1GPG(1) GNU Privacy Guard 2.2 GPG(1)
2
6 gpg - OpenPGP encryption and signing tool
7
9 gpg [--homedir dir] [--options file] [options] command [args]
10
15 gpg is the OpenPGP part of the GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG). It is a tool
16 to provide digital encryption and signing services using the OpenPGP
17 standard. gpg features complete key management and all the bells and
18 whistles you would expect from a full OpenPGP implementation.
19 There are two main versions of GnuPG: GnuPG 1.x and GnuPG 2.x. GnuPG
21 2.x supports modern encryption algorithms and thus should be preferred
22 over GnuPG 1.x. You only need to use GnuPG 1.x if your platform
23 doesn't support GnuPG 2.x, or you need support for some features that
24 GnuPG 2.x has deprecated, e.g., decrypting data created with PGP-2
25 keys.
26 If you are looking for version 1 of GnuPG, you may find that version
28 installed under the name gpg1.
29
37 The program returns 0 if everything was fine, 1 if at least a signature
38 was bad, and other error codes for fatal errors.
39
42 Use a *good* password for your user account and a *good* passphrase to
43 protect your secret key. This passphrase is the weakest part of the
44 whole system. Programs to do dictionary attacks on your secret keyring
45 are very easy to write and so you should protect your "~/.gnupg/"
46 directory very well.
47 Keep in mind that, if this program is used over a network (telnet), it
49 is *very* easy to spy out your passphrase!
50 If you are going to verify detached signatures, make sure that the pro‐
52 gram knows about it; either give both filenames on the command line or
53 use '-' to specify STDIN.
54 For scripted or other unattended use of gpg make sure to use the
56 machine-parseable interface and not the default interface which is
57 intended for direct use by humans. The machine-parseable interface
58 provides a stable and well documented API independent of the locale or
59 future changes of gpg. To enable this interface use the options
60 --with-colons and --status-fd. For certain operations the option
61 --command-fd may come handy too. See this man page and the file
62 ‘DETAILS’ for the specification of the interface. Note that the GnuPG
63 ``info'' pages as well as the PDF version of the GnuPG manual features
64 a chapter on unattended use of GnuPG. As an alternative the library
65 GPGME can be used as a high-level abstraction on top of that interface.
66
69 GnuPG tries to be a very flexible implementation of the OpenPGP stan‐
70 dard. In particular, GnuPG implements many of the optional parts of the
71 standard, such as the SHA-512 hash, and the ZLIB and BZIP2 compression
72 algorithms. It is important to be aware that not all OpenPGP programs
73 implement these optional algorithms and that by forcing their use via
74 the --cipher-algo, --digest-algo, --cert-digest-algo, or --compress-
75 algo options in GnuPG, it is possible to create a perfectly valid
76 OpenPGP message, but one that cannot be read by the intended recipient.
77 There are dozens of variations of OpenPGP programs available, and each
79 supports a slightly different subset of these optional algorithms. For
80 example, until recently, no (unhacked) version of PGP supported the
81 BLOWFISH cipher algorithm. A message using BLOWFISH simply could not be
82 read by a PGP user. By default, GnuPG uses the standard OpenPGP prefer‐
83 ences system that will always do the right thing and create messages
84 that are usable by all recipients, regardless of which OpenPGP program
85 they use. Only override this safe default if you really know what you
86 are doing.
87 If you absolutely must override the safe default, or if the preferences
89 on a given key are invalid for some reason, you are far better off
90 using the --pgp6, --pgp7, or --pgp8 options. These options are safe as
91 they do not force any particular algorithms in violation of OpenPGP,
92 but rather reduce the available algorithms to a "PGP-safe" list.
93
96 Commands are not distinguished from options except for the fact that
97 only one command is allowed. Generally speaking, irrelevant options
98 are silently ignored, and may not be checked for correctness.
99 gpg may be run with no commands. In this case it will perform a reason‐
101 able action depending on the type of file it is given as input (an
102 encrypted message is decrypted, a signature is verified, a file con‐
103 taining keys is listed, etc.).
104 Commands not specific to the function
111 --version
115 Print the program version and licensing information. Note that
116 you cannot abbreviate this command.
117 --help
120 -h Print a usage message summarizing the most useful command-line
121 options. Note that you cannot arbitrarily abbreviate this com‐
122 mand (though you can use its short form -h).
123 --warranty
126 Print warranty information.
127 --dump-options
130 Print a list of all available options and commands. Note that
131 you cannot abbreviate this command.
132 Commands to select the type of operation
134 --sign
140 -s Sign a message. This command may be combined with --encrypt (to
141 sign and encrypt a message), --symmetric (to sign and symmetri‐
142 cally encrypt a message), or both --encrypt and --symmetric (to
143 sign and encrypt a message that can be decrypted using a secret
144 key or a passphrase). The signing key is chosen by default or
145 can be set explicitly using the --local-user and --default-key
146 options.
147 --clear-sign
150 --clearsign
151 Make a cleartext signature. The content in a cleartext signa‐
152 ture is readable without any special software. OpenPGP software
153 is only needed to verify the signature. cleartext signatures
154 may modify end-of-line whitespace for platform independence and
155 are not intended to be reversible. The signing key is chosen by
156 default or can be set explicitly using the --local-user and
157 --default-key options.
158 --detach-sign
162 -b Make a detached signature.
163 --encrypt
166 -e Encrypt data to one or more public keys. This command may be
167 combined with --sign (to sign and encrypt a message), --symmet‐
168 ric (to encrypt a message that can decrypted using a secret key
169 or a passphrase), or --sign and --symmetric together (for a
170 signed message that can be decrypted using a secret key or a
171 passphrase). --recipient and related options specify which pub‐
172 lic keys to use for encryption.
173 --symmetric
176 -c Encrypt with a symmetric cipher using a passphrase. The default
177 symmetric cipher used is AES-128, but may be chosen with the
178 --cipher-algo option. This command may be combined with --sign
179 (for a signed and symmetrically encrypted message), --encrypt
180 (for a message that may be decrypted via a secret key or a
181 passphrase), or --sign and --encrypt together (for a signed mes‐
182 sage that may be decrypted via a secret key or a passphrase).
183 gpg caches the passphrase used for symmetric encryption so that
184 a decrypt operation may not require that the user needs to enter
185 the passphrase. The option --no-symkey-cache can be used to
186 disable this feature.
187 --store
190 Store only (make a simple literal data packet).
191 --decrypt
194 -d Decrypt the file given on the command line (or STDIN if no file
195 is specified) and write it to STDOUT (or the file specified with
196 --output). If the decrypted file is signed, the signature is
197 also verified. This command differs from the default operation,
198 as it never writes to the filename which is included in the file
199 and it rejects files that don't begin with an encrypted message.
200 --verify
203 Assume that the first argument is a signed file and verify it
204 without generating any output. With no arguments, the signature
205 packet is read from STDIN. If only one argument is given, the
206 specified file is expected to include a complete signature.
207 With more than one argument, the first argument should specify a
209 file with a detached signature and the remaining files should
210 contain the signed data. To read the signed data from STDIN, use
211 '-' as the second filename. For security reasons, a detached
212 signature will not read the signed material from STDIN if not
213 explicitly specified.
214 Note: If the option --batch is not used, gpg may assume that a
216 single argument is a file with a detached signature, and it will
217 try to find a matching data file by stripping certain suffixes.
218 Using this historical feature to verify a detached signature is
219 strongly discouraged; you should always specify the data file
220 explicitly.
221 Note: When verifying a cleartext signature, gpg verifies only
223 what makes up the cleartext signed data and not any extra data
224 outside of the cleartext signature or the header lines directly
225 following the dash marker line. The option --output may be used
226 to write out the actual signed data, but there are other pit‐
227 falls with this format as well. It is suggested to avoid clear‐
228 text signatures in favor of detached signatures.
229 Note: Sometimes the use of the gpgv tool is easier than using
231 the full-fledged gpg with this option. gpgv is designed to com‐
232 pare signed data against a list of trusted keys and returns with
233 success only for a good signature. It has its own manual page.
234 --multifile
238 This modifies certain other commands to accept multiple files
239 for processing on the command line or read from STDIN with each
240 filename on a separate line. This allows for many files to be
241 processed at once. --multifile may currently be used along with
242 --verify, --encrypt, and --decrypt. Note that --multifile --ver‐
243 ify may not be used with detached signatures.
244 --verify-files
247 Identical to --multifile --verify.
248 --encrypt-files
251 Identical to --multifile --encrypt.
252 --decrypt-files
255 Identical to --multifile --decrypt.
256 --list-keys
259 -k
260 --list-public-keys
261 List the specified keys. If no keys are specified, then all
262 keys from the configured public keyrings are listed.
263 Never use the output of this command in scripts or other pro‐
265 grams. The output is intended only for humans and its format is
266 likely to change. The --with-colons option emits the output in
267 a stable, machine-parseable format, which is intended for use by
268 scripts and other programs.
269 --list-secret-keys
272 -K List the specified secret keys. If no keys are specified, then
273 all known secret keys are listed. A # after the initial tags
274 sec or ssb means that the secret key or subkey is currently not
275 usable. We also say that this key has been taken offline (for
276 example, a primary key can be taken offline by exporting the key
277 using the command --export-secret-subkeys). A > after these
278 tags indicate that the key is stored on a smartcard. See also
279 --list-keys.
280 --check-signatures
283 --check-sigs
284 Same as --list-keys, but the key signatures are verified and
285 listed too. Note that for performance reasons the revocation
286 status of a signing key is not shown. This command has the same
287 effect as using --list-keys with --with-sig-check.
288 The status of the verification is indicated by a flag directly
290 following the "sig" tag (and thus before the flags described
291 below. A "!" indicates that the signature has been successfully
292 verified, a "-" denotes a bad signature and a "%" is used if an
293 error occurred while checking the signature (e.g. a non sup‐
294 ported algorithm). Signatures where the public key is not
295 available are not listed; to see their keyids the command
296 --list-sigs can be used.
297 For each signature listed, there are several flags in between
299 the signature status flag and keyid. These flags give addi‐
300 tional information about each key signature. From left to
301 right, they are the numbers 1-3 for certificate check level (see
302 --ask-cert-level), "L" for a local or non-exportable signature
303 (see --lsign-key), "R" for a nonRevocable signature (see the
304 --edit-key command "nrsign"), "P" for a signature that contains
305 a policy URL (see --cert-policy-url), "N" for a signature that
306 contains a notation (see --cert-notation), "X" for an eXpired
307 signature (see --ask-cert-expire), and the numbers 1-9 or "T"
308 for 10 and above to indicate trust signature levels (see the
309 --edit-key command "tsign").
310 --locate-keys
314 Locate the keys given as arguments. This command basically uses
315 the same algorithm as used when locating keys for encryption or
316 signing and may thus be used to see what keys gpg might use. In
317 particular external methods as defined by --auto-key-locate may
318 be used to locate a key. Only public keys are listed.
319 --show-keys
322 This commands takes OpenPGP keys as input and prints information
323 about them in the same way the command --list-keys does for
324 locally stored key. In addition the list options show-unusable-
325 uids, show-unusable-subkeys, show-notations and show-policy-urls
326 are also enabled. As usual for automated processing, this com‐
327 mand should be combined with the option --with-colons.
328 --fingerprint
331 List all keys (or the specified ones) along with their finger‐
332 prints. This is the same output as --list-keys but with the
333 additional output of a line with the fingerprint. May also be
334 combined with --check-signatures. If this command is given
335 twice, the fingerprints of all secondary keys are listed too.
336 This command also forces pretty printing of fingerprints if the
337 keyid format has been set to "none".
338 --list-packets
341 List only the sequence of packets. This command is only useful
342 for debugging. When used with option --verbose the actual MPI
343 values are dumped and not only their lengths. Note that the
344 output of this command may change with new releases.
345 --edit-card
349 --card-edit
350 Present a menu to work with a smartcard. The subcommand "help"
351 provides an overview on available commands. For a detailed
352 description, please see the Card HOWTO at https://gnupg.org/doc‐
353 umentation/howtos.html#GnuPG-cardHOWTO .
354 --card-status
357 Show the content of the smart card.
358 --change-pin
361 Present a menu to allow changing the PIN of a smartcard. This
362 functionality is also available as the subcommand "passwd" with
363 the --edit-card command.
364 --delete-keys name
367 Remove key from the public keyring. In batch mode either --yes
368 is required or the key must be specified by fingerprint. This is
369 a safeguard against accidental deletion of multiple keys.
370 --delete-secret-keys name
373 Remove key from the secret keyring. In batch mode the key must
374 be specified by fingerprint. The option --yes can be used to
375 advice gpg-agent not to request a confirmation. This extra pre-
376 caution is done because gpg can't be sure that the secret key
377 (as controlled by gpg-agent) is only used for the given OpenPGP
378 public key.
379 --delete-secret-and-public-key name
383 Same as --delete-key, but if a secret key exists, it will be
384 removed first. In batch mode the key must be specified by fin‐
385 gerprint. The option --yes can be used to advice gpg-agent not
386 to request a confirmation.
387 --export
390 Either export all keys from all keyrings (default keyrings and
391 those registered via option --keyring), or if at least one name
392 is given, those of the given name. The exported keys are written
393 to STDOUT or to the file given with option --output. Use
394 together with --armor to mail those keys.
395 --send-keys keyIDs
398 Similar to --export but sends the keys to a keyserver. Finger‐
399 prints may be used instead of key IDs. Option --keyserver must
400 be used to give the name of this keyserver. Don't send your com‐
401 plete keyring to a keyserver --- select only those keys which
402 are new or changed by you. If no keyIDs are given, gpg does
403 nothing.
404 --export-secret-keys
407 --export-secret-subkeys
408 Same as --export, but exports the secret keys instead. The
409 exported keys are written to STDOUT or to the file given with
410 option --output. This command is often used along with the
411 option --armor to allow for easy printing of the key for paper
412 backup; however the external tool paperkey does a better job of
413 creating backups on paper. Note that exporting a secret key can
414 be a security risk if the exported keys are sent over an inse‐
415 cure channel.
416 The second form of the command has the special property to ren‐
418 der the secret part of the primary key useless; this is a GNU
419 extension to OpenPGP and other implementations can not be
420 expected to successfully import such a key. Its intended use is
421 in generating a full key with an additional signing subkey on a
422 dedicated machine. This command then exports the key without
423 the primary key to the main machine.
424 GnuPG may ask you to enter the passphrase for the key. This is
426 required, because the internal protection method of the secret
427 key is different from the one specified by the OpenPGP protocol.
428 --export-ssh-key
431 This command is used to export a key in the OpenSSH public key
432 format. It requires the specification of one key by the usual
433 means and exports the latest valid subkey which has an authenti‐
434 cation capability to STDOUT or to the file given with option
435 --output. That output can directly be added to ssh's ‘autho‐
436 rized_key’ file.
437 By specifying the key to export using a key ID or a fingerprint
439 suffixed with an exclamation mark (!), a specific subkey or the
440 primary key can be exported. This does not even require that
441 the key has the authentication capability flag set.
442 --import
445 --fast-import
446 Import/merge keys. This adds the given keys to the keyring. The
447 fast version is currently just a synonym.
448 There are a few other options which control how this command
450 works. Most notable here is the --import-options merge-only
451 option which does not insert new keys but does only the merging
452 of new signatures, user-IDs and subkeys.
453 --receive-keys keyIDs
456 --recv-keys keyIDs
457 Import the keys with the given keyIDs from a keyserver. Option
458 --keyserver must be used to give the name of this keyserver.
459 --refresh-keys
462 Request updates from a keyserver for keys that already exist on
463 the local keyring. This is useful for updating a key with the
464 latest signatures, user IDs, etc. Calling this with no arguments
465 will refresh the entire keyring. Option --keyserver must be used
466 to give the name of the keyserver for all keys that do not have
467 preferred keyservers set (see --keyserver-options honor-key‐
468 server-url).
469 --search-keys names
472 Search the keyserver for the given names. Multiple names given
473 here will be joined together to create the search string for the
474 keyserver. Option --keyserver must be used to give the name of
475 this keyserver. Keyservers that support different search meth‐
476 ods allow using the syntax specified in "How to specify a user
477 ID" below. Note that different keyserver types support different
478 search methods. Currently only LDAP supports them all.
479 --fetch-keys URIs
482 Retrieve keys located at the specified URIs. Note that different
483 installations of GnuPG may support different protocols (HTTP,
484 FTP, LDAP, etc.). When using HTTPS the system provided root
485 certificates are used by this command.
486 --update-trustdb
489 Do trust database maintenance. This command iterates over all
490 keys and builds the Web of Trust. This is an interactive command
491 because it may have to ask for the "ownertrust" values for keys.
492 The user has to give an estimation of how far she trusts the
493 owner of the displayed key to correctly certify (sign) other
494 keys. GnuPG only asks for the ownertrust value if it has not yet
495 been assigned to a key. Using the --edit-key menu, the assigned
496 value can be changed at any time.
497 --check-trustdb
500 Do trust database maintenance without user interaction. From
501 time to time the trust database must be updated so that expired
502 keys or signatures and the resulting changes in the Web of Trust
503 can be tracked. Normally, GnuPG will calculate when this is
504 required and do it automatically unless --no-auto-check-trustdb
505 is set. This command can be used to force a trust database check
506 at any time. The processing is identical to that of --update-
507 trustdb but it skips keys with a not yet defined "ownertrust".
508 For use with cron jobs, this command can be used together with
510 --batch in which case the trust database check is done only if a
511 check is needed. To force a run even in batch mode add the
512 option --yes.
513 --export-ownertrust
517 Send the ownertrust values to STDOUT. This is useful for backup
518 purposes as these values are the only ones which can't be re-
519 created from a corrupted trustdb. Example:
520 gpg --export-ownertrust > otrust.txt
521 --import-ownertrust
525 Update the trustdb with the ownertrust values stored in files
526 (or STDIN if not given); existing values will be overwritten.
527 In case of a severely damaged trustdb and if you have a recent
528 backup of the ownertrust values (e.g. in the file ‘otrust.txt’),
529 you may re-create the trustdb using these commands:
530 cd ~/.gnupg
531 rm trustdb.gpg
532 gpg --import-ownertrust < otrust.txt
533 --rebuild-keydb-caches
537 When updating from version 1.0.6 to 1.0.7 this command should be
538 used to create signature caches in the keyring. It might be
539 handy in other situations too.
540 --print-md algo
543 --print-mds
544 Print message digest of algorithm algo for all given files or
545 STDIN. With the second form (or a deprecated "*" for algo)
546 digests for all available algorithms are printed.
547 --gen-random 0|1|2 count
550 Emit count random bytes of the given quality level 0, 1 or 2. If
551 count is not given or zero, an endless sequence of random bytes
552 will be emitted. If used with --armor the output will be base64
553 encoded. PLEASE, don't use this command unless you know what
554 you are doing; it may remove precious entropy from the system!
555 --gen-prime mode bits
558 Use the source, Luke :-). The output format is subject to change
559 with ant release.
560 --enarmor
564 --dearmor
565 Pack or unpack an arbitrary input into/from an OpenPGP ASCII
566 armor. This is a GnuPG extension to OpenPGP and in general not
567 very useful.
568 --tofu-policy {auto|good|unknown|bad|ask} keys
571 Set the TOFU policy for all the bindings associated with the
572 specified keys. For more information about the meaning of the
573 policies, see: [trust-model-tofu]. The keys may be specified
574 either by their fingerprint (preferred) or their keyid.
575 How to manage your keys
579 This section explains the main commands for key management.
582 --quick-generate-key user-id [algo [usage [expire]]]
586 --quick-gen-key
587 This is a simple command to generate a standard key with one
588 user id. In contrast to --generate-key the key is generated
589 directly without the need to answer a bunch of prompts. Unless
590 the option --yes is given, the key creation will be canceled if
591 the given user id already exists in the keyring.
592 If invoked directly on the console without any special options
594 an answer to a ``Continue?'' style confirmation prompt is
595 required. In case the user id already exists in the keyring a
596 second prompt to force the creation of the key will show up.
597 If algo or usage are given, only the primary key is created and
599 no prompts are shown. To specify an expiration date but still
600 create a primary and subkey use ``default'' or ``future-
601 default'' for algo and ``default'' for usage. For a description
602 of these optional arguments see the command --quick-add-key.
603 The usage accepts also the value ``cert'' which can be used to
604 create a certification only primary key; the default is to a
605 create certification and signing key.
606 The expire argument can be used to specify an expiration date
608 for the key. Several formats are supported; commonly the ISO
609 formats ``YYYY-MM-DD'' or ``YYYYMMDDThhmmss'' are used. To make
610 the key expire in N seconds, N days, N weeks, N months, or N
611 years use ``seconds=N'', ``Nd'', ``Nw'', ``Nm'', or ``Ny''
612 respectively. Not specifying a value, or using ``-'' results in
613 a key expiring in a reasonable default interval. The values
614 ``never'', ``none'' can be used for no expiration date.
615 If this command is used with --batch, --pinentry-mode has been
617 set to loopback, and one of the passphrase options
618 (--passphrase, --passphrase-fd, or passphrase-file) is used, the
619 supplied passphrase is used for the new key and the agent does
620 not ask for it. To create a key without any protection
621 --passphrase '' may be used.
622 Note that it is possible to create a primary key and a subkey
624 using non-default algorithms by using ``default'' and changing
625 the default parameters using the option --default-new-key-algo.
626 --quick-set-expire fpr expire [*|subfprs]
629 With two arguments given, directly set the expiration time of
630 the primary key identified by fpr to expire. To remove the
631 expiration time 0 can be used. With three arguments and the
632 third given as an asterisk, the expiration time of all non-
633 revoked and not yet expired subkeys are set to expire. With
634 more than two arguments and a list of fingerprints given for
635 subfprs, all non-revoked subkeys matching these fingerprints are
636 set to expire.
637 --quick-add-key fpr [algo [usage [expire]]]
641 Directly add a subkey to the key identified by the fingerprint
642 fpr. Without the optional arguments an encryption subkey is
643 added. If any of the arguments are given a more specific subkey
644 is added.
645 algo may be any of the supported algorithms or curve names given
647 in the format as used by key listings. To use the default algo‐
648 rithm the string ``default'' or ``-'' can be used. Supported
649 algorithms are ``rsa'', ``dsa'', ``elg'', ``ed25519'',
650 ``cv25519'', and other ECC curves. For example the string
651 ``rsa'' adds an RSA key with the default key length; a string
652 ``rsa4096'' requests that the key length is 4096 bits. The
653 string ``future-default'' is an alias for the algorithm which
654 will likely be used as default algorithm in future versions of
655 gpg. To list the supported ECC curves the command gpg --with-
656 colons --list-config curve can be used.
657 Depending on the given algo the subkey may either be an encryp‐
659 tion subkey or a signing subkey. If an algorithm is capable of
660 signing and encryption and such a subkey is desired, a usage
661 string must be given. This string is either ``default'' or
662 ``-'' to keep the default or a comma delimited list (or space
663 delimited list) of keywords: ``sign'' for a signing subkey,
664 ``auth'' for an authentication subkey, and ``encr'' for an
665 encryption subkey (``encrypt'' can be used as alias for
666 ``encr''). The valid combinations depend on the algorithm.
667 The expire argument can be used to specify an expiration date
669 for the key. Several formats are supported; commonly the ISO
670 formats ``YYYY-MM-DD'' or ``YYYYMMDDThhmmss'' are used. To make
671 the key expire in N seconds, N days, N weeks, N months, or N
672 years use ``seconds=N'', ``Nd'', ``Nw'', ``Nm'', or ``Ny''
673 respectively. Not specifying a value, or using ``-'' results in
674 a key expiring in a reasonable default interval. The values
675 ``never'', ``none'' can be used for no expiration date.
676 --generate-key
679 --gen-key
680 Generate a new key pair using the current default parameters.
681 This is the standard command to create a new key. In addition
682 to the key a revocation certificate is created and stored in the
683 ‘openpgp-revocs.d’ directory below the GnuPG home directory.
684 --full-generate-key
687 --full-gen-key
688 Generate a new key pair with dialogs for all options. This is
689 an extended version of --generate-key.
690 There is also a feature which allows you to create keys in batch
692 mode. See the manual section ``Unattended key generation'' on
693 how to use this.
694 --generate-revocation name
698 --gen-revoke name
699 Generate a revocation certificate for the complete key. To only
700 revoke a subkey or a key signature, use the --edit command.
701 This command merely creates the revocation certificate so that
703 it can be used to revoke the key if that is ever needed. To
704 actually revoke a key the created revocation certificate needs
705 to be merged with the key to revoke. This is done by importing
706 the revocation certificate using the --import command. Then the
707 revoked key needs to be published, which is best done by sending
708 the key to a keyserver (command --send-key) and by exporting
709 (--export) it to a file which is then send to frequent communi‐
710 cation partners.
711 --generate-designated-revocation name
715 --desig-revoke name
716 Generate a designated revocation certificate for a key. This
717 allows a user (with the permission of the keyholder) to revoke
718 someone else's key.
719 --edit-key
723 Present a menu which enables you to do most of the key manage‐
724 ment related tasks. It expects the specification of a key on
725 the command line.
726 uid n Toggle selection of user ID or photographic user ID with
730 index n. Use * to select all and 0 to deselect all.
731 key n Toggle selection of subkey with index n or key ID n. Use
734 * to select all and 0 to deselect all.
735 sign Make a signature on key of user name. If the key is not
738 yet signed by the default user (or the users given with
739 -u), the program displays the information of the key
740 again, together with its fingerprint and asks whether it
741 should be signed. This question is repeated for all users
742 specified with -u.
743 lsign Same as "sign" but the signature is marked as non-
746 exportable and will therefore never be used by others.
747 This may be used to make keys valid only in the local
748 environment.
749 nrsign Same as "sign" but the signature is marked as non-revoca‐
752 ble and can therefore never be revoked.
753 tsign Make a trust signature. This is a signature that combines
756 the notions of certification (like a regular signature),
757 and trust (like the "trust" command). It is generally
758 only useful in distinct communities or groups. For more
759 information please read the sections ``Trust Signature''
760 and ``Regular Expression'' in RFC-4880.
761 Note that "l" (for local / non-exportable), "nr" (for non-revo‐
763 cable, and "t" (for trust) may be freely mixed and prefixed to
764 "sign" to create a signature of any type desired.
765 If the option --only-sign-text-ids is specified, then any non-text
767 based user ids (e.g., photo IDs) will not be selected for signing.
768 delsig Delete a signature. Note that it is not possible to
772 retract a signature, once it has been send to the public
773 (i.e. to a keyserver). In that case you better use
774 revsig.
775 revsig Revoke a signature. For every signature which has been
778 generated by one of the secret keys, GnuPG asks whether a
779 revocation certificate should be generated.
780 check Check the signatures on all selected user IDs. With the
783 extra option selfsig only self-signatures are shown.
784 adduid Create an additional user ID.
787 addphoto
790 Create a photographic user ID. This will prompt for a
791 JPEG file that will be embedded into the user ID. Note
792 that a very large JPEG will make for a very large key.
793 Also note that some programs will display your JPEG
794 unchanged (GnuPG), and some programs will scale it to fit
795 in a dialog box (PGP).
796 showphoto
799 Display the selected photographic user ID.
800 deluid Delete a user ID or photographic user ID. Note that it
803 is not possible to retract a user id, once it has been
804 send to the public (i.e. to a keyserver). In that case
805 you better use revuid.
806 revuid Revoke a user ID or photographic user ID.
809 primary
812 Flag the current user id as the primary one, removes the
813 primary user id flag from all other user ids and sets the
814 timestamp of all affected self-signatures one second
815 ahead. Note that setting a photo user ID as primary makes
816 it primary over other photo user IDs, and setting a regu‐
817 lar user ID as primary makes it primary over other regu‐
818 lar user IDs.
819 keyserver
822 Set a preferred keyserver for the specified user ID(s).
823 This allows other users to know where you prefer they get
824 your key from. See --keyserver-options honor-keyserver-
825 url for more on how this works. Setting a value of
826 "none" removes an existing preferred keyserver.
827 notation
830 Set a name=value notation for the specified user ID(s).
831 See --cert-notation for more on how this works. Setting a
832 value of "none" removes all notations, setting a notation
833 prefixed with a minus sign (-) removes that notation, and
834 setting a notation name (without the =value) prefixed
835 with a minus sign removes all notations with that name.
836 pref List preferences from the selected user ID. This shows
839 the actual preferences, without including any implied
840 preferences.
841 showpref
844 More verbose preferences listing for the selected user
845 ID. This shows the preferences in effect by including the
846 implied preferences of 3DES (cipher), SHA-1 (digest), and
847 Uncompressed (compression) if they are not already
848 included in the preference list. In addition, the pre‐
849 ferred keyserver and signature notations (if any) are
850 shown.
851 setpref string
854 Set the list of user ID preferences to string for all (or
855 just the selected) user IDs. Calling setpref with no
856 arguments sets the preference list to the default (either
857 built-in or set via --default-preference-list), and call‐
858 ing setpref with "none" as the argument sets an empty
859 preference list. Use gpg --version to get a list of
860 available algorithms. Note that while you can change the
861 preferences on an attribute user ID (aka "photo ID"),
862 GnuPG does not select keys via attribute user IDs so
863 these preferences will not be used by GnuPG.
864 When setting preferences, you should list the algorithms
866 in the order which you'd like to see them used by someone
867 else when encrypting a message to your key. If you don't
868 include 3DES, it will be automatically added at the end.
869 Note that there are many factors that go into choosing an
870 algorithm (for example, your key may not be the only
871 recipient), and so the remote OpenPGP application being
872 used to send to you may or may not follow your exact cho‐
873 sen order for a given message. It will, however, only
874 choose an algorithm that is present on the preference
875 list of every recipient key. See also the INTEROPERABIL‐
876 ITY WITH OTHER OPENPGP PROGRAMS section below.
877 addkey Add a subkey to this key.
880 addcardkey
883 Generate a subkey on a card and add it to this key.
884 keytocard
887 Transfer the selected secret subkey (or the primary key
888 if no subkey has been selected) to a smartcard. The
889 secret key in the keyring will be replaced by a stub if
890 the key could be stored successfully on the card and you
891 use the save command later. Only certain key types may be
892 transferred to the card. A sub menu allows you to select
893 on what card to store the key. Note that it is not possi‐
894 ble to get that key back from the card - if the card gets
895 broken your secret key will be lost unless you have a
896 backup somewhere.
897 bkuptocard file
900 Restore the given file to a card. This command may be
901 used to restore a backup key (as generated during card
902 initialization) to a new card. In almost all cases this
903 will be the encryption key. You should use this command
904 only with the corresponding public key and make sure that
905 the file given as argument is indeed the backup to
906 restore. You should then select 2 to restore as encryp‐
907 tion key. You will first be asked to enter the
908 passphrase of the backup key and then for the Admin PIN
909 of the card.
910 delkey Remove a subkey (secondary key). Note that it is not pos‐
913 sible to retract a subkey, once it has been send to the
914 public (i.e. to a keyserver). In that case you better
915 use revkey. Also note that this only deletes the public
916 part of a key.
917 revkey Revoke a subkey.
920 expire Change the key or subkey expiration time. If a subkey is
923 selected, the expiration time of this subkey will be
924 changed. With no selection, the key expiration of the
925 primary key is changed.
926 trust Change the owner trust value for the key. This updates
929 the trust-db immediately and no save is required.
930 disable
933 enable Disable or enable an entire key. A disabled key can not
934 normally be used for encryption.
935 addrevoker
938 Add a designated revoker to the key. This takes one
939 optional argument: "sensitive". If a designated revoker
940 is marked as sensitive, it will not be exported by
941 default (see export-options).
942 passwd Change the passphrase of the secret key.
945 toggle This is dummy command which exists only for backward com‐
948 patibility.
949 clean Compact (by removing all signatures except the selfsig)
952 any user ID that is no longer usable (e.g. revoked, or
953 expired). Then, remove any signatures that are not usable
954 by the trust calculations. Specifically, this removes
955 any signature that does not validate, any signature that
956 is superseded by a later signature, revoked signatures,
957 and signatures issued by keys that are not present on the
958 keyring.
959 minimize
962 Make the key as small as possible. This removes all sig‐
963 natures from each user ID except for the most recent
964 self-signature.
965 change-usage
968 Change the usage flags (capabilities) of the primary key
969 or of subkeys. These usage flags (e.g. Certify, Sign,
970 Authenticate, Encrypt) are set during key creation.
971 Sometimes it is useful to have the opportunity to change
972 them (for example to add Authenticate) after they have
973 been created. Please take care when doing this; the
974 allowed usage flags depend on the key algorithm.
975 cross-certify
978 Add cross-certification signatures to signing subkeys
979 that may not currently have them. Cross-certification
980 signatures protect against a subtle attack against sign‐
981 ing subkeys. See --require-cross-certification. All new
982 keys generated have this signature by default, so this
983 command is only useful to bring older keys up to date.
984 save Save all changes to the keyrings and quit.
987 quit Quit the program without updating the keyrings.
990 The listing shows you the key with its secondary keys and all
992 user IDs. The primary user ID is indicated by a dot, and
993 selected keys or user IDs are indicated by an asterisk. The
994 trust value is displayed with the primary key: "trust" is the
995 assigned owner trust and "validity" is the calculated validity
996 of the key. Validity values are also displayed for all user
997 IDs. For possible values of trust, see: [trust-values].
998 --sign-key name
1001 Signs a public key with your secret key. This is a shortcut ver‐
1002 sion of the subcommand "sign" from --edit.
1003 --lsign-key name
1006 Signs a public key with your secret key but marks it as non-
1007 exportable. This is a shortcut version of the subcommand "lsign"
1008 from --edit-key.
1009 --quick-sign-key fpr [names]
1012 --quick-lsign-key fpr [names]
1013 Directly sign a key from the passphrase without any further user
1014 interaction. The fpr must be the verified primary fingerprint
1015 of a key in the local keyring. If no names are given, all useful
1016 user ids are signed; with given [names] only useful user ids
1017 matching one of theses names are signed. By default, or if a
1018 name is prefixed with a '*', a case insensitive substring match
1019 is used. If a name is prefixed with a '=' a case sensitive
1020 exact match is done.
1021 The command --quick-lsign-key marks the signatures as non-
1023 exportable. If such a non-exportable signature already exists
1024 the --quick-sign-key turns it into a exportable signature.
1025 This command uses reasonable defaults and thus does not provide
1027 the full flexibility of the "sign" subcommand from --edit-key.
1028 Its intended use is to help unattended key signing by utilizing
1029 a list of verified fingerprints.
1030 --quick-add-uid user-id new-user-id
1033 This command adds a new user id to an existing key. In contrast
1034 to the interactive sub-command adduid of --edit-key the new-
1035 user-id is added verbatim with only leading and trailing white
1036 space removed, it is expected to be UTF-8 encoded, and no checks
1037 on its form are applied.
1038 --quick-revoke-uid user-id user-id-to-revoke
1041 This command revokes a user ID on an existing key. It cannot be
1042 used to revoke the last user ID on key (some non-revoked user ID
1043 must remain), with revocation reason ``User ID is no longer
1044 valid''. If you want to specify a different revocation reason,
1045 or to supply supplementary revocation text, you should use the
1046 interactive sub-command revuid of --edit-key.
1047 --quick-set-primary-uid user-id primary-user-id
1050 This command sets or updates the primary user ID flag on an
1051 existing key. user-id specifies the key and primary-user-id the
1052 user ID which shall be flagged as the primary user ID. The pri‐
1053 mary user ID flag is removed from all other user ids and the
1054 timestamp of all affected self-signatures is set one second
1055 ahead.
1056 --change-passphrase user-id
1060 --passwd user-id
1061 Change the passphrase of the secret key belonging to the cer‐
1062 tificate specified as user-id. This is a shortcut for the sub-
1063 command passwd of the edit key menu. When using together with
1064 the option --dry-run this will not actually change the
1065 passphrase but check that the current passphrase is correct.
1066
1069 gpg features a bunch of options to control the exact behaviour and to
1070 change the default configuration.
1071 Long options can be put in an options file (default
1074 "~/.gnupg/gpg.conf"). Short option names will not work - for example,
1075 "armor" is a valid option for the options file, while "a" is not. Do
1076 not write the 2 dashes, but simply the name of the option and any
1077 required arguments. Lines with a hash ('#') as the first non-white-
1078 space character are ignored. Commands may be put in this file too, but
1079 that is not generally useful as the command will execute automatically
1080 with every execution of gpg.
1081 Please remember that option parsing stops as soon as a non-option is
1083 encountered, you can explicitly stop parsing by using the special
1084 option --.
1085 How to change the configuration
1089 These options are used to change the configuration and are usually
1092 found in the option file.
1093 --default-key name
1097 Use name as the default key to sign with. If this option is not
1098 used, the default key is the first key found in the secret
1099 keyring. Note that -u or --local-user overrides this option.
1100 This option may be given multiple times. In this case, the last
1101 key for which a secret key is available is used. If there is no
1102 secret key available for any of the specified values, GnuPG will
1103 not emit an error message but continue as if this option wasn't
1104 given.
1105 --default-recipient name
1108 Use name as default recipient if option --recipient is not used
1109 and don't ask if this is a valid one. name must be non-empty.
1110 --default-recipient-self
1113 Use the default key as default recipient if option --recipient
1114 is not used and don't ask if this is a valid one. The default
1115 key is the first one from the secret keyring or the one set with
1116 --default-key.
1117 --no-default-recipient
1120 Reset --default-recipient and --default-recipient-self.
1121 -v, --verbose
1124 Give more information during processing. If used twice, the
1125 input data is listed in detail.
1126 --no-verbose
1129 Reset verbose level to 0.
1130 -q, --quiet
1133 Try to be as quiet as possible.
1134 --batch
1137 --no-batch
1138 Use batch mode. Never ask, do not allow interactive commands.
1139 --no-batch disables this option. Note that even with a filename
1140 given on the command line, gpg might still need to read from
1141 STDIN (in particular if gpg figures that the input is a detached
1142 signature and no data file has been specified). Thus if you do
1143 not want to feed data via STDIN, you should connect STDIN to
1144 g‘/dev/null’.
1145 It is highly recommended to use this option along with the
1147 options --status-fd and --with-colons for any unattended use of
1148 gpg.
1149 --no-tty
1152 Make sure that the TTY (terminal) is never used for any output.
1153 This option is needed in some cases because GnuPG sometimes
1154 prints warnings to the TTY even if --batch is used.
1155 --yes Assume "yes" on most questions.
1158 --no Assume "no" on most questions.
1161 --list-options parameters
1165 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options
1166 used when listing keys and signatures (that is, --list-keys,
1167 --check-signatures, --list-public-keys, --list-secret-keys, and
1168 the --edit-key functions). Options can be prepended with a no-
1169 (after the two dashes) to give the opposite meaning. The
1170 options are:
1171 show-photos
1175 Causes --list-keys, --check-signatures, --list-public-
1176 keys, and --list-secret-keys to display any photo IDs
1177 attached to the key. Defaults to no. See also --photo-
1178 viewer. Does not work with --with-colons: see
1179 --attribute-fd for the appropriate way to get photo data
1180 for scripts and other frontends.
1181 show-usage
1184 Show usage information for keys and subkeys in the stan‐
1185 dard key listing. This is a list of letters indicating
1186 the allowed usage for a key (E=encryption, S=signing,
1187 C=certification, A=authentication). Defaults to yes.
1188 show-policy-urls
1191 Show policy URLs in the --check-signatures listings.
1192 Defaults to no.
1193 show-notations
1196 show-std-notations
1197 show-user-notations
1198 Show all, IETF standard, or user-defined signature nota‐
1199 tions in the --check-signatures listings. Defaults to no.
1200 show-keyserver-urls
1203 Show any preferred keyserver URL in the --check-signa‐
1204 tures listings. Defaults to no.
1205 show-uid-validity
1208 Display the calculated validity of user IDs during key
1209 listings. Defaults to yes.
1210 show-unusable-uids
1213 Show revoked and expired user IDs in key listings.
1214 Defaults to no.
1215 show-unusable-subkeys
1218 Show revoked and expired subkeys in key listings.
1219 Defaults to no.
1220 show-keyring
1223 Display the keyring name at the head of key listings to
1224 show which keyring a given key resides on. Defaults to
1225 no.
1226 show-sig-expire
1229 Show signature expiration dates (if any) during --check-
1230 signatures listings. Defaults to no.
1231 show-sig-subpackets
1234 Include signature subpackets in the key listing. This
1235 option can take an optional argument list of the subpack‐
1236 ets to list. If no argument is passed, list all subpack‐
1237 ets. Defaults to no. This option is only meaningful when
1238 using --with-colons along with --check-signatures.
1239 show-only-fpr-mbox
1242 For each valid user-id which also has a valid mail
1243 address print only the fingerprint and the mail address.
1244 --verify-options parameters
1247 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options
1248 used when verifying signatures. Options can be prepended with a
1249 `no-' to give the opposite meaning. The options are:
1250 show-photos
1254 Display any photo IDs present on the key that issued the
1255 signature. Defaults to no. See also --photo-viewer.
1256 show-policy-urls
1259 Show policy URLs in the signature being verified.
1260 Defaults to yes.
1261 show-notations
1264 show-std-notations
1265 show-user-notations
1266 Show all, IETF standard, or user-defined signature nota‐
1267 tions in the signature being verified. Defaults to IETF
1268 standard.
1269 show-keyserver-urls
1272 Show any preferred keyserver URL in the signature being
1273 verified. Defaults to yes.
1274 show-uid-validity
1277 Display the calculated validity of the user IDs on the
1278 key that issued the signature. Defaults to yes.
1279 show-unusable-uids
1282 Show revoked and expired user IDs during signature veri‐
1283 fication. Defaults to no.
1284 show-primary-uid-only
1287 Show only the primary user ID during signature verifica‐
1288 tion. That is all the AKA lines as well as photo Ids are
1289 not shown with the signature verification status.
1290 pka-lookups
1293 Enable PKA lookups to verify sender addresses. Note that
1294 PKA is based on DNS, and so enabling this option may dis‐
1295 close information on when and what signatures are veri‐
1296 fied or to whom data is encrypted. This is similar to the
1297 "web bug" described for the --auto-key-retrieve option.
1298 pka-trust-increase
1301 Raise the trust in a signature to full if the signature
1302 passes PKA validation. This option is only meaningful if
1303 pka-lookups is set.
1304 --enable-large-rsa
1307 --disable-large-rsa
1308 With --generate-key and --batch, enable the creation of RSA
1309 secret keys as large as 8192 bit. Note: 8192 bit is more than
1310 is generally recommended. These large keys don't significantly
1311 improve security, but they are more expensive to use, and their
1312 signatures and certifications are larger. This option is only
1313 available if the binary was build with large-secmem support.
1314 --enable-dsa2
1317 --disable-dsa2
1318 Enable hash truncation for all DSA keys even for old DSA Keys up
1319 to 1024 bit. This is also the default with --openpgp. Note
1320 that older versions of GnuPG also required this flag to allow
1321 the generation of DSA larger than 1024 bit.
1322 --photo-viewer string
1325 This is the command line that should be run to view a photo ID.
1326 "%i" will be expanded to a filename containing the photo. "%I"
1327 does the same, except the file will not be deleted once the
1328 viewer exits. Other flags are "%k" for the key ID, "%K" for the
1329 long key ID, "%f" for the key fingerprint, "%t" for the exten‐
1330 sion of the image type (e.g. "jpg"), "%T" for the MIME type of
1331 the image (e.g. "image/jpeg"), "%v" for the single-character
1332 calculated validity of the image being viewed (e.g. "f"), "%V"
1333 for the calculated validity as a string (e.g. "full"), "%U" for
1334 a base32 encoded hash of the user ID, and "%%" for an actual
1335 percent sign. If neither %i or %I are present, then the photo
1336 will be supplied to the viewer on standard input.
1337 The default viewer is "xloadimage -fork -quiet -title 'KeyID
1339 0x%k' STDIN". Note that if your image viewer program is not
1340 secure, then executing it from GnuPG does not make it secure.
1341 --exec-path string
1344 Sets a list of directories to search for photo viewers and key‐
1345 server helpers. If not provided, keyserver helpers use the com‐
1346 piled-in default directory, and photo viewers use the PATH envi‐
1347 ronment variable. Note, that on W32 system this value is
1348 ignored when searching for keyserver helpers.
1349 --keyring file
1352 Add file to the current list of keyrings. If file begins with a
1353 tilde and a slash, these are replaced by the $HOME directory. If
1354 the filename does not contain a slash, it is assumed to be in
1355 the GnuPG home directory ("~/.gnupg" if --homedir or $GNUPGHOME
1356 is not used).
1357 Note that this adds a keyring to the current list. If the intent
1359 is to use the specified keyring alone, use --keyring along with
1360 --no-default-keyring.
1361 If the option --no-keyring has been used no keyrings will be
1363 used at all.
1364 --secret-keyring file
1368 This is an obsolete option and ignored. All secret keys are
1369 stored in the ‘private-keys-v1.d’ directory below the GnuPG home
1370 directory.
1371 --primary-keyring file
1374 Designate file as the primary public keyring. This means that
1375 newly imported keys (via --import or keyserver --recv-from) will
1376 go to this keyring.
1377 --trustdb-name file
1380 Use file instead of the default trustdb. If file begins with a
1381 tilde and a slash, these are replaced by the $HOME directory. If
1382 the filename does not contain a slash, it is assumed to be in
1383 the GnuPG home directory (‘~/.gnupg’ if --homedir or $GNUPGHOME
1384 is not used).
1385 --homedir dir
1388 Set the name of the home directory to dir. If this option is not
1389 used, the home directory defaults to ‘~/.gnupg’. It is only
1390 recognized when given on the command line. It also overrides
1391 any home directory stated through the environment variable
1392 ‘GNUPGHOME’ or (on Windows systems) by means of the Registry
1393 entry HKCU\Software\GNU\GnuPG:HomeDir.
1394 On Windows systems it is possible to install GnuPG as a portable
1396 application. In this case only this command line option is con‐
1397 sidered, all other ways to set a home directory are ignored.
1398 To install GnuPG as a portable application under Windows, create
1400 an empty file named ‘gpgconf.ctl’ in the same directory as the
1401 tool ‘gpgconf.exe’. The root of the installation is then that
1402 directory; or, if ‘gpgconf.exe’ has been installed directly
1403 below a directory named ‘bin’, its parent directory. You also
1404 need to make sure that the following directories exist and are
1405 writable: ‘ROOT/home’ for the GnuPG home and
1406 ‘ROOT/var/cache/gnupg’ for internal cache files.
1407 --display-charset name
1411 Set the name of the native character set. This is used to con‐
1412 vert some informational strings like user IDs to the proper
1413 UTF-8 encoding. Note that this has nothing to do with the char‐
1414 acter set of data to be encrypted or signed; GnuPG does not
1415 recode user-supplied data. If this option is not used, the
1416 default character set is determined from the current locale. A
1417 verbosity level of 3 shows the chosen set. Valid values for
1418 name are:
1419 iso-8859-1
1423 This is the Latin 1 set.
1424 iso-8859-2
1427 The Latin 2 set.
1428 iso-8859-15
1431 This is currently an alias for the Latin 1 set.
1432 koi8-r The usual Russian set (RFC-1489).
1435 utf-8 Bypass all translations and assume that the OS uses
1438 native UTF-8 encoding.
1439 --utf8-strings
1442 --no-utf8-strings
1443 Assume that command line arguments are given as UTF-8 strings.
1444 The default (--no-utf8-strings) is to assume that arguments are
1445 encoded in the character set as specified by --display-charset.
1446 These options affect all following arguments. Both options may
1447 be used multiple times.
1448 --options file
1452 Read options from file and do not try to read them from the
1453 default options file in the homedir (see --homedir). This option
1454 is ignored if used in an options file.
1455 --no-options
1458 Shortcut for --options /dev/null. This option is detected before
1459 an attempt to open an option file. Using this option will also
1460 prevent the creation of a ‘~/.gnupg’ homedir.
1461 -z n
1464 --compress-level n
1465 --bzip2-compress-level n
1466 Set compression level to n for the ZIP and ZLIB compression
1467 algorithms. The default is to use the default compression level
1468 of zlib (normally 6). --bzip2-compress-level sets the compres‐
1469 sion level for the BZIP2 compression algorithm (defaulting to 6
1470 as well). This is a different option from --compress-level since
1471 BZIP2 uses a significant amount of memory for each additional
1472 compression level. -z sets both. A value of 0 for n disables
1473 compression.
1474 --bzip2-decompress-lowmem
1477 Use a different decompression method for BZIP2 compressed files.
1478 This alternate method uses a bit more than half the memory, but
1479 also runs at half the speed. This is useful under extreme low
1480 memory circumstances when the file was originally compressed at
1481 a high --bzip2-compress-level.
1482 --mangle-dos-filenames
1486 --no-mangle-dos-filenames
1487 Older version of Windows cannot handle filenames with more than
1488 one dot. --mangle-dos-filenames causes GnuPG to replace (rather
1489 than add to) the extension of an output filename to avoid this
1490 problem. This option is off by default and has no effect on non-
1491 Windows platforms.
1492 --ask-cert-level
1495 --no-ask-cert-level
1496 When making a key signature, prompt for a certification level.
1497 If this option is not specified, the certification level used is
1498 set via --default-cert-level. See --default-cert-level for
1499 information on the specific levels and how they are used. --no-
1500 ask-cert-level disables this option. This option defaults to no.
1501 --default-cert-level n
1504 The default to use for the check level when signing a key.
1505 0 means you make no particular claim as to how carefully you
1507 verified the key.
1508 1 means you believe the key is owned by the person who claims to
1510 own it but you could not, or did not verify the key at all. This
1511 is useful for a "persona" verification, where you sign the key
1512 of a pseudonymous user.
1513 2 means you did casual verification of the key. For example,
1515 this could mean that you verified the key fingerprint and
1516 checked the user ID on the key against a photo ID.
1517 3 means you did extensive verification of the key. For example,
1519 this could mean that you verified the key fingerprint with the
1520 owner of the key in person, and that you checked, by means of a
1521 hard to forge document with a photo ID (such as a passport) that
1522 the name of the key owner matches the name in the user ID on the
1523 key, and finally that you verified (by exchange of email) that
1524 the email address on the key belongs to the key owner.
1525 Note that the examples given above for levels 2 and 3 are just
1527 that: examples. In the end, it is up to you to decide just what
1528 "casual" and "extensive" mean to you.
1529 This option defaults to 0 (no particular claim).
1531 --min-cert-level
1534 When building the trust database, treat any signatures with a
1535 certification level below this as invalid. Defaults to 2, which
1536 disregards level 1 signatures. Note that level 0 "no particular
1537 claim" signatures are always accepted.
1538 --trusted-key long key ID
1541 Assume that the specified key (which must be given as a full 8
1542 byte key ID) is as trustworthy as one of your own secret keys.
1543 This option is useful if you don't want to keep your secret keys
1544 (or one of them) online but still want to be able to check the
1545 validity of a given recipient's or signator's key.
1546 --trust-model {pgp|classic|tofu|tofu+pgp|direct|always|auto}
1549 Set what trust model GnuPG should follow. The models are:
1550 pgp This is the Web of Trust combined with trust signatures
1554 as used in PGP 5.x and later. This is the default trust
1555 model when creating a new trust database.
1556 classic
1559 This is the standard Web of Trust as introduced by PGP 2.
1560 tofu
1563 TOFU stands for Trust On First Use. In this trust model,
1565 the first time a key is seen, it is memorized. If later
1566 another key with a user id with the same email address is
1567 seen, both keys are marked as suspect. In that case, the
1568 next time either is used, a warning is displayed describ‐
1569 ing the conflict, why it might have occurred (either the
1570 user generated a new key and failed to cross sign the old
1571 and new keys, the key is forgery, or a man-in-the-middle
1572 attack is being attempted), and the user is prompted to
1573 manually confirm the validity of the key in question.
1574 Because a potential attacker is able to control the email
1576 address and thereby circumvent the conflict detection
1577 algorithm by using an email address that is similar in
1578 appearance to a trusted email address, whenever a message
1579 is verified, statistics about the number of messages
1580 signed with the key are shown. In this way, a user can
1581 easily identify attacks using fake keys for regular cor‐
1582 respondents.
1583 When compared with the Web of Trust, TOFU offers signifi‐
1585 cantly weaker security guarantees. In particular, TOFU
1586 only helps ensure consistency (that is, that the binding
1587 between a key and email address doesn't change). A major
1588 advantage of TOFU is that it requires little maintenance
1589 to use correctly. To use the web of trust properly, you
1590 need to actively sign keys and mark users as trusted
1591 introducers. This is a time-consuming process and anec‐
1592 dotal evidence suggests that even security-conscious
1593 users rarely take the time to do this thoroughly and
1594 instead rely on an ad-hoc TOFU process.
1595 In the TOFU model, policies are associated with bindings
1597 between keys and email addresses (which are extracted
1598 from user ids and normalized). There are five policies,
1599 which can be set manually using the --tofu-policy option.
1600 The default policy can be set using the --tofu-default-
1601 policy option.
1602 The TOFU policies are: auto, good, unknown, bad and ask.
1604 The auto policy is used by default (unless overridden by
1605 --tofu-default-policy) and marks a binding as marginally
1606 trusted. The good, unknown and bad policies mark a bind‐
1607 ing as fully trusted, as having unknown trust or as hav‐
1608 ing trust never, respectively. The unknown policy is
1609 useful for just using TOFU to detect conflicts, but to
1610 never assign positive trust to a binding. The final pol‐
1611 icy, ask prompts the user to indicate the binding's
1612 trust. If batch mode is enabled (or input is inappropri‐
1613 ate in the context), then the user is not prompted and
1614 the undefined trust level is returned.
1615 tofu+pgp
1618 This trust model combines TOFU with the Web of Trust.
1619 This is done by computing the trust level for each model
1620 and then taking the maximum trust level where the trust
1621 levels are ordered as follows: unknown < undefined < mar‐
1622 ginal < fully < ultimate < expired < never.
1623 By setting --tofu-default-policy=unknown, this model can
1625 be used to implement the web of trust with TOFU's con‐
1626 flict detection algorithm, but without its assignment of
1627 positive trust values, which some security-conscious
1628 users don't like.
1629 direct Key validity is set directly by the user and not calcu‐
1632 lated via the Web of Trust. This model is solely based
1633 on the key and does not distinguish user IDs. Note that
1634 when changing to another trust model the trust values
1635 assigned to a key are transformed into ownertrust values,
1636 which also indicate how you trust the owner of the key to
1637 sign other keys.
1638 always Skip key validation and assume that used keys are always
1641 fully valid. You generally won't use this unless you are
1642 using some external validation scheme. This option also
1643 suppresses the "[uncertain]" tag printed with signature
1644 checks when there is no evidence that the user ID is
1645 bound to the key. Note that this trust model still does
1646 not allow the use of expired, revoked, or disabled keys.
1647 auto Select the trust model depending on whatever the internal
1650 trust database says. This is the default model if such a
1651 database already exists. Note that a tofu trust model is
1652 not considered here and must be enabled explicitly.
1653 --auto-key-locate mechanisms
1656 --no-auto-key-locate
1657 GnuPG can automatically locate and retrieve keys as needed using
1658 this option. This happens when encrypting to an email address
1659 (in the "user@example.com" form), and there are no "user@exam‐
1660 ple.com" keys on the local keyring. This option takes any num‐
1661 ber of the mechanisms listed below, in the order they are to be
1662 tried. Instead of listing the mechanisms as comma delimited
1663 arguments, the option may also be given several times to add
1664 more mechanism. The option --no-auto-key-locate or the mecha‐
1665 nism "clear" resets the list. The default is "local,wkd".
1666 cert Locate a key using DNS CERT, as specified in RFC-4398.
1670 pka Locate a key using DNS PKA.
1673 dane Locate a key using DANE, as specified in draft-ietf-dane-
1676 openpgpkey-05.txt.
1677 wkd Locate a key using the Web Key Directory protocol.
1680 ldap Using DNS Service Discovery, check the domain in question
1683 for any LDAP keyservers to use. If this fails, attempt
1684 to locate the key using the PGP Universal method of
1685 checking 'ldap://keys.(thedomain)'.
1686 keyserver
1689 Locate a key using whatever keyserver is defined using
1690 the --keyserver option.
1691 keyserver-URL
1694 In addition, a keyserver URL as used in the --keyserver
1695 option may be used here to query that particular key‐
1696 server.
1697 local Locate the key using the local keyrings. This mechanism
1700 allows the user to select the order a local key lookup is
1701 done. Thus using '--auto-key-locate local' is identical
1702 to --no-auto-key-locate.
1703 nodefault
1706 This flag disables the standard local key lookup, done
1707 before any of the mechanisms defined by the --auto-key-
1708 locate are tried. The position of this mechanism in the
1709 list does not matter. It is not required if local is
1710 also used.
1711 clear Clear all defined mechanisms. This is useful to override
1714 mechanisms given in a config file. Note that a nodefault
1715 in mechanisms will also be cleared unless it is given
1716 after the clear.
1717 --auto-key-retrieve
1722 --no-auto-key-retrieve
1723 These options enable or disable the automatic retrieving of keys
1724 from a keyserver when verifying signatures made by keys that are
1725 not on the local keyring. The default is --no-auto-key-
1726 retrieve.
1727 If the method "wkd" is included in the list of methods given to
1729 auto-key-locate, the signer's user ID is part of the signature,
1730 and the option --disable-signer-uid is not used, the "wkd"
1731 method may also be used to retrieve a key.
1732 Note that this option makes a "web bug" like behavior possible.
1734 Keyserver or Web Key Directory operators can see which keys you
1735 request, so by sending you a message signed by a brand new key
1736 (which you naturally will not have on your local keyring), the
1737 operator can tell both your IP address and the time when you
1738 verified the signature.
1739 --keyid-format {none|short|0xshort|long|0xlong}
1742 Select how to display key IDs. "none" does not show the key ID
1743 at all but shows the fingerprint in a separate line. "short" is
1744 the traditional 8-character key ID. "long" is the more accurate
1745 (but less convenient) 16-character key ID. Add an "0x" to
1746 either to include an "0x" at the beginning of the key ID, as in
1747 0x99242560. Note that this option is ignored if the option
1748 --with-colons is used.
1749 --keyserver name
1752 This option is deprecated - please use the --keyserver in ‘dirm‐
1753 ngr.conf’ instead.
1754 Use name as your keyserver. This is the server that --receive-
1756 keys, --send-keys, and --search-keys will communicate with to
1757 receive keys from, send keys to, and search for keys on. The
1758 format of the name is a URI: `scheme:[//]keyservername[:port]'
1759 The scheme is the type of keyserver: "hkp" for the HTTP (or com‐
1760 patible) keyservers, "ldap" for the LDAP keyservers, or "mailto"
1761 for the Graff email keyserver. Note that your particular instal‐
1762 lation of GnuPG may have other keyserver types available as
1763 well. Keyserver schemes are case-insensitive. After the key‐
1764 server name, optional keyserver configuration options may be
1765 provided. These are the same as the global --keyserver-options
1766 from below, but apply only to this particular keyserver.
1767 Most keyservers synchronize with each other, so there is gener‐
1769 ally no need to send keys to more than one server. The keyserver
1770 hkp://keys.gnupg.net uses round robin DNS to give a different
1771 keyserver each time you use it.
1772 --keyserver-options {name=value}
1775 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for
1776 the keyserver. Options can be prefixed with a `no-' to give the
1777 opposite meaning. Valid import-options or export-options may be
1778 used here as well to apply to importing (--recv-key) or export‐
1779 ing (--send-key) a key from a keyserver. While not all options
1780 are available for all keyserver types, some common options are:
1781 include-revoked
1785 When searching for a key with --search-keys, include keys
1786 that are marked on the keyserver as revoked. Note that
1787 not all keyservers differentiate between revoked and
1788 unrevoked keys, and for such keyservers this option is
1789 meaningless. Note also that most keyservers do not have
1790 cryptographic verification of key revocations, and so
1791 turning this option off may result in skipping keys that
1792 are incorrectly marked as revoked.
1793 include-disabled
1796 When searching for a key with --search-keys, include keys
1797 that are marked on the keyserver as disabled. Note that
1798 this option is not used with HKP keyservers.
1799 auto-key-retrieve
1802 This is an obsolete alias for the option auto-key-
1803 retrieve. Please do not use it; it will be removed in
1804 future versions..
1805 honor-keyserver-url
1808 When using --refresh-keys, if the key in question has a
1809 preferred keyserver URL, then use that preferred key‐
1810 server to refresh the key from. In addition, if auto-key-
1811 retrieve is set, and the signature being verified has a
1812 preferred keyserver URL, then use that preferred key‐
1813 server to fetch the key from. Note that this option
1814 introduces a "web bug": The creator of the key can see
1815 when the keys is refreshed. Thus this option is not
1816 enabled by default.
1817 honor-pka-record
1820 If --auto-key-retrieve is used, and the signature being
1821 verified has a PKA record, then use the PKA information
1822 to fetch the key. Defaults to "yes".
1823 include-subkeys
1826 When receiving a key, include subkeys as potential tar‐
1827 gets. Note that this option is not used with HKP key‐
1828 servers, as they do not support retrieving keys by subkey
1829 id.
1830 timeout
1833 http-proxy=value
1834 verbose
1835 debug
1836 check-cert
1837 ca-cert-file
1839 These options have no more function since GnuPG 2.1. Use
1840 the dirmngr configuration options instead.
1841 --completes-needed n
1845 Number of completely trusted users to introduce a new key signer
1846 (defaults to 1).
1847 --marginals-needed n
1850 Number of marginally trusted users to introduce a new key signer
1851 (defaults to 3)
1852 --tofu-default-policy {auto|good|unknown|bad|ask}
1855 The default TOFU policy (defaults to auto). For more informa‐
1856 tion about the meaning of this option, see: [trust-model-tofu].
1857 --max-cert-depth n
1860 Maximum depth of a certification chain (default is 5).
1861 --no-sig-cache
1864 Do not cache the verification status of key signatures. Caching
1865 gives a much better performance in key listings. However, if you
1866 suspect that your public keyring is not safe against write modi‐
1867 fications, you can use this option to disable the caching. It
1868 probably does not make sense to disable it because all kind of
1869 damage can be done if someone else has write access to your pub‐
1870 lic keyring.
1871 --auto-check-trustdb
1874 --no-auto-check-trustdb
1875 If GnuPG feels that its information about the Web of Trust has
1876 to be updated, it automatically runs the --check-trustdb command
1877 internally. This may be a time consuming process. --no-auto-
1878 check-trustdb disables this option.
1879 --use-agent
1882 --no-use-agent
1883 This is dummy option. gpg always requires the agent.
1884 --gpg-agent-info
1887 This is dummy option. It has no effect when used with gpg.
1888 --agent-program file
1892 Specify an agent program to be used for secret key operations.
1893 The default value is determined by running gpgconf with the
1894 option --list-dirs. Note that the pipe symbol (|) is used for a
1895 regression test suite hack and may thus not be used in the file
1896 name.
1897 --dirmngr-program file
1900 Specify a dirmngr program to be used for keyserver access. The
1901 default value is ‘/usr/bin/dirmngr’.
1902 --disable-dirmngr
1905 Entirely disable the use of the Dirmngr.
1906 --no-autostart
1909 Do not start the gpg-agent or the dirmngr if it has not yet been
1910 started and its service is required. This option is mostly use‐
1911 ful on machines where the connection to gpg-agent has been redi‐
1912 rected to another machines. If dirmngr is required on the
1913 remote machine, it may be started manually using gpgconf
1914 --launch dirmngr.
1915 --lock-once
1918 Lock the databases the first time a lock is requested and do not
1919 release the lock until the process terminates.
1920 --lock-multiple
1923 Release the locks every time a lock is no longer needed. Use
1924 this to override a previous --lock-once from a config file.
1925 --lock-never
1928 Disable locking entirely. This option should be used only in
1929 very special environments, where it can be assured that only one
1930 process is accessing those files. A bootable floppy with a
1931 stand-alone encryption system will probably use this. Improper
1932 usage of this option may lead to data and key corruption.
1933 --exit-on-status-write-error
1936 This option will cause write errors on the status FD to immedi‐
1937 ately terminate the process. That should in fact be the default
1938 but it never worked this way and thus we need an option to
1939 enable this, so that the change won't break applications which
1940 close their end of a status fd connected pipe too early. Using
1941 this option along with --enable-progress-filter may be used to
1942 cleanly cancel long running gpg operations.
1943 --limit-card-insert-tries n
1946 With n greater than 0 the number of prompts asking to insert a
1947 smartcard gets limited to N-1. Thus with a value of 1 gpg won't
1948 at all ask to insert a card if none has been inserted at
1949 startup. This option is useful in the configuration file in case
1950 an application does not know about the smartcard support and
1951 waits ad infinitum for an inserted card.
1952 --no-random-seed-file
1955 GnuPG uses a file to store its internal random pool over invoca‐
1956 tions. This makes random generation faster; however sometimes
1957 write operations are not desired. This option can be used to
1958 achieve that with the cost of slower random generation.
1959 --no-greeting
1962 Suppress the initial copyright message.
1963 --no-secmem-warning
1966 Suppress the warning about "using insecure memory".
1967 --no-permission-warning
1970 Suppress the warning about unsafe file and home directory
1971 (--homedir) permissions. Note that the permission checks that
1972 GnuPG performs are not intended to be authoritative, but rather
1973 they simply warn about certain common permission problems. Do
1974 not assume that the lack of a warning means that your system is
1975 secure.
1976 Note that the warning for unsafe --homedir permissions cannot be
1978 suppressed in the gpg.conf file, as this would allow an attacker
1979 to place an unsafe gpg.conf file in place, and use this file to
1980 suppress warnings about itself. The --homedir permissions warn‐
1981 ing may only be suppressed on the command line.
1982 --require-secmem
1985 --no-require-secmem
1986 Refuse to run if GnuPG cannot get secure memory. Defaults to no
1987 (i.e. run, but give a warning).
1988 --require-cross-certification
1992 --no-require-cross-certification
1993 When verifying a signature made from a subkey, ensure that the
1994 cross certification "back signature" on the subkey is present
1995 and valid. This protects against a subtle attack against sub‐
1996 keys that can sign. Defaults to --require-cross-certification
1997 for gpg.
1998 --expert
2001 --no-expert
2002 Allow the user to do certain nonsensical or "silly" things like
2003 signing an expired or revoked key, or certain potentially incom‐
2004 patible things like generating unusual key types. This also dis‐
2005 ables certain warning messages about potentially incompatible
2006 actions. As the name implies, this option is for experts only.
2007 If you don't fully understand the implications of what it allows
2008 you to do, leave this off. --no-expert disables this option.
2009 Key related options
2012 --recipient name
2017 -r Encrypt for user id name. If this option or --hidden-recipient
2018 is not specified, GnuPG asks for the user-id unless --default-
2019 recipient is given.
2020 --hidden-recipient name
2023 -R Encrypt for user ID name, but hide the key ID of this user's
2024 key. This option helps to hide the receiver of the message and
2025 is a limited countermeasure against traffic analysis. If this
2026 option or --recipient is not specified, GnuPG asks for the user
2027 ID unless --default-recipient is given.
2028 --recipient-file file
2031 -f This option is similar to --recipient except that it encrypts to
2032 a key stored in the given file. file must be the name of a file
2033 containing exactly one key. gpg assumes that the key in this
2034 file is fully valid.
2035 --hidden-recipient-file file
2038 -F This option is similar to --hidden-recipient except that it
2039 encrypts to a key stored in the given file. file must be the
2040 name of a file containing exactly one key. gpg assumes that the
2041 key in this file is fully valid.
2042 --encrypt-to name
2045 Same as --recipient but this one is intended for use in the
2046 options file and may be used with your own user-id as an
2047 "encrypt-to-self". These keys are only used when there are other
2048 recipients given either by use of --recipient or by the asked
2049 user id. No trust checking is performed for these user ids and
2050 even disabled keys can be used.
2051 --hidden-encrypt-to name
2054 Same as --hidden-recipient but this one is intended for use in
2055 the options file and may be used with your own user-id as a hid‐
2056 den "encrypt-to-self". These keys are only used when there are
2057 other recipients given either by use of --recipient or by the
2058 asked user id. No trust checking is performed for these user
2059 ids and even disabled keys can be used.
2060 --no-encrypt-to
2063 Disable the use of all --encrypt-to and --hidden-encrypt-to
2064 keys.
2065 --group {name=value}
2068 Sets up a named group, which is similar to aliases in email pro‐
2069 grams. Any time the group name is a recipient (-r or --recipi‐
2070 ent), it will be expanded to the values specified. Multiple
2071 groups with the same name are automatically merged into a single
2072 group.
2073 The values are key IDs or fingerprints, but any key description
2075 is accepted. Note that a value with spaces in it will be treated
2076 as two different values. Note also there is only one level of
2077 expansion --- you cannot make an group that points to another
2078 group. When used from the command line, it may be necessary to
2079 quote the argument to this option to prevent the shell from
2080 treating it as multiple arguments.
2081 --ungroup name
2084 Remove a given entry from the --group list.
2085 --no-groups
2088 Remove all entries from the --group list.
2089 --local-user name
2092 -u Use name as the key to sign with. Note that this option over‐
2093 rides --default-key.
2094 --sender mbox
2097 This option has two purposes. mbox must either be a complete
2098 user id with a proper mail address or just a mail address. When
2099 creating a signature this option tells gpg the user id of a key
2100 used to make a signature if the key was not directly specified
2101 by a user id. When verifying a signature the mbox is used to
2102 restrict the information printed by the TOFU code to matching
2103 user ids.
2104 --try-secret-key name
2107 For hidden recipients GPG needs to know the keys to use for
2108 trial decryption. The key set with --default-key is always
2109 tried first, but this is often not sufficient. This option
2110 allows setting more keys to be used for trial decryption.
2111 Although any valid user-id specification may be used for name it
2112 makes sense to use at least the long keyid to avoid ambiguities.
2113 Note that gpg-agent might pop up a pinentry for a lot keys to do
2114 the trial decryption. If you want to stop all further trial
2115 decryption you may use close-window button instead of the cancel
2116 button.
2117 --try-all-secrets
2120 Don't look at the key ID as stored in the message but try all
2121 secret keys in turn to find the right decryption key. This
2122 option forces the behaviour as used by anonymous recipients
2123 (created by using --throw-keyids or --hidden-recipient) and
2124 might come handy in case where an encrypted message contains a
2125 bogus key ID.
2126 --skip-hidden-recipients
2129 --no-skip-hidden-recipients
2130 During decryption skip all anonymous recipients. This option
2131 helps in the case that people use the hidden recipients feature
2132 to hide their own encrypt-to key from others. If one has many
2133 secret keys this may lead to a major annoyance because all keys
2134 are tried in turn to decrypt something which was not really
2135 intended for it. The drawback of this option is that it is cur‐
2136 rently not possible to decrypt a message which includes real
2137 anonymous recipients.
2138 Input and Output
2142 --armor
2147 -a Create ASCII armored output. The default is to create the
2148 binary OpenPGP format.
2149 --no-armor
2152 Assume the input data is not in ASCII armored format.
2153 --output file
2156 -o file
2157 Write output to file. To write to stdout use - as the filename.
2158 --max-output n
2161 This option sets a limit on the number of bytes that will be
2162 generated when processing a file. Since OpenPGP supports various
2163 levels of compression, it is possible that the plaintext of a
2164 given message may be significantly larger than the original
2165 OpenPGP message. While GnuPG works properly with such messages,
2166 there is often a desire to set a maximum file size that will be
2167 generated before processing is forced to stop by the OS limits.
2168 Defaults to 0, which means "no limit".
2169 --input-size-hint n
2172 This option can be used to tell GPG the size of the input data
2173 in bytes. n must be a positive base-10 number. This option is
2174 only useful if the input is not taken from a file. GPG may use
2175 this hint to optimize its buffer allocation strategy. It is
2176 also used by the --status-fd line ``PROGRESS'' to provide a
2177 value for ``total'' if that is not available by other means.
2178 --key-origin string[,url]
2181 gpg can track the origin of a key. Certain origins are implic‐
2182 itly known (e.g. keyserver, web key directory) and set. For a
2183 standard import the origin of the keys imported can be set with
2184 this option. To list the possible values use "help" for string.
2185 Some origins can store an optional url argument. That URL can
2186 appended to string after a comma.
2187 --import-options parameters
2190 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for
2191 importing keys. Options can be prepended with a `no-' to give
2192 the opposite meaning. The options are:
2193 import-local-sigs
2197 Allow importing key signatures marked as "local". This is
2198 not generally useful unless a shared keyring scheme is
2199 being used. Defaults to no.
2200 keep-ownertrust
2203 Normally possible still existing ownertrust values of a
2204 key are cleared if a key is imported. This is in general
2205 desirable so that a formerly deleted key does not auto‐
2206 matically gain an ownertrust values merely due to import.
2207 On the other hand it is sometimes necessary to re-import
2208 a trusted set of keys again but keeping already assigned
2209 ownertrust values. This can be achieved by using this
2210 option.
2211 repair-pks-subkey-bug
2214 During import, attempt to repair the damage caused by the
2215 PKS keyserver bug (pre version 0.9.6) that mangles keys
2216 with multiple subkeys. Note that this cannot completely
2217 repair the damaged key as some crucial data is removed by
2218 the keyserver, but it does at least give you back one
2219 subkey. Defaults to no for regular --import and to yes
2220 for keyserver --receive-keys.
2221 import-show
2224 show-only
2225 Show a listing of the key as imported right before it is
2226 stored. This can be combined with the option --dry-run
2227 to only look at keys; the option show-only is a shortcut
2228 for this combination. The command --show-keys is another
2229 shortcut for this. Note that suffixes like '#' for "sec"
2230 and "sbb" lines may or may not be printed.
2231 import-export
2234 Run the entire import code but instead of storing the key
2235 to the local keyring write it to the output. The export
2236 options export-pka and export-dane affect the output.
2237 This option can be used to remove all invalid parts from
2238 a key without the need to store it.
2239 merge-only
2242 During import, allow key updates to existing keys, but do
2243 not allow any new keys to be imported. Defaults to no.
2244 import-clean
2247 After import, compact (remove all signatures except the
2248 self-signature) any user IDs from the new key that are
2249 not usable. Then, remove any signatures from the new key
2250 that are not usable. This includes signatures that were
2251 issued by keys that are not present on the keyring. This
2252 option is the same as running the --edit-key command
2253 "clean" after import. Defaults to no.
2254 repair-keys. After import, fix various problems with the
2257 keys. For example, this reorders signatures, and strips
2258 duplicate signatures. Defaults to yes.
2259 import-minimal
2262 Import the smallest key possible. This removes all signa‐
2263 tures except the most recent self-signature on each user
2264 ID. This option is the same as running the --edit-key
2265 command "minimize" after import. Defaults to no.
2266 restore
2269 import-restore
2270 Import in key restore mode. This imports all data which
2271 is usually skipped during import; including all GnuPG
2272 specific data. All other contradicting options are over‐
2273 ridden.
2274 --import-filter {name=expr}
2277 --export-filter {name=expr}
2278 These options define an import/export filter which are applied
2279 to the imported/exported keyblock right before it will be
2280 stored/written. name defines the type of filter to use, expr
2281 the expression to evaluate. The option can be used several
2282 times which then appends more expression to the same name.
2283 The available filter types are:
2286 keep-uid
2290 This filter will keep a user id packet and its dependent
2291 packets in the keyblock if the expression evaluates to
2292 true.
2293 drop-subkey
2296 This filter drops the selected subkeys. Currently only
2297 implemented for --export-filter.
2298 drop-sig
2301 This filter drops the selected key signatures on user
2302 ids. Self-signatures are not considered. Currently only
2303 implemented for --import-filter.
2304 For the syntax of the expression see the chapter "FILTER EXPRESSIONS".
2307 The property names for the expressions depend on the actual filter type
2308 and are indicated in the following table.
2309 The available properties are:
2311 uid A string with the user id. (keep-uid)
2315 mbox The addr-spec part of a user id with mailbox or the empty
2318 string. (keep-uid)
2319 key_algo
2322 A number with the public key algorithm of a key or subkey
2323 packet. (drop-subkey)
2324 key_created
2327 key_created_d
2328 The first is the timestamp a public key or subkey packet
2329 was created. The second is the same but given as an ISO
2330 string, e.g. "2016-08-17". (drop-subkey)
2331 primary
2334 Boolean indicating whether the user id is the primary
2335 one. (keep-uid)
2336 expired
2339 Boolean indicating whether a user id (keep-uid), a key
2340 (drop-subkey), or a signature (drop-sig) expired.
2341 revoked
2344 Boolean indicating whether a user id (keep-uid) or a key
2345 (drop-subkey) has been revoked.
2346 disabled
2349 Boolean indicating whether a primary key is disabled.
2350 (not used)
2351 secret Boolean indicating whether a key or subkey is a secret
2354 one. (drop-subkey)
2355 usage A string indicating the usage flags for the subkey, from
2358 the sequence ``ecsa?''. For example, a subkey capable of
2359 just signing and authentication would be an exact match
2360 for ``sa''. (drop-subkey)
2361 sig_created
2364 sig_created_d
2365 The first is the timestamp a signature packet was cre‐
2366 ated. The second is the same but given as an ISO date
2367 string, e.g. "2016-08-17". (drop-sig)
2368 sig_algo
2371 A number with the public key algorithm of a signature
2372 packet. (drop-sig)
2373 sig_digest_algo
2376 A number with the digest algorithm of a signature packet.
2377 (drop-sig)
2378 --export-options parameters
2382 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for
2383 exporting keys. Options can be prepended with a `no-' to give
2384 the opposite meaning. The options are:
2385 export-local-sigs
2389 Allow exporting key signatures marked as "local". This is
2390 not generally useful unless a shared keyring scheme is
2391 being used. Defaults to no.
2392 export-attributes
2395 Include attribute user IDs (photo IDs) while exporting.
2396 Not including attribute user IDs is useful to export keys
2397 that are going to be used by an OpenPGP program that does
2398 not accept attribute user IDs. Defaults to yes.
2399 export-sensitive-revkeys
2402 Include designated revoker information that was marked as
2403 "sensitive". Defaults to no.
2404 backup
2408 export-backup
2409 Export for use as a backup. The exported data includes
2410 all data which is needed to restore the key or keys later
2411 with GnuPG. The format is basically the OpenPGP format
2412 but enhanced with GnuPG specific data. All other contra‐
2413 dicting options are overridden.
2414 export-clean
2417 Compact (remove all signatures from) user IDs on the key
2418 being exported if the user IDs are not usable. Also, do
2419 not export any signatures that are not usable. This
2420 includes signatures that were issued by keys that are not
2421 present on the keyring. This option is the same as run‐
2422 ning the --edit-key command "clean" before export except
2423 that the local copy of the key is not modified. Defaults
2424 to no.
2425 export-minimal
2428 Export the smallest key possible. This removes all signa‐
2429 tures except the most recent self-signature on each user
2430 ID. This option is the same as running the --edit-key
2431 command "minimize" before export except that the local
2432 copy of the key is not modified. Defaults to no.
2433 export-pka
2436 Instead of outputting the key material output PKA records
2437 suitable to put into DNS zone files. An ORIGIN line is
2438 printed before each record to allow diverting the records
2439 to the corresponding zone file.
2440 export-dane
2443 Instead of outputting the key material output OpenPGP
2444 DANE records suitable to put into DNS zone files. An
2445 ORIGIN line is printed before each record to allow
2446 diverting the records to the corresponding zone file.
2447 --with-colons
2451 Print key listings delimited by colons. Note that the output
2452 will be encoded in UTF-8 regardless of any --display-charset
2453 setting. This format is useful when GnuPG is called from scripts
2454 and other programs as it is easily machine parsed. The details
2455 of this format are documented in the file ‘doc/DETAILS’, which
2456 is included in the GnuPG source distribution.
2457 --fixed-list-mode
2460 Do not merge primary user ID and primary key in --with-colon
2461 listing mode and print all timestamps as seconds since
2462 1970-01-01. Since GnuPG 2.0.10, this mode is always used and
2463 thus this option is obsolete; it does not harm to use it though.
2464 --legacy-list-mode
2467 Revert to the pre-2.1 public key list mode. This only affects
2468 the human readable output and not the machine interface (i.e.
2469 --with-colons). Note that the legacy format does not convey
2470 suitable information for elliptic curves.
2471 --with-fingerprint
2474 Same as the command --fingerprint but changes only the format of
2475 the output and may be used together with another command.
2476 --with-subkey-fingerprint
2479 If a fingerprint is printed for the primary key, this option
2480 forces printing of the fingerprint for all subkeys. This could
2481 also be achieved by using the --with-fingerprint twice but by
2482 using this option along with keyid-format "none" a compact fin‐
2483 gerprint is printed.
2484 --with-icao-spelling
2487 Print the ICAO spelling of the fingerprint in addition to the
2488 hex digits.
2489 --with-keygrip
2492 Include the keygrip in the key listings. In --with-colons mode
2493 this is implicitly enable for secret keys.
2494 --with-key-origin
2497 Include the locally held information on the origin and last
2498 update of a key in a key listing. In --with-colons mode this is
2499 always printed. This data is currently experimental and shall
2500 not be considered part of the stable API.
2501 --with-wkd-hash
2504 Print a Web Key Directory identifier along with each user ID in
2505 key listings. This is an experimental feature and semantics may
2506 change.
2507 --with-secret
2510 Include info about the presence of a secret key in public key
2511 listings done with --with-colons.
2512 OpenPGP protocol specific options
2515 -t, --textmode
2520 --no-textmode
2521 Treat input files as text and store them in the OpenPGP canoni‐
2522 cal text form with standard "CRLF" line endings. This also sets
2523 the necessary flags to inform the recipient that the encrypted
2524 or signed data is text and may need its line endings converted
2525 back to whatever the local system uses. This option is useful
2526 when communicating between two platforms that have different
2527 line ending conventions (UNIX-like to Mac, Mac to Windows, etc).
2528 --no-textmode disables this option, and is the default.
2529 --force-v3-sigs
2532 --no-force-v3-sigs
2533 --force-v4-certs
2535 --no-force-v4-certs
2536 These options are obsolete and have no effect since GnuPG 2.1.
2537 --force-mdc
2540 --disable-mdc
2541 These options are obsolete and have no effect since GnuPG 2.2.8.
2542 The MDC is always used. But note: If the creation of a legacy
2543 non-MDC message is exceptionally required, the option --rfc2440
2544 allows for this.
2545 --disable-signer-uid
2548 By default the user ID of the signing key is embedded in the
2549 data signature. As of now this is only done if the signing key
2550 has been specified with local-user using a mail address. This
2551 information can be helpful for verifier to locate the key; see
2552 option --auto-key-retrieve.
2553 --personal-cipher-preferences string
2556 Set the list of personal cipher preferences to string. Use gpg
2557 --version to get a list of available algorithms, and use none to
2558 set no preference at all. This allows the user to safely over‐
2559 ride the algorithm chosen by the recipient key preferences, as
2560 GPG will only select an algorithm that is usable by all recipi‐
2561 ents. The most highly ranked cipher in this list is also used
2562 for the --symmetric encryption command.
2563 --personal-digest-preferences string
2566 Set the list of personal digest preferences to string. Use gpg
2567 --version to get a list of available algorithms, and use none to
2568 set no preference at all. This allows the user to safely over‐
2569 ride the algorithm chosen by the recipient key preferences, as
2570 GPG will only select an algorithm that is usable by all recipi‐
2571 ents. The most highly ranked digest algorithm in this list is
2572 also used when signing without encryption (e.g. --clear-sign or
2573 --sign).
2574 --personal-compress-preferences string
2577 Set the list of personal compression preferences to string. Use
2578 gpg --version to get a list of available algorithms, and use
2579 none to set no preference at all. This allows the user to
2580 safely override the algorithm chosen by the recipient key pref‐
2581 erences, as GPG will only select an algorithm that is usable by
2582 all recipients. The most highly ranked compression algorithm in
2583 this list is also used when there are no recipient keys to con‐
2584 sider (e.g. --symmetric).
2585 --s2k-cipher-algo name
2588 Use name as the cipher algorithm for symmetric encryption with a
2589 passphrase if --personal-cipher-preferences and --cipher-algo
2590 are not given. The default is AES-128.
2591 --s2k-digest-algo name
2594 Use name as the digest algorithm used to mangle the passphrases
2595 for symmetric encryption. The default is SHA-1.
2596 --s2k-mode n
2599 Selects how passphrases for symmetric encryption are mangled. If
2600 n is 0 a plain passphrase (which is in general not recommended)
2601 will be used, a 1 adds a salt (which should not be used) to the
2602 passphrase and a 3 (the default) iterates the whole process a
2603 number of times (see --s2k-count).
2604 --s2k-count n
2607 Specify how many times the passphrases mangling for symmetric
2608 encryption is repeated. This value may range between 1024 and
2609 65011712 inclusive. The default is inquired from gpg-agent.
2610 Note that not all values in the 1024-65011712 range are legal
2611 and if an illegal value is selected, GnuPG will round up to the
2612 nearest legal value. This option is only meaningful if --s2k-
2613 mode is set to the default of 3.
2614 Compliance options
2618 These options control what GnuPG is compliant to. Only one of these
2621 options may be active at a time. Note that the default setting of this
2622 is nearly always the correct one. See the INTEROPERABILITY WITH OTHER
2623 OPENPGP PROGRAMS section below before using one of these options.
2624 --gnupg
2628 Use standard GnuPG behavior. This is essentially OpenPGP behav‐
2629 ior (see --openpgp), but with some additional workarounds for
2630 common compatibility problems in different versions of PGP. This
2631 is the default option, so it is not generally needed, but it may
2632 be useful to override a different compliance option in the
2633 gpg.conf file.
2634 --openpgp
2637 Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict OpenPGP
2638 behavior. Use this option to reset all previous options like
2639 --s2k-*, --cipher-algo, --digest-algo and --compress-algo to
2640 OpenPGP compliant values. All PGP workarounds are disabled.
2641 --rfc4880
2644 Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict RFC-4880
2645 behavior. Note that this is currently the same thing as
2646 --openpgp.
2647 --rfc4880bis
2650 Enable experimental features from proposed updates to RFC-4880.
2651 This option can be used in addition to the other compliance
2652 options. Warning: The behavior may change with any GnuPG
2653 release and created keys or data may not be usable with future
2654 GnuPG versions.
2655 --rfc2440
2658 Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict RFC-2440
2659 behavior. Note that by using this option encryption packets are
2660 created in a legacy mode without MDC protection. This is dan‐
2661 gerous and should thus only be used for experiments. See also
2662 option --ignore-mdc-error.
2663 --pgp6 Set up all options to be as PGP 6 compliant as possible. This
2666 restricts you to the ciphers IDEA (if the IDEA plugin is
2667 installed), 3DES, and CAST5, the hashes MD5, SHA1 and RIPEMD160,
2668 and the compression algorithms none and ZIP. This also disables
2669 --throw-keyids, and making signatures with signing subkeys as
2670 PGP 6 does not understand signatures made by signing subkeys.
2671 This option implies --escape-from-lines.
2673 --pgp7 Set up all options to be as PGP 7 compliant as possible. This is
2676 identical to --pgp6 except that MDCs are not disabled, and the
2677 list of allowable ciphers is expanded to add AES128, AES192,
2678 AES256, and TWOFISH.
2679 --pgp8 Set up all options to be as PGP 8 compliant as possible. PGP 8
2682 is a lot closer to the OpenPGP standard than previous versions
2683 of PGP, so all this does is disable --throw-keyids and set
2684 --escape-from-lines. All algorithms are allowed except for the
2685 SHA224, SHA384, and SHA512 digests.
2686 --compliance string
2689 This option can be used instead of one of the options above.
2690 Valid values for string are the above option names (without the
2691 double dash) and possibly others as shown when using "help" for
2692 value.
2693 Doing things one usually doesn't want to do
2696 -n
2701 --dry-run
2702 Don't make any changes (this is not completely implemented).
2703 --list-only
2706 Changes the behaviour of some commands. This is like --dry-run
2707 but different in some cases. The semantic of this option may be
2708 extended in the future. Currently it only skips the actual
2709 decryption pass and therefore enables a fast listing of the
2710 encryption keys.
2711 -i
2714 --interactive
2715 Prompt before overwriting any files.
2716 --debug-level level
2719 Select the debug level for investigating problems. level may be
2720 a numeric value or by a keyword:
2721 none No debugging at all. A value of less than 1 may be used
2724 instead of the keyword.
2725 basic Some basic debug messages. A value between 1 and 2 may
2727 be used instead of the keyword.
2728 advanced
2730 More verbose debug messages. A value between 3 and 5 may
2731 be used instead of the keyword.
2732 expert Even more detailed messages. A value between 6 and 8 may
2734 be used instead of the keyword.
2735 guru All of the debug messages you can get. A value greater
2737 than 8 may be used instead of the keyword. The creation
2738 of hash tracing files is only enabled if the keyword is
2739 used.
2740 How these messages are mapped to the actual debugging flags is not
2742 specified and may change with newer releases of this program. They are
2743 however carefully selected to best aid in debugging.
2744 --debug flags
2747 Set debugging flags. All flags are or-ed and flags may be given
2748 in C syntax (e.g. 0x0042) or as a comma separated list of flag
2749 names. To get a list of all supported flags the single word
2750 "help" can be used.
2751 --debug-all
2754 Set all useful debugging flags.
2755 --debug-iolbf
2758 Set stdout into line buffered mode. This option is only honored
2759 when given on the command line.
2760 --faked-system-time epoch
2763 This option is only useful for testing; it sets the system time
2764 back or forth to epoch which is the number of seconds elapsed
2765 since the year 1970. Alternatively epoch may be given as a full
2766 ISO time string (e.g. "20070924T154812").
2767 If you suffix epoch with an exclamation mark (!), the system
2769 time will appear to be frozen at the specified time.
2770 --enable-progress-filter
2773 Enable certain PROGRESS status outputs. This option allows fron‐
2774 tends to display a progress indicator while gpg is processing
2775 larger files. There is a slight performance overhead using it.
2776 --status-fd n
2779 Write special status strings to the file descriptor n. See the
2780 file DETAILS in the documentation for a listing of them.
2781 --status-file file
2784 Same as --status-fd, except the status data is written to file
2785 file.
2786 --logger-fd n
2789 Write log output to file descriptor n and not to STDERR.
2790 --log-file file
2793 --logger-file file
2794 Same as --logger-fd, except the logger data is written to file
2795 file. Use ‘socket://’ to log to s socket.
2796 --attribute-fd n
2799 Write attribute subpackets to the file descriptor n. This is
2800 most useful for use with --status-fd, since the status messages
2801 are needed to separate out the various subpackets from the
2802 stream delivered to the file descriptor.
2803 --attribute-file file
2806 Same as --attribute-fd, except the attribute data is written to
2807 file file.
2808 --comment string
2811 --no-comments
2812 Use string as a comment string in cleartext signatures and ASCII
2813 armored messages or keys (see --armor). The default behavior is
2814 not to use a comment string. --comment may be repeated multiple
2815 times to get multiple comment strings. --no-comments removes all
2816 comments. It is a good idea to keep the length of a single com‐
2817 ment below 60 characters to avoid problems with mail programs
2818 wrapping such lines. Note that comment lines, like all other
2819 header lines, are not protected by the signature.
2820 --emit-version
2823 --no-emit-version
2824 Force inclusion of the version string in ASCII armored output.
2825 If given once only the name of the program and the major number
2826 is emitted, given twice the minor is also emitted, given thrice
2827 the micro is added, and given four times an operating system
2828 identification is also emitted. --no-emit-version (default)
2829 disables the version line.
2830 --sig-notation {name=value}
2833 --cert-notation {name=value}
2834 -N, --set-notation {name=value}
2835 Put the name value pair into the signature as notation data.
2836 name must consist only of printable characters or spaces, and
2837 must contain a '@' character in the form keyname@domain.exam‐
2838 ple.com (substituting the appropriate keyname and domain name,
2839 of course). This is to help prevent pollution of the IETF
2840 reserved notation namespace. The --expert flag overrides the '@'
2841 check. value may be any printable string; it will be encoded in
2842 UTF-8, so you should check that your --display-charset is set
2843 correctly. If you prefix name with an exclamation mark (!), the
2844 notation data will be flagged as critical (rfc4880:5.2.3.16).
2845 --sig-notation sets a notation for data signatures. --cert-nota‐
2846 tion sets a notation for key signatures (certifications). --set-
2847 notation sets both.
2848 There are special codes that may be used in notation names. "%k"
2850 will be expanded into the key ID of the key being signed, "%K"
2851 into the long key ID of the key being signed, "%f" into the fin‐
2852 gerprint of the key being signed, "%s" into the key ID of the
2853 key making the signature, "%S" into the long key ID of the key
2854 making the signature, "%g" into the fingerprint of the key mak‐
2855 ing the signature (which might be a subkey), "%p" into the fin‐
2856 gerprint of the primary key of the key making the signature,
2857 "%c" into the signature count from the OpenPGP smartcard, and
2858 "%%" results in a single "%". %k, %K, and %f are only meaningful
2859 when making a key signature (certification), and %c is only
2860 meaningful when using the OpenPGP smartcard.
2861 --known-notation name
2864 Adds name to a list of known critical signature notations. The
2865 effect of this is that gpg will not mark a signature with a
2866 critical signature notation of that name as bad. Note that gpg
2867 already knows by default about a few critical signatures nota‐
2868 tion names.
2869 --sig-policy-url string
2872 --cert-policy-url string
2873 --set-policy-url string
2874 Use string as a Policy URL for signatures (rfc4880:5.2.3.20).
2875 If you prefix it with an exclamation mark (!), the policy URL
2876 packet will be flagged as critical. --sig-policy-url sets a pol‐
2877 icy url for data signatures. --cert-policy-url sets a policy url
2878 for key signatures (certifications). --set-policy-url sets both.
2879 The same %-expandos used for notation data are available here as
2881 well.
2882 --sig-keyserver-url string
2885 Use string as a preferred keyserver URL for data signatures. If
2886 you prefix it with an exclamation mark (!), the keyserver URL
2887 packet will be flagged as critical.
2888 The same %-expandos used for notation data are available here as
2890 well.
2891 --set-filename string
2894 Use string as the filename which is stored inside messages.
2895 This overrides the default, which is to use the actual filename
2896 of the file being encrypted. Using the empty string for string
2897 effectively removes the filename from the output.
2898 --for-your-eyes-only
2901 --no-for-your-eyes-only
2902 Set the `for your eyes only' flag in the message. This causes
2903 GnuPG to refuse to save the file unless the --output option is
2904 given, and PGP to use a "secure viewer" with a claimed Tempest-
2905 resistant font to display the message. This option overrides
2906 --set-filename. --no-for-your-eyes-only disables this option.
2907 --use-embedded-filename
2910 --no-use-embedded-filename
2911 Try to create a file with a name as embedded in the data. This
2912 can be a dangerous option as it enables overwriting files.
2913 Defaults to no.
2914 --cipher-algo name
2917 Use name as cipher algorithm. Running the program with the com‐
2918 mand --version yields a list of supported algorithms. If this is
2919 not used the cipher algorithm is selected from the preferences
2920 stored with the key. In general, you do not want to use this
2921 option as it allows you to violate the OpenPGP standard. --per‐
2922 sonal-cipher-preferences is the safe way to accomplish the same
2923 thing.
2924 --digest-algo name
2927 Use name as the message digest algorithm. Running the program
2928 with the command --version yields a list of supported algo‐
2929 rithms. In general, you do not want to use this option as it
2930 allows you to violate the OpenPGP standard. --personal-digest-
2931 preferences is the safe way to accomplish the same thing.
2932 --compress-algo name
2935 Use compression algorithm name. "zlib" is RFC-1950 ZLIB compres‐
2936 sion. "zip" is RFC-1951 ZIP compression which is used by PGP.
2937 "bzip2" is a more modern compression scheme that can compress
2938 some things better than zip or zlib, but at the cost of more
2939 memory used during compression and decompression. "uncompressed"
2940 or "none" disables compression. If this option is not used, the
2941 default behavior is to examine the recipient key preferences to
2942 see which algorithms the recipient supports. If all else fails,
2943 ZIP is used for maximum compatibility.
2944 ZLIB may give better compression results than ZIP, as the com‐
2946 pression window size is not limited to 8k. BZIP2 may give even
2947 better compression results than that, but will use a signifi‐
2948 cantly larger amount of memory while compressing and decompress‐
2949 ing. This may be significant in low memory situations. Note,
2950 however, that PGP (all versions) only supports ZIP compression.
2951 Using any algorithm other than ZIP or "none" will make the mes‐
2952 sage unreadable with PGP. In general, you do not want to use
2953 this option as it allows you to violate the OpenPGP standard.
2954 --personal-compress-preferences is the safe way to accomplish
2955 the same thing.
2956 --cert-digest-algo name
2959 Use name as the message digest algorithm used when signing a
2960 key. Running the program with the command --version yields a
2961 list of supported algorithms. Be aware that if you choose an
2962 algorithm that GnuPG supports but other OpenPGP implementations
2963 do not, then some users will not be able to use the key signa‐
2964 tures you make, or quite possibly your entire key.
2965 --disable-cipher-algo name
2968 Never allow the use of name as cipher algorithm. The given name
2969 will not be checked so that a later loaded algorithm will still
2970 get disabled.
2971 --disable-pubkey-algo name
2974 Never allow the use of name as public key algorithm. The given
2975 name will not be checked so that a later loaded algorithm will
2976 still get disabled.
2977 --throw-keyids
2980 --no-throw-keyids
2981 Do not put the recipient key IDs into encrypted messages. This
2982 helps to hide the receivers of the message and is a limited
2983 countermeasure against traffic analysis. ([Using a little social
2984 engineering anyone who is able to decrypt the message can check
2985 whether one of the other recipients is the one he suspects.])
2986 On the receiving side, it may slow down the decryption process
2987 because all available secret keys must be tried. --no-throw-
2988 keyids disables this option. This option is essentially the same
2989 as using --hidden-recipient for all recipients.
2990 --not-dash-escaped
2993 This option changes the behavior of cleartext signatures so that
2994 they can be used for patch files. You should not send such an
2995 armored file via email because all spaces and line endings are
2996 hashed too. You can not use this option for data which has 5
2997 dashes at the beginning of a line, patch files don't have this.
2998 A special armor header line tells GnuPG about this cleartext
2999 signature option.
3000 --escape-from-lines
3003 --no-escape-from-lines
3004 Because some mailers change lines starting with "From " to
3005 ">From " it is good to handle such lines in a special way when
3006 creating cleartext signatures to prevent the mail system from
3007 breaking the signature. Note that all other PGP versions do it
3008 this way too. Enabled by default. --no-escape-from-lines dis‐
3009 ables this option.
3010 --passphrase-repeat n
3013 Specify how many times gpg will request a new passphrase be
3014 repeated. This is useful for helping memorize a passphrase.
3015 Defaults to 1 repetition.
3016 --passphrase-fd n
3019 Read the passphrase from file descriptor n. Only the first line
3020 will be read from file descriptor n. If you use 0 for n, the
3021 passphrase will be read from STDIN. This can only be used if
3022 only one passphrase is supplied.
3023 Note that since Version 2.0 this passphrase is only used if the
3025 option --batch has also been given. Since Version 2.1 the
3026 --pinentry-mode also needs to be set to loopback.
3027 --passphrase-file file
3030 Read the passphrase from file file. Only the first line will be
3031 read from file file. This can only be used if only one
3032 passphrase is supplied. Obviously, a passphrase stored in a file
3033 is of questionable security if other users can read this file.
3034 Don't use this option if you can avoid it.
3035 Note that since Version 2.0 this passphrase is only used if the
3037 option --batch has also been given. Since Version 2.1 the
3038 --pinentry-mode also needs to be set to loopback.
3039 --passphrase string
3042 Use string as the passphrase. This can only be used if only one
3043 passphrase is supplied. Obviously, this is of very questionable
3044 security on a multi-user system. Don't use this option if you
3045 can avoid it.
3046 Note that since Version 2.0 this passphrase is only used if the
3048 option --batch has also been given. Since Version 2.1 the
3049 --pinentry-mode also needs to be set to loopback.
3050 --pinentry-mode mode
3053 Set the pinentry mode to mode. Allowed values for mode are:
3054 default
3056 Use the default of the agent, which is ask.
3057 ask Force the use of the Pinentry.
3059 cancel Emulate use of Pinentry's cancel button.
3061 error Return a Pinentry error (``No Pinentry'').
3063 loopback
3065 Redirect Pinentry queries to the caller. Note that in
3066 contrast to Pinentry the user is not prompted again if he
3067 enters a bad password.
3068 --no-symkey-cache
3071 Disable the passphrase cache used for symmetrical en- and
3072 decryption. This cache is based on the message specific salt
3073 value (cf. --s2k-mode).
3074 --request-origin origin
3077 Tell gpg to assume that the operation ultimately originated at
3078 origin. Depending on the origin certain restrictions are
3079 applied and the Pinentry may include an extra note on the ori‐
3080 gin. Supported values for origin are: local which is the
3081 default, remote to indicate a remote origin or browser for an
3082 operation requested by a web browser.
3083 --command-fd n
3086 This is a replacement for the deprecated shared-memory IPC mode.
3087 If this option is enabled, user input on questions is not
3088 expected from the TTY but from the given file descriptor. It
3089 should be used together with --status-fd. See the file
3090 doc/DETAILS in the source distribution for details on how to use
3091 it.
3092 --command-file file
3095 Same as --command-fd, except the commands are read out of file
3096 file
3097 --allow-non-selfsigned-uid
3100 --no-allow-non-selfsigned-uid
3101 Allow the import and use of keys with user IDs which are not
3102 self-signed. This is not recommended, as a non self-signed user
3103 ID is trivial to forge. --no-allow-non-selfsigned-uid disables.
3104 --allow-freeform-uid
3107 Disable all checks on the form of the user ID while generating a
3108 new one. This option should only be used in very special envi‐
3109 ronments as it does not ensure the de-facto standard format of
3110 user IDs.
3111 --ignore-time-conflict
3114 GnuPG normally checks that the timestamps associated with keys
3115 and signatures have plausible values. However, sometimes a sig‐
3116 nature seems to be older than the key due to clock problems.
3117 This option makes these checks just a warning. See also
3118 --ignore-valid-from for timestamp issues on subkeys.
3119 --ignore-valid-from
3122 GnuPG normally does not select and use subkeys created in the
3123 future. This option allows the use of such keys and thus
3124 exhibits the pre-1.0.7 behaviour. You should not use this option
3125 unless there is some clock problem. See also --ignore-time-con‐
3126 flict for timestamp issues with signatures.
3127 --ignore-crc-error
3130 The ASCII armor used by OpenPGP is protected by a CRC checksum
3131 against transmission errors. Occasionally the CRC gets mangled
3132 somewhere on the transmission channel but the actual content
3133 (which is protected by the OpenPGP protocol anyway) is still
3134 okay. This option allows GnuPG to ignore CRC errors.
3135 --ignore-mdc-error
3138 This option changes a MDC integrity protection failure into a
3139 warning. It is required to decrypt old messages which did not
3140 use an MDC. It may also be useful if a message is partially
3141 garbled, but it is necessary to get as much data as possible out
3142 of that garbled message. Be aware that a missing or failed MDC
3143 can be an indication of an attack. Use with great caution; see
3144 also option --rfc2440.
3145 --allow-weak-digest-algos
3148 Signatures made with known-weak digest algorithms are normally
3149 rejected with an ``invalid digest algorithm'' message. This
3150 option allows the verification of signatures made with such weak
3151 algorithms. MD5 is the only digest algorithm considered weak by
3152 default. See also --weak-digest to reject other digest algo‐
3153 rithms.
3154 --weak-digest name
3157 Treat the specified digest algorithm as weak. Signatures made
3158 over weak digests algorithms are normally rejected. This option
3159 can be supplied multiple times if multiple algorithms should be
3160 considered weak. See also --allow-weak-digest-algos to disable
3161 rejection of weak digests. MD5 is always considered weak, and
3162 does not need to be listed explicitly.
3163 --no-default-keyring
3166 Do not add the default keyrings to the list of keyrings. Note
3167 that GnuPG will not operate without any keyrings, so if you use
3168 this option and do not provide alternate keyrings via --keyring
3169 or --secret-keyring, then GnuPG will still use the default pub‐
3170 lic or secret keyrings.
3171 --no-keyring
3174 Do not add use any keyrings even if specified as options.
3175 --skip-verify
3178 Skip the signature verification step. This may be used to make
3179 the decryption faster if the signature verification is not
3180 needed.
3181 --with-key-data
3184 Print key listings delimited by colons (like --with-colons) and
3185 print the public key data.
3186 --list-signatures
3189 --list-sigs
3190 Same as --list-keys, but the signatures are listed too. This
3191 command has the same effect as using --list-keys with --with-
3192 sig-list. Note that in contrast to --check-signatures the key
3193 signatures are not verified. This command can be used to create
3194 a list of signing keys missing in the lcoal keyring; for exam‐
3195 ple:
3196 gpg --list-sigs --with-colons USERID | \
3198 awk -F: '$1=="sig" && $2=="?" {if($13){print $13}else{print $5}}'
3199 --fast-list-mode
3202 Changes the output of the list commands to work faster; this is
3203 achieved by leaving some parts empty. Some applications don't
3204 need the user ID and the trust information given in the list‐
3205 ings. By using this options they can get a faster listing. The
3206 exact behaviour of this option may change in future versions.
3207 If you are missing some information, don't use this option.
3208 --no-literal
3211 This is not for normal use. Use the source to see for what it
3212 might be useful.
3213 --set-filesize
3216 This is not for normal use. Use the source to see for what it
3217 might be useful.
3218 --show-session-key
3221 Display the session key used for one message. See --override-
3222 session-key for the counterpart of this option.
3223 We think that Key Escrow is a Bad Thing; however the user should
3225 have the freedom to decide whether to go to prison or to reveal
3226 the content of one specific message without compromising all
3227 messages ever encrypted for one secret key.
3228 You can also use this option if you receive an encrypted message
3230 which is abusive or offensive, to prove to the administrators of
3231 the messaging system that the ciphertext transmitted corresponds
3232 to an inappropriate plaintext so they can take action against
3233 the offending user.
3234 --override-session-key string
3237 --override-session-key-fd fd
3238 Don't use the public key but the session key string respective
3239 the session key taken from the first line read from file
3240 descriptor fd. The format of this string is the same as the one
3241 printed by --show-session-key. This option is normally not used
3242 but comes handy in case someone forces you to reveal the content
3243 of an encrypted message; using this option you can do this with‐
3244 out handing out the secret key. Note that using --override-ses‐
3245 sion-key may reveal the session key to all local users via the
3246 global process table. Often it is useful to combine this option
3247 with --no-keyring.
3248 --ask-sig-expire
3251 --no-ask-sig-expire
3252 When making a data signature, prompt for an expiration time. If
3253 this option is not specified, the expiration time set via
3254 --default-sig-expire is used. --no-ask-sig-expire disables this
3255 option.
3256 --default-sig-expire
3259 The default expiration time to use for signature expiration.
3260 Valid values are "0" for no expiration, a number followed by the
3261 letter d (for days), w (for weeks), m (for months), or y (for
3262 years) (for example "2m" for two months, or "5y" for five
3263 years), or an absolute date in the form YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to
3264 "0".
3265 --ask-cert-expire
3268 --no-ask-cert-expire
3269 When making a key signature, prompt for an expiration time. If
3270 this option is not specified, the expiration time set via
3271 --default-cert-expire is used. --no-ask-cert-expire disables
3272 this option.
3273 --default-cert-expire
3276 The default expiration time to use for key signature expiration.
3277 Valid values are "0" for no expiration, a number followed by the
3278 letter d (for days), w (for weeks), m (for months), or y (for
3279 years) (for example "2m" for two months, or "5y" for five
3280 years), or an absolute date in the form YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to
3281 "0".
3282 --default-new-key-algo string
3285 This option can be used to change the default algorithms for key
3286 generation. The string is similar to the arguments required for
3287 the command --quick-add-key but slightly different. For example
3288 the current default of "rsa2048/cert,sign+rsa2048/encr" (or
3289 "rsa3072") can be changed to the value of what we currently call
3290 future default, which is "ed25519/cert,sign+cv25519/encr". You
3291 need to consult the source code to learn the details. Note that
3292 the advanced key generation commands can always be used to spec‐
3293 ify a key algorithm directly.
3294 --allow-secret-key-import
3297 This is an obsolete option and is not used anywhere.
3298 --allow-multiple-messages
3301 --no-allow-multiple-messages
3303 Allow processing of multiple OpenPGP messages contained in a
3304 single file or stream. Some programs that call GPG are not pre‐
3305 pared to deal with multiple messages being processed together,
3306 so this option defaults to no. Note that versions of GPG prior
3307 to 1.4.7 always allowed multiple messages.
3308 Warning: Do not use this option unless you need it as a tempo‐
3310 rary workaround!
3311 --enable-special-filenames
3315 This option enables a mode in which filenames of the form ‘-&n’,
3316 where n is a non-negative decimal number, refer to the file
3317 descriptor n and not to a file with that name.
3318 --no-expensive-trust-checks
3321 Experimental use only.
3322 --preserve-permissions
3325 Don't change the permissions of a secret keyring back to user
3326 read/write only. Use this option only if you really know what
3327 you are doing.
3328 --default-preference-list string
3331 Set the list of default preferences to string. This preference
3332 list is used for new keys and becomes the default for "setpref"
3333 in the edit menu.
3334 --default-keyserver-url name
3337 Set the default keyserver URL to name. This keyserver will be
3338 used as the keyserver URL when writing a new self-signature on a
3339 key, which includes key generation and changing preferences.
3340 --list-config
3343 Display various internal configuration parameters of GnuPG. This
3344 option is intended for external programs that call GnuPG to per‐
3345 form tasks, and is thus not generally useful. See the file
3346 ‘doc/DETAILS’ in the source distribution for the details of
3347 which configuration items may be listed. --list-config is only
3348 usable with --with-colons set.
3349 --list-gcrypt-config
3352 Display various internal configuration parameters of Libgcrypt.
3353 --gpgconf-list
3356 This command is similar to --list-config but in general only
3357 internally used by the gpgconf tool.
3358 --gpgconf-test
3361 This is more or less dummy action. However it parses the con‐
3362 figuration file and returns with failure if the configuration
3363 file would prevent gpg from startup. Thus it may be used to run
3364 a syntax check on the configuration file.
3365 Deprecated options
3368 --show-photos
3373 --no-show-photos
3374 Causes --list-keys, --list-signatures, --list-public-keys,
3375 --list-secret-keys, and verifying a signature to also display
3376 the photo ID attached to the key, if any. See also --photo-
3377 viewer. These options are deprecated. Use --list-options
3378 [no-]show-photos and/or --verify-options [no-]show-photos
3379 instead.
3380 --show-keyring
3383 Display the keyring name at the head of key listings to show
3384 which keyring a given key resides on. This option is deprecated:
3385 use --list-options [no-]show-keyring instead.
3386 --always-trust
3389 Identical to --trust-model always. This option is deprecated.
3390 --show-notation
3393 --no-show-notation
3394 Show signature notations in the --list-signatures or --check-
3395 signatures listings as well as when verifying a signature with a
3396 notation in it. These options are deprecated. Use --list-options
3397 [no-]show-notation and/or --verify-options [no-]show-notation
3398 instead.
3399 --show-policy-url
3402 --no-show-policy-url
3403 Show policy URLs in the --list-signatures or --check-signatures
3404 listings as well as when verifying a signature with a policy URL
3405 in it. These options are deprecated. Use --list-options
3406 [no-]show-policy-url and/or --verify-options [no-]show-policy-
3407 url instead.
3408
3412 gpg -se -r Bob file
3413 sign and encrypt for user Bob
3414 gpg --clear-sign file
3417 make a cleartext signature
3418 gpg -sb file
3421 make a detached signature
3422 gpg -u 0x12345678 -sb file
3425 make a detached signature with the key 0x12345678
3426 gpg --list-keys user_ID
3429 show keys
3430 gpg --fingerprint user_ID
3433 show fingerprint
3434 gpg --verify pgpfile
3437 gpg --verify sigfile [datafile]
3438 Verify the signature of the file but do not output the data
3439 unless requested. The second form is used for detached signa‐
3440 tures, where sigfile is the detached signature (either ASCII
3441 armored or binary) and datafile are the signed data; if this is
3442 not given, the name of the file holding the signed data is con‐
3443 structed by cutting off the extension (".asc" or ".sig") of sig‐
3444 file or by asking the user for the filename. If the option
3445 --output is also used the signed data is written to the file
3446 specified by that option; use - to write the signed data to std‐
3447 out.
3448
3450 There are different ways to specify a user ID to GnuPG. Some of them
3451 are only valid for gpg others are only good for gpgsm. Here is the
3452 entire list of ways to specify a key:
3453 By key Id.
3457 This format is deduced from the length of the string and its
3458 content or 0x prefix. The key Id of an X.509 certificate are the
3459 low 64 bits of its SHA-1 fingerprint. The use of key Ids is
3460 just a shortcut, for all automated processing the fingerprint
3461 should be used.
3462 When using gpg an exclamation mark (!) may be appended to force
3464 using the specified primary or secondary key and not to try and
3465 calculate which primary or secondary key to use.
3466 The last four lines of the example give the key ID in their long
3468 form as internally used by the OpenPGP protocol. You can see the
3469 long key ID using the option --with-colons.
3470 234567C4
3472 0F34E556E
3473 01347A56A
3474 0xAB123456
3475 234AABBCC34567C4
3477 0F323456784E56EAB
3478 01AB3FED1347A5612
3479 0x234AABBCC34567C4
3480 By fingerprint.
3485 This format is deduced from the length of the string and its
3486 content or the 0x prefix. Note, that only the 20 byte version
3487 fingerprint is available with gpgsm (i.e. the SHA-1 hash of the
3488 certificate).
3489 When using gpg an exclamation mark (!) may be appended to force
3491 using the specified primary or secondary key and not to try and
3492 calculate which primary or secondary key to use.
3493 The best way to specify a key Id is by using the fingerprint.
3495 This avoids any ambiguities in case that there are duplicated
3496 key IDs.
3497 1234343434343434C434343434343434
3499 123434343434343C3434343434343734349A3434
3500 0E12343434343434343434EAB3484343434343434
3501 0xE12343434343434343434EAB3484343434343434
3502 gpgsm also accepts colons between each pair of hexadecimal digits
3505 because this is the de-facto standard on how to present X.509 finger‐
3506 prints. gpg also allows the use of the space separated SHA-1 finger‐
3507 print as printed by the key listing commands.
3508 By exact match on OpenPGP user ID.
3511 This is denoted by a leading equal sign. It does not make sense
3512 for X.509 certificates.
3513 =Heinrich Heine <heinrichh@uni-duesseldorf.de>
3515 By exact match on an email address.
3518 This is indicated by enclosing the email address in the usual
3519 way with left and right angles.
3520 <heinrichh@uni-duesseldorf.de>
3522 By partial match on an email address.
3526 This is indicated by prefixing the search string with an @.
3527 This uses a substring search but considers only the mail address
3528 (i.e. inside the angle brackets).
3529 @heinrichh
3531 By exact match on the subject's DN.
3534 This is indicated by a leading slash, directly followed by the
3535 RFC-2253 encoded DN of the subject. Note that you can't use the
3536 string printed by gpgsm --list-keys because that one has been
3537 reordered and modified for better readability; use --with-colons
3538 to print the raw (but standard escaped) RFC-2253 string.
3539 /CN=Heinrich Heine,O=Poets,L=Paris,C=FR
3541 By exact match on the issuer's DN.
3544 This is indicated by a leading hash mark, directly followed by a
3545 slash and then directly followed by the RFC-2253 encoded DN of
3546 the issuer. This should return the Root cert of the issuer.
3547 See note above.
3548 #/CN=Root Cert,O=Poets,L=Paris,C=FR
3550 By exact match on serial number and issuer's DN.
3554 This is indicated by a hash mark, followed by the hexadecimal
3555 representation of the serial number, then followed by a slash
3556 and the RFC-2253 encoded DN of the issuer. See note above.
3557 #4F03/CN=Root Cert,O=Poets,L=Paris,C=FR
3559 By keygrip.
3562 This is indicated by an ampersand followed by the 40 hex digits
3563 of a keygrip. gpgsm prints the keygrip when using the command
3564 --dump-cert.
3565 &D75F22C3F86E355877348498CDC92BD21010A480
3567 By substring match.
3571 This is the default mode but applications may want to explicitly
3572 indicate this by putting the asterisk in front. Match is not
3573 case sensitive.
3574 Heine
3576 *Heine
3577 . and + prefixes
3580 These prefixes are reserved for looking up mails anchored at the
3581 end and for a word search mode. They are not yet implemented
3582 and using them is undefined.
3583 Please note that we have reused the hash mark identifier which
3586 was used in old GnuPG versions to indicate the so called local-
3587 id. It is not anymore used and there should be no conflict when
3588 used with X.509 stuff.
3589 Using the RFC-2253 format of DNs has the drawback that it is not
3591 possible to map them back to the original encoding, however we
3592 don't have to do this because our key database stores this
3593 encoding as meta data.
3594
3597 The options --import-filter and --export-filter use expressions with
3598 this syntax (square brackets indicate an optional part and curly braces
3599 a repetition, white space between the elements are allowed):
3600 [lc] {[{flag}] PROPNAME op VALUE [lc]}
3602 The name of a property (PROPNAME) may only consist of letters, digits
3604 and underscores. The description for the filter type describes which
3605 properties are defined. If an undefined property is used it evaluates
3606 to the empty string. Unless otherwise noted, the VALUE must always be
3607 given and may not be the empty string. No quoting is defined for the
3608 value, thus the value may not contain the strings && or ||, which are
3609 used as logical connection operators. The flag -- can be used to
3610 remove this restriction.
3611 Numerical values are computed as long int; standard C notation applies.
3613 lc is the logical connection operator; either && for a conjunction or
3614 || for a disjunction. A conjunction is assumed at the begin of an
3615 expression. Conjunctions have higher precedence than disjunctions. If
3616 VALUE starts with one of the characters used in any op a space after
3617 the op is required.
3618 The supported operators (op) are:
3621 =~ Substring must match.
3625 !~ Substring must not match.
3628 = The full string must match.
3631 <> The full string must not match.
3634 == The numerical value must match.
3637 != The numerical value must not match.
3640 <= The numerical value of the field must be LE than the value.
3643 < The numerical value of the field must be LT than the value.
3646 > The numerical value of the field must be GT than the value.
3649 >= The numerical value of the field must be GE than the value.
3652 -le The string value of the field must be less or equal than the
3655 value.
3656 -lt The string value of the field must be less than the value.
3659 -gt The string value of the field must be greater than the value.
3662 -ge The string value of the field must be greater or equal than the
3665 value.
3666 -n True if value is not empty (no value allowed).
3669 -z True if value is empty (no value allowed).
3672 -t Alias for "PROPNAME != 0" (no value allowed).
3675 -f Alias for "PROPNAME == 0" (no value allowed).
3678 Values for flag must be space separated. The supported flags are:
3681 -- VALUE spans to the end of the expression.
3684 -c The string match in this part is done case-sensitive.
3686 The filter options concatenate several specifications for a filter of
3688 the same type. For example the four options in this example:
3689 --import-option keep-uid="uid =~ Alfa"
3691 --import-option keep-uid="&& uid !~ Test"
3692 --import-option keep-uid="|| uid =~ Alpha"
3693 --import-option keep-uid="uid !~ Test"
3694 which is equivalent to
3697 --import-option \
3699 keep-uid="uid =~ Alfa" && uid !~ Test" || uid =~ Alpha" && "uid !~ Test"
3700 imports only the user ids of a key containing the strings "Alfa" or
3702 "Alpha" but not the string "test".
3703
3706 Trust values are used to indicate ownertrust and validity of keys and
3707 user IDs. They are displayed with letters or strings:
3708 -
3712 unknown
3713 No ownertrust assigned / not yet calculated.
3714 e
3717 expired
3718 Trust calculation has failed; probably due to an expired key.
3720 q
3723 undefined, undef
3724 Not enough information for calculation.
3725 n
3728 never Never trust this key.
3729 m
3732 marginal
3733 Marginally trusted.
3734 f
3737 full Fully trusted.
3738 u
3741 ultimate
3742 Ultimately trusted.
3743 r
3746 revoked
3747 For validity only: the key or the user ID has been revoked.
3748 ?
3751 err The program encountered an unknown trust value.
3752
3755 There are a few configuration files to control certain aspects of gpg's
3756 operation. Unless noted, they are expected in the current home direc‐
3757 tory (see: [option --homedir]).
3758 gpg.conf
3762 This is the standard configuration file read by gpg on startup.
3763 It may contain any valid long option; the leading two dashes may
3764 not be entered and the option may not be abbreviated. This
3765 default name may be changed on the command line (see: [gpg-
3766 option --options]). You should backup this file.
3767 Note that on larger installations, it is useful to put predefined files
3770 into the directory ‘/etc/skel/.gnupg’ so that newly created users start
3771 up with a working configuration. For existing users a small helper
3772 script is provided to create these files (see: [addgnupghome]).
3773 For internal purposes gpg creates and maintains a few other files; They
3775 all live in the current home directory (see: [option --homedir]). Only
3776 the gpg program may modify these files.
3777 ~/.gnupg
3781 This is the default home directory which is used if neither the
3782 environment variable GNUPGHOME nor the option --homedir is
3783 given.
3784 ~/.gnupg/pubring.gpg
3787 The public keyring. You should backup this file.
3788 ~/.gnupg/pubring.gpg.lock
3791 The lock file for the public keyring.
3792 ~/.gnupg/pubring.kbx
3795 The public keyring using a different format. This file is
3796 shared with gpgsm. You should backup this file.
3797 ~/.gnupg/pubring.kbx.lock
3800 The lock file for ‘pubring.kbx’.
3801 ~/.gnupg/secring.gpg
3804 A secret keyring as used by GnuPG versions before 2.1. It is
3805 not used by GnuPG 2.1 and later.
3806 ~/.gnupg/secring.gpg.lock
3809 The lock file for the secret keyring.
3810 ~/.gnupg/.gpg-v21-migrated
3813 File indicating that a migration to GnuPG 2.1 has been done.
3814 ~/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg
3817 The trust database. There is no need to backup this file; it is
3818 better to backup the ownertrust values (see: [option --export-
3819 ownertrust]).
3820 ~/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg.lock
3823 The lock file for the trust database.
3824 ~/.gnupg/random_seed
3827 A file used to preserve the state of the internal random pool.
3828 ~/.gnupg/openpgp-revocs.d/
3831 This is the directory where gpg stores pre-generated revocation
3832 certificates. The file name corresponds to the OpenPGP finger‐
3833 print of the respective key. It is suggested to backup those
3834 certificates and if the primary private key is not stored on the
3835 disk to move them to an external storage device. Anyone who can
3836 access theses files is able to revoke the corresponding key.
3837 You may want to print them out. You should backup all files in
3838 this directory and take care to keep this backup closed away.
3839 Operation is further controlled by a few environment variables:
3842 HOME Used to locate the default home directory.
3846 GNUPGHOME
3849 If set directory used instead of "~/.gnupg".
3850 GPG_AGENT_INFO
3853 This variable is obsolete; it was used by GnuPG versions before
3854 2.1.
3855 PINENTRY_USER_DATA
3858 This value is passed via gpg-agent to pinentry. It is useful to
3859 convey extra information to a custom pinentry.
3860 COLUMNS
3863 LINES Used to size some displays to the full size of the screen.
3864 LANGUAGE
3867 Apart from its use by GNU, it is used in the W32 version to
3868 override the language selection done through the Registry. If
3869 used and set to a valid and available language name (langid),
3870 the file with the translation is loaded from
3871 gpgdir/gnupg.nls/langid.mo. Here gpgdir is the directory out of
3872 which the gpg binary has been loaded. If it can't be loaded the
3873 Registry is tried and as last resort the native Windows locale
3874 system is used.
3875 When calling the gpg-agent component gpg sends a set of environment
3878 variables to gpg-agent. The names of these variables can be listed
3879 using the command:
3880 gpg-connect-agent 'getinfo std_env_names' /bye | awk '$1=="D" {print $2}'
3882
3888 On older systems this program should be installed as setuid(root). This
3889 is necessary to lock memory pages. Locking memory pages prevents the
3890 operating system from writing memory pages (which may contain
3891 passphrases or other sensitive material) to disk. If you get no warning
3892 message about insecure memory your operating system supports locking
3893 without being root. The program drops root privileges as soon as locked
3894 memory is allocated.
3895 Note also that some systems (especially laptops) have the ability to
3897 ``suspend to disk'' (also known as ``safe sleep'' or ``hibernate'').
3898 This writes all memory to disk before going into a low power or even
3899 powered off mode. Unless measures are taken in the operating system to
3900 protect the saved memory, passphrases or other sensitive material may
3901 be recoverable from it later.
3902 Before you report a bug you should first search the mailing list ar‐
3904 chives for similar problems and second check whether such a bug has
3905 already been reported to our bug tracker at https://bugs.gnupg.org.
3906
3910 gpgv(1), gpgsm(1), gpg-agent(1)
3911 The full documentation for this tool is maintained as a Texinfo manual.
3913 If GnuPG and the info program are properly installed at your site, the
3914 command
3915 info gnupg
3917 should give you access to the complete manual including a menu struc‐
3919 ture and an index.
3920GnuPG 2.2.13 2019-02-11 GPG(1)