase is supplied. Obviously, this is of very questionable
2604 security on a multi-user system. Don't use this option if you can
2606 Note that this passphrase is only used if the option @option{--batch}
2607 has also been given. This is different from GnuPG version 1.x.
2609 @item --pinentry-mode @code{mode}
2610 @opindex pinentry-mode
2611 Set the pinentry mode to @code{mode}. Allowed values for @code{mode}
2615 Use the default of the agent, which is @code{ask}.
2617 Force the use of the Pinentry.
2619 Emulate use of Pinentry's cancel button.
2621 Return a Pinentry error (``No Pinentry'').
2623 Redirect Pinentry queries to the caller. Note that in contrast to
2624 Pinentry the user is not prompted again if he enters a bad password.
2627 @item --command-fd @code{n}
2629 This is a replacement for the deprecated shared-memory IPC mode.
2630 If this option is enabled, user input on questions is not expected
2631 from the TTY but from the given file descriptor. It should be used
2632 together with @option{--status-fd}. See the file doc/DETAILS in the source
2633 distribution for details on how to use it.
2635 @item --command-file @code{file}
2636 @opindex command-file
2637 Same as @option{--command-fd}, except the commands are read out of file
2640 @item --allow-non-selfsigned-uid
2641 @itemx --no-allow-non-selfsigned-uid
2642 @opindex allow-non-selfsigned-uid
2643 Allow the import and use of keys with user IDs which are not
2644 self-signed. This is not recommended, as a non self-signed user ID is
2645 trivial to forge. @option{--no-allow-non-selfsigned-uid} disables.
2647 @item --allow-freeform-uid
2648 @opindex allow-freeform-uid
2649 Disable all checks on the form of the user ID while generating a new
2650 one. This option should only be used in very special environments as
2651 it does not ensure the de-facto standard format of user IDs.
2653 @item --ignore-time-conflict
2654 @opindex ignore-time-conflict
2655 GnuPG normally checks that the timestamps associated with keys and
2656 signatures have plausible values. However, sometimes a signature
2657 seems to be older than the key due to clock problems. This option
2658 makes these checks just a warning. See also @option{--ignore-valid-from} for
2659 timestamp issues on subkeys.
2661 @item --ignore-valid-from
2662 @opindex ignore-valid-from
2663 GnuPG normally does not select and use subkeys created in the future.
2664 This option allows the use of such keys and thus exhibits the
2665 pre-1.0.7 behaviour. You should not use this option unless there
2666 is some clock problem. See also @option{--ignore-time-conflict} for timestamp
2667 issues with signatures.
2669 @item --ignore-crc-error
2670 @opindex ignore-crc-error
2671 The ASCII armor used by OpenPGP is protected by a CRC checksum against
2672 transmission errors. Occasionally the CRC gets mangled somewhere on
2673 the transmission channel but the actual content (which is protected by
2674 the OpenPGP protocol anyway) is still okay. This option allows GnuPG
2675 to ignore CRC errors.
2677 @item --ignore-mdc-error
2678 @opindex ignore-mdc-error
2679 This option changes a MDC integrity protection failure into a warning.
2680 This can be useful if a message is partially corrupt, but it is
2681 necessary to get as much data as possible out of the corrupt message.
2682 However, be aware that a MDC protection failure may also mean that the
2683 message was tampered with intentionally by an attacker.
2685 @item --allow-weak-digest-algos
2686 @opindex allow-weak-digest-algos
2687 Signatures made with the broken MD5 algorithm are normally rejected
2688 with an ``invalid digest algorithm'' message. This option allows the
2689 verification of signatures made with such weak algorithms.
2691 @item --no-default-keyring
2692 @opindex no-default-keyring
2693 Do not add the default keyrings to the list of keyrings. Note that
2694 GnuPG will not operate without any keyrings, so if you use this option
2695 and do not provide alternate keyrings via @option{--keyring} or
2696 @option{--secret-keyring}, then GnuPG will still use the default public or
2700 @opindex skip-verify
2701 Skip the signature verification step. This may be
2702 used to make the decryption faster if the signature
2703 verification is not needed.
2705 @item --with-key-data
2706 @opindex with-key-data
2707 Print key listings delimited by colons (like @option{--with-colons}) and
2708 print the public key data.
2710 @item --fast-list-mode
2711 @opindex fast-list-mode
2712 Changes the output of the list commands to work faster; this is achieved
2713 by leaving some parts empty. Some applications don't need the user ID
2714 and the trust information given in the listings. By using this options
2715 they can get a faster listing. The exact behaviour of this option may
2716 change in future versions. If you are missing some information, don't
2721 This is not for normal use. Use the source to see for what it might be useful.
2723 @item --set-filesize
2724 @opindex set-filesize
2725 This is not for normal use. Use the source to see for what it might be useful.
2727 @item --show-session-key
2728 @opindex show-session-key
2729 Display the session key used for one message. See
2730 @option{--override-session-key} for the counterpart of this option.
2732 We think that Key Escrow is a Bad Thing; however the user should have
2733 the freedom to decide whether to go to prison or to reveal the content
2734 of one specific message without compromising all messages ever
2735 encrypted for one secret key.
2737 You can also use this option if you receive an encrypted message which
2738 is abusive or offensive, to prove to the administrators of the
2739 messaging system that the ciphertext transmitted corresponds to an
2740 inappropriate plaintext so they can take action against the offending
2743 @item --override-session-key @code{string}
2744 @opindex override-session-key
2745 Don't use the public key but the session key @code{string}. The format
2746 of this string is the same as the one printed by
2747 @option{--show-session-key}. This option is normally not used but comes
2748 handy in case someone forces you to reveal the content of an encrypted
2749 message; using this option you can do this without handing out the
2752 @item --ask-sig-expire
2753 @itemx --no-ask-sig-expire
2754 @opindex ask-sig-expire
2755 When making a data signature, prompt for an expiration time. If this
2756 option is not specified, the expiration time set via
2757 @option{--default-sig-expire} is used. @option{--no-ask-sig-expire}
2758 disables this option.
2760 @item --default-sig-expire
2761 @opindex default-sig-expire
2762 The default expiration time to use for signature expiration. Valid
2763 values are "0" for no expiration, a number followed by the letter d
2764 (for days), w (for weeks), m (for months), or y (for years) (for
2765 example "2m" for two months, or "5y" for five years), or an absolute
2766 date in the form YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to "0".
2768 @item --ask-cert-expire
2769 @itemx --no-ask-cert-expire
2770 @opindex ask-cert-expire
2771 When making a key signature, prompt for an expiration time. If this
2772 option is not specified, the expiration time set via
2773 @option{--default-cert-expire} is used. @option{--no-ask-cert-expire}
2774 disables this option.
2776 @item --default-cert-expire
2777 @opindex default-cert-expire
2778 The default expiration time to use for key signature expiration.
2779 Valid values are "0" for no expiration, a number followed by the
2780 letter d (for days), w (for weeks), m (for months), or y (for years)
2781 (for example "2m" for two months, or "5y" for five years), or an
2782 absolute date in the form YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to "0".
2784 @item --allow-secret-key-import
2785 @opindex allow-secret-key-import
2786 This is an obsolete option and is not used anywhere.
2788 @item --allow-multiple-messages
2789 @item --no-allow-multiple-messages
2790 @opindex allow-multiple-messages
2791 Allow processing of multiple OpenPGP messages contained in a single file
2792 or stream. Some programs that call GPG are not prepared to deal with
2793 multiple messages being processed together, so this option defaults to
2794 no. Note that versions of GPG prior to 1.4.7 always allowed multiple
2797 Warning: Do not use this option unless you need it as a temporary
2801 @item --enable-special-filenames
2802 @opindex enable-special-filenames
2803 This options enables a mode in which filenames of the form
2804 @file{-&n}, where n is a non-negative decimal number,
2805 refer to the file descriptor n and not to a file with that name.
2807 @item --no-expensive-trust-checks
2808 @opindex no-expensive-trust-checks
2809 Experimental use only.
2811 @item --preserve-permissions
2812 @opindex preserve-permissions
2813 Don't change the permissions of a secret keyring back to user
2814 read/write only. Use this option only if you really know what you are doing.
2816 @item --default-preference-list @code{string}
2817 @opindex default-preference-list
2818 Set the list of default preferences to @code{string}. This preference
2819 list is used for new keys and becomes the default for "setpref" in the
2822 @item --default-keyserver-url @code{name}
2823 @opindex default-keyserver-url
2824 Set the default keyserver URL to @code{name}. This keyserver will be
2825 used as the keyserver URL when writing a new self-signature on a key,
2826 which includes key generation and changing preferences.
2829 @opindex list-config
2830 Display various internal configuration parameters of GnuPG. This option
2831 is intended for external programs that call GnuPG to perform tasks, and
2832 is thus not generally useful. See the file @file{doc/DETAILS} in the
2833 source distribution for the details of which configuration items may be
2834 listed. @option{--list-config} is only usable with
2835 @option{--with-colons} set.
2837 @item --list-gcrypt-config
2838 @opindex list-gcrypt-config
2839 Display various internal configuration parameters of Libgcrypt.
2841 @item --gpgconf-list
2842 @opindex gpgconf-list
2843 This command is similar to @option{--list-config} but in general only
2844 internally used by the @command{gpgconf} tool.
2846 @item --gpgconf-test
2847 @opindex gpgconf-test
2848 This is more or less dummy action. However it parses the configuration
2849 file and returns with failure if the configuration file would prevent
2850 @command{gpg} from startup. Thus it may be used to run a syntax check
2851 on the configuration file.
2855 @c *******************************
2856 @c ******* Deprecated ************
2857 @c *******************************
2858 @node Deprecated Options
2859 @subsection Deprecated options
2864 @itemx --no-show-photos
2865 @opindex show-photos
2866 Causes @option{--list-keys}, @option{--list-sigs},
2867 @option{--list-public-keys}, @option{--list-secret-keys}, and verifying
2868 a signature to also display the photo ID attached to the key, if
2869 any. See also @option{--photo-viewer}. These options are deprecated. Use
2870 @option{--list-options [no-]show-photos} and/or @option{--verify-options
2871 [no-]show-photos} instead.
2873 @item --show-keyring
2874 @opindex show-keyring
2875 Display the keyring name at the head of key listings to show which
2876 keyring a given key resides on. This option is deprecated: use
2877 @option{--list-options [no-]show-keyring} instead.
2879 @item --always-trust
2880 @opindex always-trust
2881 Identical to @option{--trust-model always}. This option is deprecated.
2883 @item --show-notation
2884 @itemx --no-show-notation
2885 @opindex show-notation
2886 Show signature notations in the @option{--list-sigs} or @option{--check-sigs} listings
2887 as well as when verifying a signature with a notation in it. These
2888 options are deprecated. Use @option{--list-options [no-]show-notation}
2889 and/or @option{--verify-options [no-]show-notation} instead.
2891 @item --show-policy-url
2892 @itemx --no-show-policy-url
2893 @opindex show-policy-url
2894 Show policy URLs in the @option{--list-sigs} or @option{--check-sigs}
2895 listings as well as when verifying a signature with a policy URL in
2896 it. These options are deprecated. Use @option{--list-options
2897 [no-]show-policy-url} and/or @option{--verify-options
2898 [no-]show-policy-url} instead.
2904 @c *******************************************
2905 @c *************** ****************
2906 @c *************** FILES ****************
2907 @c *************** ****************
2908 @c *******************************************
2910 @node GPG Configuration
2911 @section Configuration files
2913 There are a few configuration files to control certain aspects of
2914 @command{@gpgname}'s operation. Unless noted, they are expected in the
2915 current home directory (@pxref{option --homedir}).
2921 This is the standard configuration file read by @command{@gpgname} on
2922 startup. It may contain any valid long option; the leading two dashes
2923 may not be entered and the option may not be abbreviated. This default
2924 name may be changed on the command line (@pxref{gpg-option --options}).
2925 You should backup this file.
2930 Note that on larger installations, it is useful to put predefined files
2931 into the directory @file{@value{SYSCONFSKELDIR}} so that
2932 newly created users start up with a working configuration.
2933 For existing users a small
2934 helper script is provided to create these files (@pxref{addgnupghome}).
2936 For internal purposes @command{@gpgname} creates and maintains a few other
2937 files; They all live in in the current home directory (@pxref{option
2938 --homedir}). Only the @command{@gpgname} program may modify these files.
2942 @item ~/.gnupg/pubring.gpg
2943 The public keyring. You should backup this file.
2945 @item ~/.gnupg/pubring.gpg.lock
2946 The lock file for the public keyring.
2948 @item ~/.gnupg/pubring.kbx
2949 The public keyring using a different format. This file is sharred
2950 with @command{gpgsm}. You should backup this file.
2952 @item ~/.gnupg/pubring.kbx.lock
2953 The lock file for @file{pubring.kbx}.
2955 @item ~/.gnupg/secring.gpg
2956 A secret keyring as used by GnuPG versions before 2.1. It is not
2957 used by GnuPG 2.1 and later.
2959 @item ~/.gnupg/.gpg-v21-migrated
2960 File indicating that a migration to GnuPG 2.1 has been done.
2962 @item ~/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg
2963 The trust database. There is no need to backup this file; it is better
2964 to backup the ownertrust values (@pxref{option --export-ownertrust}).
2966 @item ~/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg.lock
2967 The lock file for the trust database.
2969 @item ~/.gnupg/random_seed
2970 A file used to preserve the state of the internal random pool.
2972 @item ~/.gnupg/secring.gpg.lock
2973 The lock file for the secret keyring.
2975 @item ~/.gnupg/openpgp-revocs.d/
2976 This is the directory where gpg stores pre-generated revocation
2977 certificates. The file name corresponds to the OpenPGP fingerprint of
2978 the respective key. It is suggested to backup those certificates and
2979 if the primary private key is not stored on the disk to move them to
2980 an external storage device. Anyone who can access theses files is
2981 able to revoke the corresponding key. You may want to print them out.
2982 You should backup all files in this directory and take care to keep
2983 this backup closed away.
2985 @item @value{DATADIR}/options.skel
2986 The skeleton options file.
2988 @item @value{LIBDIR}/
2989 Default location for extensions.
2994 Operation is further controlled by a few environment variables:
2999 Used to locate the default home directory.
3002 If set directory used instead of "~/.gnupg".
3004 @item GPG_AGENT_INFO
3005 This variable was used by GnuPG versions before 2.1
3007 @item PINENTRY_USER_DATA
3008 This value is passed via gpg-agent to pinentry. It is useful to convey
3009 extra information to a custom pinentry.
3013 Used to size some displays to the full size of the screen.
3017 Apart from its use by GNU, it is used in the W32 version to override the
3018 language selection done through the Registry. If used and set to a
3019 valid and available language name (@var{langid}), the file with the
3020 translation is loaded from
3022 @code{@var{gpgdir}/gnupg.nls/@var{langid}.mo}. Here @var{gpgdir} is the
3023 directory out of which the gpg binary has been loaded. If it can't be
3024 loaded the Registry is tried and as last resort the native Windows
3025 locale system is used.
3030 @c *******************************************
3031 @c *************** ****************
3032 @c *************** EXAMPLES ****************
3033 @c *************** ****************
3034 @c *******************************************
3041 @item gpg -se -r @code{Bob} @code{file}
3042 sign and encrypt for user Bob
3044 @item gpg --clearsign @code{file}
3045 make a clear text signature
3047 @item gpg -sb @code{file}
3048 make a detached signature
3050 @item gpg -u 0x12345678 -sb @code{file}
3051 make a detached signature with the key 0x12345678
3053 @item gpg --list-keys @code{user_ID}
3056 @item gpg --fingerprint @code{user_ID}
3059 @item gpg --verify @code{pgpfile}
3060 @itemx gpg --verify @code{sigfile}
3061 Verify the signature of the file but do not output the data. The
3062 second form is used for detached signatures, where @code{sigfile}
3063 is the detached signature (either ASCII armored or binary) and
3064 are the signed data; if this is not given, the name of
3065 the file holding the signed data is constructed by cutting off the
3066 extension (".asc" or ".sig") of @code{sigfile} or by asking the
3067 user for the filename.
3071 @c *******************************************
3072 @c *************** ****************
3073 @c *************** USER ID ****************
3074 @c *************** ****************
3075 @c *******************************************
3076 @mansect how to specify a user id
3078 @include specify-user-id.texi
3081 @mansect return value
3082 @chapheading RETURN VALUE
3084 The program returns 0 if everything was fine, 1 if at least
3085 a signature was bad, and other error codes for fatal errors.
3088 @chapheading WARNINGS
3090 Use a *good* password for your user account and a *good* passphrase
3091 to protect your secret key. This passphrase is the weakest part of the
3092 whole system. Programs to do dictionary attacks on your secret keyring
3093 are very easy to write and so you should protect your "~/.gnupg/"
3094 directory very well.
3096 Keep in mind that, if this program is used over a network (telnet), it
3097 is *very* easy to spy out your passphrase!
3099 If you are going to verify detached signatures, make sure that the
3100 program knows about it; either give both filenames on the command line
3101 or use @samp{-} to specify STDIN.
3103 @mansect interoperability
3104 @chapheading INTEROPERABILITY WITH OTHER OPENPGP PROGRAMS
3106 GnuPG tries to be a very flexible implementation of the OpenPGP
3107 standard. In particular, GnuPG implements many of the optional parts
3108 of the standard, such as the SHA-512 hash, and the ZLIB and BZIP2
3109 compression algorithms. It is important to be aware that not all
3110 OpenPGP programs implement these optional algorithms and that by
3111 forcing their use via the @option{--cipher-algo},
3112 @option{--digest-algo}, @option{--cert-digest-algo}, or
3113 @option{--compress-algo} options in GnuPG, it is possible to create a
3114 perfectly valid OpenPGP message, but one that cannot be read by the
3117 There are dozens of variations of OpenPGP programs available, and each
3118 supports a slightly different subset of these optional algorithms.
3119 For example, until recently, no (unhacked) version of PGP supported
3120 the BLOWFISH cipher algorithm. A message using BLOWFISH simply could
3121 not be read by a PGP user. By default, GnuPG uses the standard
3122 OpenPGP preferences system that will always do the right thing and
3123 create messages that are usable by all recipients, regardless of which
3124 OpenPGP program they use. Only override this safe default if you
3125 really know what you are doing.
3127 If you absolutely must override the safe default, or if the preferences
3128 on a given key are invalid for some reason, you are far better off using
3129 the @option{--pgp6}, @option{--pgp7}, or @option{--pgp8} options. These
3130 options are safe as they do not force any particular algorithms in
3131 violation of OpenPGP, but rather reduce the available algorithms to a
3137 On older systems this program should be installed as setuid(root). This
3138 is necessary to lock memory pages. Locking memory pages prevents the
3139 operating system from writing memory pages (which may contain
3140 passphrases or other sensitive material) to disk. If you get no
3141 warning message about insecure memory your operating system supports
3142 locking without being root. The program drops root privileges as soon
3143 as locked memory is allocated.
3145 Note also that some systems (especially laptops) have the ability to
3146 ``suspend to disk'' (also known as ``safe sleep'' or ``hibernate'').
3147 This writes all memory to disk before going into a low power or even
3148 powered off mode. Unless measures are taken in the operating system
3149 to protect the saved memory, passphrases or other sensitive material
3150 may be recoverable from it later.
3152 Before you report a bug you should first search the mailing list
3153 archives for similar problems and second check whether such a bug has
3154 already been reported to our bug tracker at http://bugs.gnupg.org .
3156 @c *******************************************
3157 @c *************** **************
3158 @c *************** UNATTENDED **************
3159 @c *************** **************
3160 @c *******************************************
3162 @node Unattended Usage of GPG
3163 @section Unattended Usage
3165 @command{gpg} is often used as a backend engine by other software. To help
3166 with this a machine interface has been defined to have an unambiguous
3167 way to do this. The options @option{--status-fd} and @option{--batch}
3168 are almost always required for this.
3171 * Unattended GPG key generation:: Unattended key generation
3175 @node Unattended GPG key generation
3176 @subsection Unattended key generation
3178 The command @option{--gen-key} may be used along with the option
3179 @option{--batch} for unattended key generation. The parameters are
3180 either read from stdin or given as a file on the command line.
3181 The format of the parameter file is as follows:
3184 @item Text only, line length is limited to about 1000 characters.
3185 @item UTF-8 encoding must be used to specify non-ASCII characters.
3186 @item Empty lines are ignored.
3187 @item Leading and trailing while space is ignored.
3188 @item A hash sign as the first non white space character indicates
3190 @item Control statements are indicated by a leading percent sign, the
3191 arguments are separated by white space from the keyword.
3192 @item Parameters are specified by a keyword, followed by a colon. Arguments
3193 are separated by white space.
3195 The first parameter must be @samp{Key-Type}; control statements may be
3198 The order of the parameters does not matter except for @samp{Key-Type}
3199 which must be the first parameter. The parameters are only used for
3200 the generated keyblock (primary and subkeys); parameters from previous
3201 sets are not used. Some syntactically checks may be performed.
3203 Key generation takes place when either the end of the parameter file
3204 is reached, the next @samp{Key-Type} parameter is encountered or at the
3205 control statement @samp{%commit} is encountered.
3213 @item %echo @var{text}
3214 Print @var{text} as diagnostic.
3217 Suppress actual key generation (useful for syntax checking).
3220 Perform the key generation. Note that an implicit commit is done at
3221 the next @asis{Key-Type} parameter.
3223 @item %pubring @var{filename}
3224 @itemx %secring @var{filename}
3225 Do not write the key to the default or commandline given keyring but
3226 to @var{filename}. This must be given before the first commit to take
3227 place, duplicate specification of the same filename is ignored, the
3228 last filename before a commit is used. The filename is used until a
3229 new filename is used (at commit points) and all keys are written to
3230 that file. If a new filename is given, this file is created (and
3231 overwrites an existing one). For GnuPG versions prior to 2.1, both
3232 control statements must be given. For GnuPG 2.1 and later
3233 @samp{%secring} is a no-op.
3235 @item %ask-passphrase
3236 @itemx %no-ask-passphrase
3237 This option is a no-op for GnuPG 2.1 and later.
3239 @item %no-protection
3240 Using this option allows the creation of keys without any passphrase
3241 protection. This option is mainly intended for regression tests.
3243 @item %transient-key
3244 If given the keys are created using a faster and a somewhat less
3245 secure random number generator. This option may be used for keys
3246 which are only used for a short time and do not require full
3247 cryptographic strength. It takes only effect if used together with
3248 the control statement @samp{%no-protection}.
3257 @item Key-Type: @var{algo}
3258 Starts a new parameter block by giving the type of the primary
3259 key. The algorithm must be capable of signing. This is a required
3260 parameter. @var{algo} may either be an OpenPGP algorithm number or a
3261 string with the algorithm name. The special value @samp{default} may
3262 be used for @var{algo} to create the default key type; in this case a
3263 @samp{Key-Usage} shall not be given and @samp{default} also be used
3264 for @samp{Subkey-Type}.
3266 @item Key-Length: @var{nbits}
3267 The requested length of the generated key in bits. The default is
3268 returned by running the command @samp{gpg2 --gpgconf-list}.
3270 @item Key-Grip: @var{hexstring}
3271 This is optional and used to generate a CSR or certificate for an
3272 already existing key. Key-Length will be ignored when given.
3274 @item Key-Usage: @var{usage-list}
3275 Space or comma delimited list of key usages. Allowed values are
3276 @samp{encrypt}, @samp{sign}, and @samp{auth}. This is used to
3277 generate the key flags. Please make sure that the algorithm is
3278 capable of this usage. Note that OpenPGP requires that all primary
3279 keys are capable of certification, so no matter what usage is given
3280 here, the @samp{cert} flag will be on. If no @samp{Key-Usage} is
3281 specified and the @samp{Key-Type} is not @samp{default}, all allowed
3282 usages for that particular algorithm are used; if it is not given but
3283 @samp{default} is used the usage will be @samp{sign}.
3285 @item Subkey-Type: @var{algo}
3286 This generates a secondary key (subkey). Currently only one subkey
3287 can be handled. See also @samp{Key-Type} above.
3289 @item Subkey-Length: @var{nbits}
3290 Length of the secondary key (subkey) in bits. The default is returned
3291 by running the command @samp{gpg2 --gpgconf-list}".
3293 @item Subkey-Usage: @var{usage-list}
3294 Key usage lists for a subkey; similar to @samp{Key-Usage}.
3296 @item Passphrase: @var{string}
3297 If you want to specify a passphrase for the secret key, enter it here.
3298 Default is to use the Pinentry dialog to ask for a passphrase.
3300 @item Name-Real: @var{name}
3301 @itemx Name-Comment: @var{comment}
3302 @itemx Name-Email: @var{email}
3303 The three parts of a user name. Remember to use UTF-8 encoding here.
3304 If you don't give any of them, no user ID is created.
3306 @item Expire-Date: @var{iso-date}|(@var{number}[d|w|m|y])
3307 Set the expiration date for the key (and the subkey). It may either
3308 be entered in ISO date format (e.g. "20000815T145012") or as number of
3309 days, weeks, month or years after the creation date. The special
3310 notation "seconds=N" is also allowed to specify a number of seconds
3311 since creation. Without a letter days are assumed. Note that there
3312 is no check done on the overflow of the type used by OpenPGP for
3313 timestamps. Thus you better make sure that the given value make
3314 sense. Although OpenPGP works with time intervals, GnuPG uses an
3315 absolute value internally and thus the last year we can represent is
3318 @item Creation-Date: @var{iso-date}
3319 Set the creation date of the key as stored in the key information and
3320 which is also part of the fingerprint calculation. Either a date like
3321 "1986-04-26" or a full timestamp like "19860426T042640" may be used.
3322 The time is considered to be UTC. The special notation "seconds=N"
3323 may be used to directly specify a the number of seconds since Epoch
3324 (Unix time). If it is not given the current time is used.
3326 @item Preferences: @var{string}
3327 Set the cipher, hash, and compression preference values for this key.
3328 This expects the same type of string as the sub-command @samp{setpref}
3329 in the @option{--edit-key} menu.
3331 @item Revoker: @var{algo}:@var{fpr} [sensitive]
3332 Add a designated revoker to the generated key. Algo is the public key
3333 algorithm of the designated revoker (i.e. RSA=1, DSA=17, etc.)
3334 @var{fpr} is the fingerprint of the designated revoker. The optional
3335 @samp{sensitive} flag marks the designated revoker as sensitive
3336 information. Only v4 keys may be designated revokers.
3338 @item Keyserver: @var{string}
3339 This is an optional parameter that specifies the preferred keyserver
3342 @item Handle: @var{string}
3343 This is an optional parameter only used with the status lines
3344 KEY_CREATED and KEY_NOT_CREATED. @var{string} may be up to 100
3345 characters and should not contain spaces. It is useful for batch key
3346 generation to associate a key parameter block with a status line.
3351 Here is an example on how to create a key:
3354 %echo Generating a basic OpenPGP key
3359 Name-Real: Joe Tester
3360 Name-Comment: with stupid passphrase
3361 Name-Email: joe@@foo.bar
3366 # Do a commit here, so that we can later print "done" :-)
3370 $ gpg2 --batch --gen-key foo
3372 $ gpg2 --no-default-keyring --secret-keyring ./foo.sec \
3373 --keyring ./foo.pub --list-secret-keys
3374 /home/wk/work/gnupg-stable/scratch/foo.sec
3375 ------------------------------------------
3376 sec 1024D/915A878D 2000-03-09 Joe Tester (with stupid passphrase) <joe@@foo.bar>
3377 ssb 1024g/8F70E2C0 2000-03-09
3382 If you want to create a key with the default algorithms you would use
3385 %echo Generating a default key
3387 Subkey-Type: default
3388 Name-Real: Joe Tester
3389 Name-Comment: with stupid passphrase
3390 Name-Email: joe@@foo.bar
3395 # Do a commit here, so that we can later print "done" :-)
3407 @command{gpg-agent}(1)
3409 @include see-also-note.texi