1GPG2(1) GNU Privacy Guard 2.2 GPG2(1)
2
6 gpg2 - OpenPGP encryption and signing tool
7
9 gpg2 [--homedir dir] [--options file] [options] command [args]
10
14 gpg2 is the OpenPGP part of the GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG). It is a tool
15 to provide digital encryption and signing services using the OpenPGP
16 standard. gpg2 features complete key management and all the bells and
17 whistles you would expect from a full OpenPGP implementation.
18 There are two main versions of GnuPG: GnuPG 1.x and GnuPG 2.x. GnuPG
20 2.x supports modern encryption algorithms and thus should be preferred
21 over GnuPG 1.x. You only need to use GnuPG 1.x if your platform
22 doesn't support GnuPG 2.x, or you need support for some features that
23 GnuPG 2.x has deprecated, e.g., decrypting data created with PGP-2
24 keys.
25 In contrast to the standalone command gpg from GnuPG 1.x, the 2.x ver‐
27 sion is commonly installed under the name gpg2.
28
36 The program returns 0 if everything was fine, 1 if at least a signature
37 was bad, and other error codes for fatal errors.
38
41 Use a *good* password for your user account and a *good* passphrase to
42 protect your secret key. This passphrase is the weakest part of the
43 whole system. Programs to do dictionary attacks on your secret keyring
44 are very easy to write and so you should protect your "~/.gnupg/"
45 directory very well.
46 Keep in mind that, if this program is used over a network (telnet), it
48 is *very* easy to spy out your passphrase!
49 If you are going to verify detached signatures, make sure that the pro‐
51 gram knows about it; either give both filenames on the command line or
52 use '-' to specify STDIN.
53 For scripted or other unattended use of gpg make sure to use the
55 machine-parseable interface and not the default interface which is
56 intended for direct use by humans. The machine-parseable interface
57 provides a stable and well documented API independent of the locale or
58 future changes of gpg. To enable this interface use the options
59 --with-colons and --status-fd. For certain operations the option
60 --command-fd may come handy too. See this man page and the file
61 ‘DETAILS’ for the specification of the interface. Note that the GnuPG
62 ``info'' pages as well as the PDF version of the GnuPG manual features
63 a chapter on unattended use of GnuPG. As an alternative the library
64 GPGME can be used as a high-level abstraction on top of that interface.
65
68 GnuPG tries to be a very flexible implementation of the OpenPGP stan‐
69 dard. In particular, GnuPG implements many of the optional parts of the
70 standard, such as the SHA-512 hash, and the ZLIB and BZIP2 compression
71 algorithms. It is important to be aware that not all OpenPGP programs
72 implement these optional algorithms and that by forcing their use via
73 the --cipher-algo, --digest-algo, --cert-digest-algo, or --compress-
74 algo options in GnuPG, it is possible to create a perfectly valid
75 OpenPGP message, but one that cannot be read by the intended recipient.
76 There are dozens of variations of OpenPGP programs available, and each
78 supports a slightly different subset of these optional algorithms. For
79 example, until recently, no (unhacked) version of PGP supported the
80 BLOWFISH cipher algorithm. A message using BLOWFISH simply could not be
81 read by a PGP user. By default, GnuPG uses the standard OpenPGP prefer‐
82 ences system that will always do the right thing and create messages
83 that are usable by all recipients, regardless of which OpenPGP program
84 they use. Only override this safe default if you really know what you
85 are doing.
86 If you absolutely must override the safe default, or if the preferences
88 on a given key are invalid for some reason, you are far better off
89 using the --pgp6, --pgp7, or --pgp8 options. These options are safe as
90 they do not force any particular algorithms in violation of OpenPGP,
91 but rather reduce the available algorithms to a "PGP-safe" list.
92
95 Commands are not distinguished from options except for the fact that
96 only one command is allowed. Generally speaking, irrelevant options
97 are silently ignored, and may not be checked for correctness.
98 gpg2 may be run with no commands. In this case it will perform a rea‐
100 sonable action depending on the type of file it is given as input (an
101 encrypted message is decrypted, a signature is verified, a file con‐
102 taining keys is listed, etc.).
103 Commands not specific to the function
110 --version
114 Print the program version and licensing information. Note that
115 you cannot abbreviate this command.
116 --help
119 -h Print a usage message summarizing the most useful command-line
120 options. Note that you cannot arbitrarily abbreviate this com‐
121 mand (though you can use its short form -h).
122 --warranty
125 Print warranty information.
126 --dump-options
129 Print a list of all available options and commands. Note that
130 you cannot abbreviate this command.
131 Commands to select the type of operation
133 --sign
139 -s Sign a message. This command may be combined with --encrypt (to
140 sign and encrypt a message), --symmetric (to sign and symmetri‐
141 cally encrypt a message), or both --encrypt and --symmetric (to
142 sign and encrypt a message that can be decrypted using a secret
143 key or a passphrase). The signing key is chosen by default or
144 can be set explicitly using the --local-user and --default-key
145 options.
146 --clear-sign
149 --clearsign
150 Make a cleartext signature. The content in a cleartext signa‐
151 ture is readable without any special software. OpenPGP software
152 is only needed to verify the signature. cleartext signatures
153 may modify end-of-line whitespace for platform independence and
154 are not intended to be reversible. The signing key is chosen by
155 default or can be set explicitly using the --local-user and
156 --default-key options.
157 --detach-sign
161 -b Make a detached signature.
162 --encrypt
165 -e Encrypt data to one or more public keys. This command may be
166 combined with --sign (to sign and encrypt a message), --symmet‐
167 ric (to encrypt a message that can decrypted using a secret key
168 or a passphrase), or --sign and --symmetric together (for a
169 signed message that can be decrypted using a secret key or a
170 passphrase). --recipient and related options specify which pub‐
171 lic keys to use for encryption.
172 --symmetric
175 -c Encrypt with a symmetric cipher using a passphrase. The default
176 symmetric cipher used is AES-128, but may be chosen with the
177 --cipher-algo option. This command may be combined with --sign
178 (for a signed and symmetrically encrypted message), --encrypt
179 (for a message that may be decrypted via a secret key or a
180 passphrase), or --sign and --encrypt together (for a signed mes‐
181 sage that may be decrypted via a secret key or a passphrase).
182 gpg2 caches the passphrase used for symmetric encryption so that
183 a decrypt operation may not require that the user needs to enter
184 the passphrase. The option --no-symkey-cache can be used to
185 disable this feature.
186 --store
189 Store only (make a simple literal data packet).
190 --decrypt
193 -d Decrypt the file given on the command line (or STDIN if no file
194 is specified) and write it to STDOUT (or the file specified with
195 --output). If the decrypted file is signed, the signature is
196 also verified. This command differs from the default operation,
197 as it never writes to the filename which is included in the file
198 and it rejects files that don't begin with an encrypted message.
199 --verify
202 Assume that the first argument is a signed file and verify it
203 without generating any output. With no arguments, the signature
204 packet is read from STDIN. If only one argument is given, the
205 specified file is expected to include a complete signature.
206 With more than one argument, the first argument should specify a
208 file with a detached signature and the remaining files should
209 contain the signed data. To read the signed data from STDIN, use
210 '-' as the second filename. For security reasons, a detached
211 signature will not read the signed material from STDIN if not
212 explicitly specified.
213 Note: If the option --batch is not used, gpg2 may assume that a
215 single argument is a file with a detached signature, and it will
216 try to find a matching data file by stripping certain suffixes.
217 Using this historical feature to verify a detached signature is
218 strongly discouraged; you should always specify the data file
219 explicitly.
220 Note: When verifying a cleartext signature, gpg2 verifies only
222 what makes up the cleartext signed data and not any extra data
223 outside of the cleartext signature or the header lines directly
224 following the dash marker line. The option --output may be used
225 to write out the actual signed data, but there are other pit‐
226 falls with this format as well. It is suggested to avoid clear‐
227 text signatures in favor of detached signatures.
228 Note: Sometimes the use of the gpgv tool is easier than using
230 the full-fledged gpg with this option. gpgv is designed to com‐
231 pare signed data against a list of trusted keys and returns with
232 success only for a good signature. It has its own manual page.
233 --multifile
237 This modifies certain other commands to accept multiple files
238 for processing on the command line or read from STDIN with each
239 filename on a separate line. This allows for many files to be
240 processed at once. --multifile may currently be used along with
241 --verify, --encrypt, and --decrypt. Note that --multifile --ver‐
242 ify may not be used with detached signatures.
243 --verify-files
246 Identical to --multifile --verify.
247 --encrypt-files
250 Identical to --multifile --encrypt.
251 --decrypt-files
254 Identical to --multifile --decrypt.
255 --list-keys
258 -k
259 --list-public-keys
260 List the specified keys. If no keys are specified, then all
261 keys from the configured public keyrings are listed.
262 Never use the output of this command in scripts or other pro‐
264 grams. The output is intended only for humans and its format is
265 likely to change. The --with-colons option emits the output in
266 a stable, machine-parseable format, which is intended for use by
267 scripts and other programs.
268 --list-secret-keys
271 -K List the specified secret keys. If no keys are specified, then
272 all known secret keys are listed. A # after the initial tags
273 sec or ssb means that the secret key or subkey is currently not
274 usable. We also say that this key has been taken offline (for
275 example, a primary key can be taken offline by exporting the key
276 using the command --export-secret-subkeys). A > after these
277 tags indicate that the key is stored on a smartcard. See also
278 --list-keys.
279 --check-signatures
282 --check-sigs
283 Same as --list-keys, but the key signatures are verified and
284 listed too. Note that for performance reasons the revocation
285 status of a signing key is not shown. This command has the same
286 effect as using --list-keys with --with-sig-check.
287 The status of the verification is indicated by a flag directly
289 following the "sig" tag (and thus before the flags described
290 below. A "!" indicates that the signature has been successfully
291 verified, a "-" denotes a bad signature and a "%" is used if an
292 error occurred while checking the signature (e.g. a non sup‐
293 ported algorithm). Signatures where the public key is not
294 available are not listed; to see their keyids the command
295 --list-sigs can be used.
296 For each signature listed, there are several flags in between
298 the signature status flag and keyid. These flags give addi‐
299 tional information about each key signature. From left to
300 right, they are the numbers 1-3 for certificate check level (see
301 --ask-cert-level), "L" for a local or non-exportable signature
302 (see --lsign-key), "R" for a nonRevocable signature (see the
303 --edit-key command "nrsign"), "P" for a signature that contains
304 a policy URL (see --cert-policy-url), "N" for a signature that
305 contains a notation (see --cert-notation), "X" for an eXpired
306 signature (see --ask-cert-expire), and the numbers 1-9 or "T"
307 for 10 and above to indicate trust signature levels (see the
308 --edit-key command "tsign").
309 --locate-keys
313 Locate the keys given as arguments. This command basically uses
314 the same algorithm as used when locating keys for encryption or
315 signing and may thus be used to see what keys gpg2 might use.
316 In particular external methods as defined by --auto-key-locate
317 may be used to locate a key. Only public keys are listed.
318 --show-keys
321 This commands takes OpenPGP keys as input and prints information
322 about them in the same way the command --list-keys does for
323 locally stored key. In addition the list options show-unusable-
324 uids, show-unusable-subkeys, show-notations and show-policy-urls
325 are also enabled. As usual for automated processing, this com‐
326 mand should be combined with the option --with-colons.
327 --fingerprint
330 List all keys (or the specified ones) along with their finger‐
331 prints. This is the same output as --list-keys but with the
332 additional output of a line with the fingerprint. May also be
333 combined with --check-signatures. If this command is given
334 twice, the fingerprints of all secondary keys are listed too.
335 This command also forces pretty printing of fingerprints if the
336 keyid format has been set to "none".
337 --list-packets
340 List only the sequence of packets. This command is only useful
341 for debugging. When used with option --verbose the actual MPI
342 values are dumped and not only their lengths. Note that the
343 output of this command may change with new releases.
344 --edit-card
348 --card-edit
349 Present a menu to work with a smartcard. The subcommand "help"
350 provides an overview on available commands. For a detailed
351 description, please see the Card HOWTO at https://gnupg.org/doc‐
352 umentation/howtos.html#GnuPG-cardHOWTO .
353 --card-status
356 Show the content of the smart card.
357 --change-pin
360 Present a menu to allow changing the PIN of a smartcard. This
361 functionality is also available as the subcommand "passwd" with
362 the --edit-card command.
363 --delete-keys name
366 Remove key from the public keyring. In batch mode either --yes
367 is required or the key must be specified by fingerprint. This is
368 a safeguard against accidental deletion of multiple keys.
369 --delete-secret-keys name
372 Remove key from the secret keyring. In batch mode the key must
373 be specified by fingerprint. The option --yes can be used to
374 advice gpg-agent not to request a confirmation. This extra pre-
375 caution is done because gpg2 can't be sure that the secret key
376 (as controlled by gpg-agent) is only used for the given OpenPGP
377 public key.
378 --delete-secret-and-public-key name
382 Same as --delete-key, but if a secret key exists, it will be
383 removed first. In batch mode the key must be specified by fin‐
384 gerprint. The option --yes can be used to advice gpg-agent not
385 to request a confirmation.
386 --export
389 Either export all keys from all keyrings (default keyrings and
390 those registered via option --keyring), or if at least one name
391 is given, those of the given name. The exported keys are written
392 to STDOUT or to the file given with option --output. Use
393 together with --armor to mail those keys.
394 --send-keys keyIDs
397 Similar to --export but sends the keys to a keyserver. Finger‐
398 prints may be used instead of key IDs. Option --keyserver must
399 be used to give the name of this keyserver. Don't send your com‐
400 plete keyring to a keyserver --- select only those keys which
401 are new or changed by you. If no keyIDs are given, gpg2 does
402 nothing.
403 --export-secret-keys
406 --export-secret-subkeys
407 Same as --export, but exports the secret keys instead. The
408 exported keys are written to STDOUT or to the file given with
409 option --output. This command is often used along with the
410 option --armor to allow for easy printing of the key for paper
411 backup; however the external tool paperkey does a better job of
412 creating backups on paper. Note that exporting a secret key can
413 be a security risk if the exported keys are sent over an inse‐
414 cure channel.
415 The second form of the command has the special property to ren‐
417 der the secret part of the primary key useless; this is a GNU
418 extension to OpenPGP and other implementations can not be
419 expected to successfully import such a key. Its intended use is
420 in generating a full key with an additional signing subkey on a
421 dedicated machine. This command then exports the key without
422 the primary key to the main machine.
423 GnuPG may ask you to enter the passphrase for the key. This is
425 required, because the internal protection method of the secret
426 key is different from the one specified by the OpenPGP protocol.
427 --export-ssh-key
430 This command is used to export a key in the OpenSSH public key
431 format. It requires the specification of one key by the usual
432 means and exports the latest valid subkey which has an authenti‐
433 cation capability to STDOUT or to the file given with option
434 --output. That output can directly be added to ssh's ‘autho‐
435 rized_key’ file.
436 By specifying the key to export using a key ID or a fingerprint
438 suffixed with an exclamation mark (!), a specific subkey or the
439 primary key can be exported. This does not even require that
440 the key has the authentication capability flag set.
441 --import
444 --fast-import
445 Import/merge keys. This adds the given keys to the keyring. The
446 fast version is currently just a synonym.
447 There are a few other options which control how this command
449 works. Most notable here is the --import-options merge-only
450 option which does not insert new keys but does only the merging
451 of new signatures, user-IDs and subkeys.
452 --receive-keys keyIDs
455 --recv-keys keyIDs
456 Import the keys with the given keyIDs from a keyserver. Option
457 --keyserver must be used to give the name of this keyserver.
458 --refresh-keys
461 Request updates from a keyserver for keys that already exist on
462 the local keyring. This is useful for updating a key with the
463 latest signatures, user IDs, etc. Calling this with no arguments
464 will refresh the entire keyring. Option --keyserver must be used
465 to give the name of the keyserver for all keys that do not have
466 preferred keyservers set (see --keyserver-options honor-key‐
467 server-url).
468 --search-keys names
471 Search the keyserver for the given names. Multiple names given
472 here will be joined together to create the search string for the
473 keyserver. Option --keyserver must be used to give the name of
474 this keyserver. Keyservers that support different search meth‐
475 ods allow using the syntax specified in "How to specify a user
476 ID" below. Note that different keyserver types support different
477 search methods. Currently only LDAP supports them all.
478 --fetch-keys URIs
481 Retrieve keys located at the specified URIs. Note that different
482 installations of GnuPG may support different protocols (HTTP,
483 FTP, LDAP, etc.). When using HTTPS the system provided root
484 certificates are used by this command.
485 --update-trustdb
488 Do trust database maintenance. This command iterates over all
489 keys and builds the Web of Trust. This is an interactive command
490 because it may have to ask for the "ownertrust" values for keys.
491 The user has to give an estimation of how far she trusts the
492 owner of the displayed key to correctly certify (sign) other
493 keys. GnuPG only asks for the ownertrust value if it has not yet
494 been assigned to a key. Using the --edit-key menu, the assigned
495 value can be changed at any time.
496 --check-trustdb
499 Do trust database maintenance without user interaction. From
500 time to time the trust database must be updated so that expired
501 keys or signatures and the resulting changes in the Web of Trust
502 can be tracked. Normally, GnuPG will calculate when this is
503 required and do it automatically unless --no-auto-check-trustdb
504 is set. This command can be used to force a trust database check
505 at any time. The processing is identical to that of --update-
506 trustdb but it skips keys with a not yet defined "ownertrust".
507 For use with cron jobs, this command can be used together with
509 --batch in which case the trust database check is done only if a
510 check is needed. To force a run even in batch mode add the
511 option --yes.
512 --export-ownertrust
516 Send the ownertrust values to STDOUT. This is useful for backup
517 purposes as these values are the only ones which can't be re-
518 created from a corrupted trustdb. Example:
519 gpg2 --export-ownertrust > otrust.txt
520 --import-ownertrust
524 Update the trustdb with the ownertrust values stored in files
525 (or STDIN if not given); existing values will be overwritten.
526 In case of a severely damaged trustdb and if you have a recent
527 backup of the ownertrust values (e.g. in the file ‘otrust.txt’),
528 you may re-create the trustdb using these commands:
529 cd ~/.gnupg
530 rm trustdb.gpg
531 gpg2 --import-ownertrust < otrust.txt
532 --rebuild-keydb-caches
536 When updating from version 1.0.6 to 1.0.7 this command should be
537 used to create signature caches in the keyring. It might be
538 handy in other situations too.
539 --print-md algo
542 --print-mds
543 Print message digest of algorithm algo for all given files or
544 STDIN. With the second form (or a deprecated "*" for algo)
545 digests for all available algorithms are printed.
546 --gen-random 0|1|2 count
549 Emit count random bytes of the given quality level 0, 1 or 2. If
550 count is not given or zero, an endless sequence of random bytes
551 will be emitted. If used with --armor the output will be base64
552 encoded. PLEASE, don't use this command unless you know what
553 you are doing; it may remove precious entropy from the system!
554 --gen-prime mode bits
557 Use the source, Luke :-). The output format is subject to change
558 with ant release.
559 --enarmor
563 --dearmor
564 Pack or unpack an arbitrary input into/from an OpenPGP ASCII
565 armor. This is a GnuPG extension to OpenPGP and in general not
566 very useful.
567 --tofu-policy {auto|good|unknown|bad|ask} keys
570 Set the TOFU policy for all the bindings associated with the
571 specified keys. For more information about the meaning of the
572 policies, see: [trust-model-tofu]. The keys may be specified
573 either by their fingerprint (preferred) or their keyid.
574 How to manage your keys
578 This section explains the main commands for key management.
581 --quick-generate-key user-id [algo [usage [expire]]]
585 --quick-gen-key
586 This is a simple command to generate a standard key with one
587 user id. In contrast to --generate-key the key is generated
588 directly without the need to answer a bunch of prompts. Unless
589 the option --yes is given, the key creation will be canceled if
590 the given user id already exists in the keyring.
591 If invoked directly on the console without any special options
593 an answer to a ``Continue?'' style confirmation prompt is
594 required. In case the user id already exists in the keyring a
595 second prompt to force the creation of the key will show up.
596 If algo or usage are given, only the primary key is created and
598 no prompts are shown. To specify an expiration date but still
599 create a primary and subkey use ``default'' or ``future-
600 default'' for algo and ``default'' for usage. For a description
601 of these optional arguments see the command --quick-add-key.
602 The usage accepts also the value ``cert'' which can be used to
603 create a certification only primary key; the default is to a
604 create certification and signing key.
605 The expire argument can be used to specify an expiration date
607 for the key. Several formats are supported; commonly the ISO
608 formats ``YYYY-MM-DD'' or ``YYYYMMDDThhmmss'' are used. To make
609 the key expire in N seconds, N days, N weeks, N months, or N
610 years use ``seconds=N'', ``Nd'', ``Nw'', ``Nm'', or ``Ny''
611 respectively. Not specifying a value, or using ``-'' results in
612 a key expiring in a reasonable default interval. The values
613 ``never'', ``none'' can be used for no expiration date.
614 If this command is used with --batch, --pinentry-mode has been
616 set to loopback, and one of the passphrase options
617 (--passphrase, --passphrase-fd, or passphrase-file) is used, the
618 supplied passphrase is used for the new key and the agent does
619 not ask for it. To create a key without any protection
620 --passphrase '' may be used.
621 Note that it is possible to create a primary key and a subkey
623 using non-default algorithms by using ``default'' and changing
624 the default parameters using the option --default-new-key-algo.
625 --quick-set-expire fpr expire [*|subfprs]
628 With two arguments given, directly set the expiration time of
629 the primary key identified by fpr to expire. To remove the
630 expiration time 0 can be used. With three arguments and the
631 third given as an asterisk, the expiration time of all non-
632 revoked and not yet expired subkeys are set to expire. With
633 more than two arguments and a list of fingerprints given for
634 subfprs, all non-revoked subkeys matching these fingerprints are
635 set to expire.
636 --quick-add-key fpr [algo [usage [expire]]]
640 Directly add a subkey to the key identified by the fingerprint
641 fpr. Without the optional arguments an encryption subkey is
642 added. If any of the arguments are given a more specific subkey
643 is added.
644 algo may be any of the supported algorithms or curve names given
646 in the format as used by key listings. To use the default algo‐
647 rithm the string ``default'' or ``-'' can be used. Supported
648 algorithms are ``rsa'', ``dsa'', ``elg'', ``ed25519'',
649 ``cv25519'', and other ECC curves. For example the string
650 ``rsa'' adds an RSA key with the default key length; a string
651 ``rsa4096'' requests that the key length is 4096 bits. The
652 string ``future-default'' is an alias for the algorithm which
653 will likely be used as default algorithm in future versions of
654 gpg. To list the supported ECC curves the command gpg --with-
655 colons --list-config curve can be used.
656 Depending on the given algo the subkey may either be an encryp‐
658 tion subkey or a signing subkey. If an algorithm is capable of
659 signing and encryption and such a subkey is desired, a usage
660 string must be given. This string is either ``default'' or
661 ``-'' to keep the default or a comma delimited list (or space
662 delimited list) of keywords: ``sign'' for a signing subkey,
663 ``auth'' for an authentication subkey, and ``encr'' for an
664 encryption subkey (``encrypt'' can be used as alias for
665 ``encr''). The valid combinations depend on the algorithm.
666 The expire argument can be used to specify an expiration date
668 for the key. Several formats are supported; commonly the ISO
669 formats ``YYYY-MM-DD'' or ``YYYYMMDDThhmmss'' are used. To make
670 the key expire in N seconds, N days, N weeks, N months, or N
671 years use ``seconds=N'', ``Nd'', ``Nw'', ``Nm'', or ``Ny''
672 respectively. Not specifying a value, or using ``-'' results in
673 a key expiring in a reasonable default interval. The values
674 ``never'', ``none'' can be used for no expiration date.
675 --generate-key
678 --gen-key
679 Generate a new key pair using the current default parameters.
680 This is the standard command to create a new key. In addition
681 to the key a revocation certificate is created and stored in the
682 ‘openpgp-revocs.d’ directory below the GnuPG home directory.
683 --full-generate-key
686 --full-gen-key
687 Generate a new key pair with dialogs for all options. This is
688 an extended version of --generate-key.
689 There is also a feature which allows you to create keys in batch
691 mode. See the manual section ``Unattended key generation'' on
692 how to use this.
693 --generate-revocation name
697 --gen-revoke name
698 Generate a revocation certificate for the complete key. To only
699 revoke a subkey or a key signature, use the --edit command.
700 This command merely creates the revocation certificate so that
702 it can be used to revoke the key if that is ever needed. To
703 actually revoke a key the created revocation certificate needs
704 to be merged with the key to revoke. This is done by importing
705 the revocation certificate using the --import command. Then the
706 revoked key needs to be published, which is best done by sending
707 the key to a keyserver (command --send-key) and by exporting
708 (--export) it to a file which is then send to frequent communi‐
709 cation partners.
710 --generate-designated-revocation name
714 --desig-revoke name
715 Generate a designated revocation certificate for a key. This
716 allows a user (with the permission of the keyholder) to revoke
717 someone else's key.
718 --edit-key
722 Present a menu which enables you to do most of the key manage‐
723 ment related tasks. It expects the specification of a key on
724 the command line.
725 uid n Toggle selection of user ID or photographic user ID with
729 index n. Use * to select all and 0 to deselect all.
730 key n Toggle selection of subkey with index n or key ID n. Use
733 * to select all and 0 to deselect all.
734 sign Make a signature on key of user name. If the key is not
737 yet signed by the default user (or the users given with
738 -u), the program displays the information of the key
739 again, together with its fingerprint and asks whether it
740 should be signed. This question is repeated for all users
741 specified with -u.
742 lsign Same as "sign" but the signature is marked as non-
745 exportable and will therefore never be used by others.
746 This may be used to make keys valid only in the local
747 environment.
748 nrsign Same as "sign" but the signature is marked as non-revoca‐
751 ble and can therefore never be revoked.
752 tsign Make a trust signature. This is a signature that combines
755 the notions of certification (like a regular signature),
756 and trust (like the "trust" command). It is generally
757 only useful in distinct communities or groups. For more
758 information please read the sections ``Trust Signature''
759 and ``Regular Expression'' in RFC-4880.
760 Note that "l" (for local / non-exportable), "nr" (for non-revo‐
762 cable, and "t" (for trust) may be freely mixed and prefixed to
763 "sign" to create a signature of any type desired.
764 If the option --only-sign-text-ids is specified, then any non-text
766 based user ids (e.g., photo IDs) will not be selected for signing.
767 delsig Delete a signature. Note that it is not possible to
771 retract a signature, once it has been send to the public
772 (i.e. to a keyserver). In that case you better use
773 revsig.
774 revsig Revoke a signature. For every signature which has been
777 generated by one of the secret keys, GnuPG asks whether a
778 revocation certificate should be generated.
779 check Check the signatures on all selected user IDs. With the
782 extra option selfsig only self-signatures are shown.
783 adduid Create an additional user ID.
786 addphoto
789 Create a photographic user ID. This will prompt for a
790 JPEG file that will be embedded into the user ID. Note
791 that a very large JPEG will make for a very large key.
792 Also note that some programs will display your JPEG
793 unchanged (GnuPG), and some programs will scale it to fit
794 in a dialog box (PGP).
795 showphoto
798 Display the selected photographic user ID.
799 deluid Delete a user ID or photographic user ID. Note that it
802 is not possible to retract a user id, once it has been
803 send to the public (i.e. to a keyserver). In that case
804 you better use revuid.
805 revuid Revoke a user ID or photographic user ID.
808 primary
811 Flag the current user id as the primary one, removes the
812 primary user id flag from all other user ids and sets the
813 timestamp of all affected self-signatures one second
814 ahead. Note that setting a photo user ID as primary makes
815 it primary over other photo user IDs, and setting a regu‐
816 lar user ID as primary makes it primary over other regu‐
817 lar user IDs.
818 keyserver
821 Set a preferred keyserver for the specified user ID(s).
822 This allows other users to know where you prefer they get
823 your key from. See --keyserver-options honor-keyserver-
824 url for more on how this works. Setting a value of
825 "none" removes an existing preferred keyserver.
826 notation
829 Set a name=value notation for the specified user ID(s).
830 See --cert-notation for more on how this works. Setting a
831 value of "none" removes all notations, setting a notation
832 prefixed with a minus sign (-) removes that notation, and
833 setting a notation name (without the =value) prefixed
834 with a minus sign removes all notations with that name.
835 pref List preferences from the selected user ID. This shows
838 the actual preferences, without including any implied
839 preferences.
840 showpref
843 More verbose preferences listing for the selected user
844 ID. This shows the preferences in effect by including the
845 implied preferences of 3DES (cipher), SHA-1 (digest), and
846 Uncompressed (compression) if they are not already
847 included in the preference list. In addition, the pre‐
848 ferred keyserver and signature notations (if any) are
849 shown.
850 setpref string
853 Set the list of user ID preferences to string for all (or
854 just the selected) user IDs. Calling setpref with no
855 arguments sets the preference list to the default (either
856 built-in or set via --default-preference-list), and call‐
857 ing setpref with "none" as the argument sets an empty
858 preference list. Use gpg2 --version to get a list of
859 available algorithms. Note that while you can change the
860 preferences on an attribute user ID (aka "photo ID"),
861 GnuPG does not select keys via attribute user IDs so
862 these preferences will not be used by GnuPG.
863 When setting preferences, you should list the algorithms
865 in the order which you'd like to see them used by someone
866 else when encrypting a message to your key. If you don't
867 include 3DES, it will be automatically added at the end.
868 Note that there are many factors that go into choosing an
869 algorithm (for example, your key may not be the only
870 recipient), and so the remote OpenPGP application being
871 used to send to you may or may not follow your exact cho‐
872 sen order for a given message. It will, however, only
873 choose an algorithm that is present on the preference
874 list of every recipient key. See also the INTEROPERABIL‐
875 ITY WITH OTHER OPENPGP PROGRAMS section below.
876 addkey Add a subkey to this key.
879 addcardkey
882 Generate a subkey on a card and add it to this key.
883 keytocard
886 Transfer the selected secret subkey (or the primary key
887 if no subkey has been selected) to a smartcard. The
888 secret key in the keyring will be replaced by a stub if
889 the key could be stored successfully on the card and you
890 use the save command later. Only certain key types may be
891 transferred to the card. A sub menu allows you to select
892 on what card to store the key. Note that it is not possi‐
893 ble to get that key back from the card - if the card gets
894 broken your secret key will be lost unless you have a
895 backup somewhere.
896 bkuptocard file
899 Restore the given file to a card. This command may be
900 used to restore a backup key (as generated during card
901 initialization) to a new card. In almost all cases this
902 will be the encryption key. You should use this command
903 only with the corresponding public key and make sure that
904 the file given as argument is indeed the backup to
905 restore. You should then select 2 to restore as encryp‐
906 tion key. You will first be asked to enter the
907 passphrase of the backup key and then for the Admin PIN
908 of the card.
909 delkey Remove a subkey (secondary key). Note that it is not pos‐
912 sible to retract a subkey, once it has been send to the
913 public (i.e. to a keyserver). In that case you better
914 use revkey. Also note that this only deletes the public
915 part of a key.
916 revkey Revoke a subkey.
919 expire Change the key or subkey expiration time. If a subkey is
922 selected, the expiration time of this subkey will be
923 changed. With no selection, the key expiration of the
924 primary key is changed.
925 trust Change the owner trust value for the key. This updates
928 the trust-db immediately and no save is required.
929 disable
932 enable Disable or enable an entire key. A disabled key can not
933 normally be used for encryption.
934 addrevoker
937 Add a designated revoker to the key. This takes one
938 optional argument: "sensitive". If a designated revoker
939 is marked as sensitive, it will not be exported by
940 default (see export-options).
941 passwd Change the passphrase of the secret key.
944 toggle This is dummy command which exists only for backward com‐
947 patibility.
948 clean Compact (by removing all signatures except the selfsig)
951 any user ID that is no longer usable (e.g. revoked, or
952 expired). Then, remove any signatures that are not usable
953 by the trust calculations. Specifically, this removes
954 any signature that does not validate, any signature that
955 is superseded by a later signature, revoked signatures,
956 and signatures issued by keys that are not present on the
957 keyring.
958 minimize
961 Make the key as small as possible. This removes all sig‐
962 natures from each user ID except for the most recent
963 self-signature.
964 change-usage
967 Change the usage flags (capabilities) of the primary key
968 or of subkeys. These usage flags (e.g. Certify, Sign,
969 Authenticate, Encrypt) are set during key creation.
970 Sometimes it is useful to have the opportunity to change
971 them (for example to add Authenticate) after they have
972 been created. Please take care when doing this; the
973 allowed usage flags depend on the key algorithm.
974 cross-certify
977 Add cross-certification signatures to signing subkeys
978 that may not currently have them. Cross-certification
979 signatures protect against a subtle attack against sign‐
980 ing subkeys. See --require-cross-certification. All new
981 keys generated have this signature by default, so this
982 command is only useful to bring older keys up to date.
983 save Save all changes to the keyrings and quit.
986 quit Quit the program without updating the keyrings.
989 The listing shows you the key with its secondary keys and all
991 user IDs. The primary user ID is indicated by a dot, and
992 selected keys or user IDs are indicated by an asterisk. The
993 trust value is displayed with the primary key: "trust" is the
994 assigned owner trust and "validity" is the calculated validity
995 of the key. Validity values are also displayed for all user
996 IDs. For possible values of trust, see: [trust-values].
997 --sign-key name
1000 Signs a public key with your secret key. This is a shortcut ver‐
1001 sion of the subcommand "sign" from --edit.
1002 --lsign-key name
1005 Signs a public key with your secret key but marks it as non-
1006 exportable. This is a shortcut version of the subcommand "lsign"
1007 from --edit-key.
1008 --quick-sign-key fpr [names]
1011 --quick-lsign-key fpr [names]
1012 Directly sign a key from the passphrase without any further user
1013 interaction. The fpr must be the verified primary fingerprint
1014 of a key in the local keyring. If no names are given, all useful
1015 user ids are signed; with given [names] only useful user ids
1016 matching one of theses names are signed. By default, or if a
1017 name is prefixed with a '*', a case insensitive substring match
1018 is used. If a name is prefixed with a '=' a case sensitive
1019 exact match is done.
1020 The command --quick-lsign-key marks the signatures as non-
1022 exportable. If such a non-exportable signature already exists
1023 the --quick-sign-key turns it into a exportable signature.
1024 This command uses reasonable defaults and thus does not provide
1026 the full flexibility of the "sign" subcommand from --edit-key.
1027 Its intended use is to help unattended key signing by utilizing
1028 a list of verified fingerprints.
1029 --quick-add-uid user-id new-user-id
1032 This command adds a new user id to an existing key. In contrast
1033 to the interactive sub-command adduid of --edit-key the new-
1034 user-id is added verbatim with only leading and trailing white
1035 space removed, it is expected to be UTF-8 encoded, and no checks
1036 on its form are applied.
1037 --quick-revoke-uid user-id user-id-to-revoke
1040 This command revokes a user ID on an existing key. It cannot be
1041 used to revoke the last user ID on key (some non-revoked user ID
1042 must remain), with revocation reason ``User ID is no longer
1043 valid''. If you want to specify a different revocation reason,
1044 or to supply supplementary revocation text, you should use the
1045 interactive sub-command revuid of --edit-key.
1046 --quick-set-primary-uid user-id primary-user-id
1049 This command sets or updates the primary user ID flag on an
1050 existing key. user-id specifies the key and primary-user-id the
1051 user ID which shall be flagged as the primary user ID. The pri‐
1052 mary user ID flag is removed from all other user ids and the
1053 timestamp of all affected self-signatures is set one second
1054 ahead.
1055 --change-passphrase user-id
1059 --passwd user-id
1060 Change the passphrase of the secret key belonging to the cer‐
1061 tificate specified as user-id. This is a shortcut for the sub-
1062 command passwd of the edit key menu. When using together with
1063 the option --dry-run this will not actually change the
1064 passphrase but check that the current passphrase is correct.
1065
1068 gpg2 features a bunch of options to control the exact behaviour and to
1069 change the default configuration.
1070 Long options can be put in an options file (default
1073 "~/.gnupg/gpg.conf"). Short option names will not work - for example,
1074 "armor" is a valid option for the options file, while "a" is not. Do
1075 not write the 2 dashes, but simply the name of the option and any
1076 required arguments. Lines with a hash ('#') as the first non-white-
1077 space character are ignored. Commands may be put in this file too, but
1078 that is not generally useful as the command will execute automatically
1079 with every execution of gpg.
1080 Please remember that option parsing stops as soon as a non-option is
1082 encountered, you can explicitly stop parsing by using the special
1083 option --.
1084 How to change the configuration
1088 These options are used to change the configuration and are usually
1091 found in the option file.
1092 --default-key name
1096 Use name as the default key to sign with. If this option is not
1097 used, the default key is the first key found in the secret
1098 keyring. Note that -u or --local-user overrides this option.
1099 This option may be given multiple times. In this case, the last
1100 key for which a secret key is available is used. If there is no
1101 secret key available for any of the specified values, GnuPG will
1102 not emit an error message but continue as if this option wasn't
1103 given.
1104 --default-recipient name
1107 Use name as default recipient if option --recipient is not used
1108 and don't ask if this is a valid one. name must be non-empty.
1109 --default-recipient-self
1112 Use the default key as default recipient if option --recipient
1113 is not used and don't ask if this is a valid one. The default
1114 key is the first one from the secret keyring or the one set with
1115 --default-key.
1116 --no-default-recipient
1119 Reset --default-recipient and --default-recipient-self.
1120 -v, --verbose
1123 Give more information during processing. If used twice, the
1124 input data is listed in detail.
1125 --no-verbose
1128 Reset verbose level to 0.
1129 -q, --quiet
1132 Try to be as quiet as possible.
1133 --batch
1136 --no-batch
1137 Use batch mode. Never ask, do not allow interactive commands.
1138 --no-batch disables this option. Note that even with a filename
1139 given on the command line, gpg might still need to read from
1140 STDIN (in particular if gpg figures that the input is a detached
1141 signature and no data file has been specified). Thus if you do
1142 not want to feed data via STDIN, you should connect STDIN to
1143 g‘/dev/null’.
1144 It is highly recommended to use this option along with the
1146 options --status-fd and --with-colons for any unattended use of
1147 gpg.
1148 --no-tty
1151 Make sure that the TTY (terminal) is never used for any output.
1152 This option is needed in some cases because GnuPG sometimes
1153 prints warnings to the TTY even if --batch is used.
1154 --yes Assume "yes" on most questions.
1157 --no Assume "no" on most questions.
1160 --list-options parameters
1164 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options
1165 used when listing keys and signatures (that is, --list-keys,
1166 --check-signatures, --list-public-keys, --list-secret-keys, and
1167 the --edit-key functions). Options can be prepended with a no-
1168 (after the two dashes) to give the opposite meaning. The
1169 options are:
1170 show-photos
1174 Causes --list-keys, --check-signatures, --list-public-
1175 keys, and --list-secret-keys to display any photo IDs
1176 attached to the key. Defaults to no. See also --photo-
1177 viewer. Does not work with --with-colons: see
1178 --attribute-fd for the appropriate way to get photo data
1179 for scripts and other frontends.
1180 show-usage
1183 Show usage information for keys and subkeys in the stan‐
1184 dard key listing. This is a list of letters indicating
1185 the allowed usage for a key (E=encryption, S=signing,
1186 C=certification, A=authentication). Defaults to yes.
1187 show-policy-urls
1190 Show policy URLs in the --check-signatures listings.
1191 Defaults to no.
1192 show-notations
1195 show-std-notations
1196 show-user-notations
1197 Show all, IETF standard, or user-defined signature nota‐
1198 tions in the --check-signatures listings. Defaults to no.
1199 show-keyserver-urls
1202 Show any preferred keyserver URL in the --check-signa‐
1203 tures listings. Defaults to no.
1204 show-uid-validity
1207 Display the calculated validity of user IDs during key
1208 listings. Defaults to yes.
1209 show-unusable-uids
1212 Show revoked and expired user IDs in key listings.
1213 Defaults to no.
1214 show-unusable-subkeys
1217 Show revoked and expired subkeys in key listings.
1218 Defaults to no.
1219 show-keyring
1222 Display the keyring name at the head of key listings to
1223 show which keyring a given key resides on. Defaults to
1224 no.
1225 show-sig-expire
1228 Show signature expiration dates (if any) during --check-
1229 signatures listings. Defaults to no.
1230 show-sig-subpackets
1233 Include signature subpackets in the key listing. This
1234 option can take an optional argument list of the subpack‐
1235 ets to list. If no argument is passed, list all subpack‐
1236 ets. Defaults to no. This option is only meaningful when
1237 using --with-colons along with --check-signatures.
1238 show-only-fpr-mbox
1241 For each valid user-id which also has a valid mail
1242 address print only the fingerprint and the mail address.
1243 --verify-options parameters
1246 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options
1247 used when verifying signatures. Options can be prepended with a
1248 `no-' to give the opposite meaning. The options are:
1249 show-photos
1253 Display any photo IDs present on the key that issued the
1254 signature. Defaults to no. See also --photo-viewer.
1255 show-policy-urls
1258 Show policy URLs in the signature being verified.
1259 Defaults to yes.
1260 show-notations
1263 show-std-notations
1264 show-user-notations
1265 Show all, IETF standard, or user-defined signature nota‐
1266 tions in the signature being verified. Defaults to IETF
1267 standard.
1268 show-keyserver-urls
1271 Show any preferred keyserver URL in the signature being
1272 verified. Defaults to yes.
1273 show-uid-validity
1276 Display the calculated validity of the user IDs on the
1277 key that issued the signature. Defaults to yes.
1278 show-unusable-uids
1281 Show revoked and expired user IDs during signature veri‐
1282 fication. Defaults to no.
1283 show-primary-uid-only
1286 Show only the primary user ID during signature verifica‐
1287 tion. That is all the AKA lines as well as photo Ids are
1288 not shown with the signature verification status.
1289 pka-lookups
1292 Enable PKA lookups to verify sender addresses. Note that
1293 PKA is based on DNS, and so enabling this option may dis‐
1294 close information on when and what signatures are veri‐
1295 fied or to whom data is encrypted. This is similar to the
1296 "web bug" described for the --auto-key-retrieve option.
1297 pka-trust-increase
1300 Raise the trust in a signature to full if the signature
1301 passes PKA validation. This option is only meaningful if
1302 pka-lookups is set.
1303 --enable-large-rsa
1306 --disable-large-rsa
1307 With --generate-key and --batch, enable the creation of RSA
1308 secret keys as large as 8192 bit. Note: 8192 bit is more than
1309 is generally recommended. These large keys don't significantly
1310 improve security, but they are more expensive to use, and their
1311 signatures and certifications are larger. This option is only
1312 available if the binary was build with large-secmem support.
1313 --enable-dsa2
1316 --disable-dsa2
1317 Enable hash truncation for all DSA keys even for old DSA Keys up
1318 to 1024 bit. This is also the default with --openpgp. Note
1319 that older versions of GnuPG also required this flag to allow
1320 the generation of DSA larger than 1024 bit.
1321 --photo-viewer string
1324 This is the command line that should be run to view a photo ID.
1325 "%i" will be expanded to a filename containing the photo. "%I"
1326 does the same, except the file will not be deleted once the
1327 viewer exits. Other flags are "%k" for the key ID, "%K" for the
1328 long key ID, "%f" for the key fingerprint, "%t" for the exten‐
1329 sion of the image type (e.g. "jpg"), "%T" for the MIME type of
1330 the image (e.g. "image/jpeg"), "%v" for the single-character
1331 calculated validity of the image being viewed (e.g. "f"), "%V"
1332 for the calculated validity as a string (e.g. "full"), "%U" for
1333 a base32 encoded hash of the user ID, and "%%" for an actual
1334 percent sign. If neither %i or %I are present, then the photo
1335 will be supplied to the viewer on standard input.
1336 The default viewer is "xloadimage -fork -quiet -title 'KeyID
1338 0x%k' STDIN". Note that if your image viewer program is not
1339 secure, then executing it from GnuPG does not make it secure.
1340 --exec-path string
1343 Sets a list of directories to search for photo viewers and key‐
1344 server helpers. If not provided, keyserver helpers use the com‐
1345 piled-in default directory, and photo viewers use the PATH envi‐
1346 ronment variable. Note, that on W32 system this value is
1347 ignored when searching for keyserver helpers.
1348 --keyring file
1351 Add file to the current list of keyrings. If file begins with a
1352 tilde and a slash, these are replaced by the $HOME directory. If
1353 the filename does not contain a slash, it is assumed to be in
1354 the GnuPG home directory ("~/.gnupg" if --homedir or $GNUPGHOME
1355 is not used).
1356 Note that this adds a keyring to the current list. If the intent
1358 is to use the specified keyring alone, use --keyring along with
1359 --no-default-keyring.
1360 If the option --no-keyring has been used no keyrings will be
1362 used at all.
1363 --secret-keyring file
1367 This is an obsolete option and ignored. All secret keys are
1368 stored in the ‘private-keys-v1.d’ directory below the GnuPG home
1369 directory.
1370 --primary-keyring file
1373 Designate file as the primary public keyring. This means that
1374 newly imported keys (via --import or keyserver --recv-from) will
1375 go to this keyring.
1376 --trustdb-name file
1379 Use file instead of the default trustdb. If file begins with a
1380 tilde and a slash, these are replaced by the $HOME directory. If
1381 the filename does not contain a slash, it is assumed to be in
1382 the GnuPG home directory (‘~/.gnupg’ if --homedir or $GNUPGHOME
1383 is not used).
1384 --homedir dir
1387 Set the name of the home directory to dir. If this option is not
1388 used, the home directory defaults to ‘~/.gnupg’. It is only
1389 recognized when given on the command line. It also overrides
1390 any home directory stated through the environment variable
1391 ‘GNUPGHOME’ or (on Windows systems) by means of the Registry
1392 entry HKCU\Software\GNU\GnuPG:HomeDir.
1393 On Windows systems it is possible to install GnuPG as a portable
1395 application. In this case only this command line option is con‐
1396 sidered, all other ways to set a home directory are ignored.
1397 To install GnuPG as a portable application under Windows, create
1399 an empty file named ‘gpgconf.ctl’ in the same directory as the
1400 tool ‘gpgconf.exe’. The root of the installation is then that
1401 directory; or, if ‘gpgconf.exe’ has been installed directly
1402 below a directory named ‘bin’, its parent directory. You also
1403 need to make sure that the following directories exist and are
1404 writable: ‘ROOT/home’ for the GnuPG home and
1405 ‘ROOT/var/cache/gnupg’ for internal cache files.
1406 --display-charset name
1410 Set the name of the native character set. This is used to con‐
1411 vert some informational strings like user IDs to the proper
1412 UTF-8 encoding. Note that this has nothing to do with the char‐
1413 acter set of data to be encrypted or signed; GnuPG does not
1414 recode user-supplied data. If this option is not used, the
1415 default character set is determined from the current locale. A
1416 verbosity level of 3 shows the chosen set. Valid values for
1417 name are:
1418 iso-8859-1
1422 This is the Latin 1 set.
1423 iso-8859-2
1426 The Latin 2 set.
1427 iso-8859-15
1430 This is currently an alias for the Latin 1 set.
1431 koi8-r The usual Russian set (RFC-1489).
1434 utf-8 Bypass all translations and assume that the OS uses
1437 native UTF-8 encoding.
1438 --utf8-strings
1441 --no-utf8-strings
1442 Assume that command line arguments are given as UTF-8 strings.
1443 The default (--no-utf8-strings) is to assume that arguments are
1444 encoded in the character set as specified by --display-charset.
1445 These options affect all following arguments. Both options may
1446 be used multiple times.
1447 --options file
1451 Read options from file and do not try to read them from the
1452 default options file in the homedir (see --homedir). This option
1453 is ignored if used in an options file.
1454 --no-options
1457 Shortcut for --options /dev/null. This option is detected before
1458 an attempt to open an option file. Using this option will also
1459 prevent the creation of a ‘~/.gnupg’ homedir.
1460 -z n
1463 --compress-level n
1464 --bzip2-compress-level n
1465 Set compression level to n for the ZIP and ZLIB compression
1466 algorithms. The default is to use the default compression level
1467 of zlib (normally 6). --bzip2-compress-level sets the compres‐
1468 sion level for the BZIP2 compression algorithm (defaulting to 6
1469 as well). This is a different option from --compress-level since
1470 BZIP2 uses a significant amount of memory for each additional
1471 compression level. -z sets both. A value of 0 for n disables
1472 compression.
1473 --bzip2-decompress-lowmem
1476 Use a different decompression method for BZIP2 compressed files.
1477 This alternate method uses a bit more than half the memory, but
1478 also runs at half the speed. This is useful under extreme low
1479 memory circumstances when the file was originally compressed at
1480 a high --bzip2-compress-level.
1481 --mangle-dos-filenames
1485 --no-mangle-dos-filenames
1486 Older version of Windows cannot handle filenames with more than
1487 one dot. --mangle-dos-filenames causes GnuPG to replace (rather
1488 than add to) the extension of an output filename to avoid this
1489 problem. This option is off by default and has no effect on non-
1490 Windows platforms.
1491 --ask-cert-level
1494 --no-ask-cert-level
1495 When making a key signature, prompt for a certification level.
1496 If this option is not specified, the certification level used is
1497 set via --default-cert-level. See --default-cert-level for
1498 information on the specific levels and how they are used. --no-
1499 ask-cert-level disables this option. This option defaults to no.
1500 --default-cert-level n
1503 The default to use for the check level when signing a key.
1504 0 means you make no particular claim as to how carefully you
1506 verified the key.
1507 1 means you believe the key is owned by the person who claims to
1509 own it but you could not, or did not verify the key at all. This
1510 is useful for a "persona" verification, where you sign the key
1511 of a pseudonymous user.
1512 2 means you did casual verification of the key. For example,
1514 this could mean that you verified the key fingerprint and
1515 checked the user ID on the key against a photo ID.
1516 3 means you did extensive verification of the key. For example,
1518 this could mean that you verified the key fingerprint with the
1519 owner of the key in person, and that you checked, by means of a
1520 hard to forge document with a photo ID (such as a passport) that
1521 the name of the key owner matches the name in the user ID on the
1522 key, and finally that you verified (by exchange of email) that
1523 the email address on the key belongs to the key owner.
1524 Note that the examples given above for levels 2 and 3 are just
1526 that: examples. In the end, it is up to you to decide just what
1527 "casual" and "extensive" mean to you.
1528 This option defaults to 0 (no particular claim).
1530 --min-cert-level
1533 When building the trust database, treat any signatures with a
1534 certification level below this as invalid. Defaults to 2, which
1535 disregards level 1 signatures. Note that level 0 "no particular
1536 claim" signatures are always accepted.
1537 --trusted-key long key ID
1540 Assume that the specified key (which must be given as a full 8
1541 byte key ID) is as trustworthy as one of your own secret keys.
1542 This option is useful if you don't want to keep your secret keys
1543 (or one of them) online but still want to be able to check the
1544 validity of a given recipient's or signator's key.
1545 --trust-model {pgp|classic|tofu|tofu+pgp|direct|always|auto}
1548 Set what trust model GnuPG should follow. The models are:
1549 pgp This is the Web of Trust combined with trust signatures
1553 as used in PGP 5.x and later. This is the default trust
1554 model when creating a new trust database.
1555 classic
1558 This is the standard Web of Trust as introduced by PGP 2.
1559 tofu
1562 TOFU stands for Trust On First Use. In this trust model,
1564 the first time a key is seen, it is memorized. If later
1565 another key with a user id with the same email address is
1566 seen, both keys are marked as suspect. In that case, the
1567 next time either is used, a warning is displayed describ‐
1568 ing the conflict, why it might have occurred (either the
1569 user generated a new key and failed to cross sign the old
1570 and new keys, the key is forgery, or a man-in-the-middle
1571 attack is being attempted), and the user is prompted to
1572 manually confirm the validity of the key in question.
1573 Because a potential attacker is able to control the email
1575 address and thereby circumvent the conflict detection
1576 algorithm by using an email address that is similar in
1577 appearance to a trusted email address, whenever a message
1578 is verified, statistics about the number of messages
1579 signed with the key are shown. In this way, a user can
1580 easily identify attacks using fake keys for regular cor‐
1581 respondents.
1582 When compared with the Web of Trust, TOFU offers signifi‐
1584 cantly weaker security guarantees. In particular, TOFU
1585 only helps ensure consistency (that is, that the binding
1586 between a key and email address doesn't change). A major
1587 advantage of TOFU is that it requires little maintenance
1588 to use correctly. To use the web of trust properly, you
1589 need to actively sign keys and mark users as trusted
1590 introducers. This is a time-consuming process and anec‐
1591 dotal evidence suggests that even security-conscious
1592 users rarely take the time to do this thoroughly and
1593 instead rely on an ad-hoc TOFU process.
1594 In the TOFU model, policies are associated with bindings
1596 between keys and email addresses (which are extracted
1597 from user ids and normalized). There are five policies,
1598 which can be set manually using the --tofu-policy option.
1599 The default policy can be set using the --tofu-default-
1600 policy option.
1601 The TOFU policies are: auto, good, unknown, bad and ask.
1603 The auto policy is used by default (unless overridden by
1604 --tofu-default-policy) and marks a binding as marginally
1605 trusted. The good, unknown and bad policies mark a bind‐
1606 ing as fully trusted, as having unknown trust or as hav‐
1607 ing trust never, respectively. The unknown policy is
1608 useful for just using TOFU to detect conflicts, but to
1609 never assign positive trust to a binding. The final pol‐
1610 icy, ask prompts the user to indicate the binding's
1611 trust. If batch mode is enabled (or input is inappropri‐
1612 ate in the context), then the user is not prompted and
1613 the undefined trust level is returned.
1614 tofu+pgp
1617 This trust model combines TOFU with the Web of Trust.
1618 This is done by computing the trust level for each model
1619 and then taking the maximum trust level where the trust
1620 levels are ordered as follows: unknown < undefined < mar‐
1621 ginal < fully < ultimate < expired < never.
1622 By setting --tofu-default-policy=unknown, this model can
1624 be used to implement the web of trust with TOFU's con‐
1625 flict detection algorithm, but without its assignment of
1626 positive trust values, which some security-conscious
1627 users don't like.
1628 direct Key validity is set directly by the user and not calcu‐
1631 lated via the Web of Trust. This model is solely based
1632 on the key and does not distinguish user IDs. Note that
1633 when changing to another trust model the trust values
1634 assigned to a key are transformed into ownertrust values,
1635 which also indicate how you trust the owner of the key to
1636 sign other keys.
1637 always Skip key validation and assume that used keys are always
1640 fully valid. You generally won't use this unless you are
1641 using some external validation scheme. This option also
1642 suppresses the "[uncertain]" tag printed with signature
1643 checks when there is no evidence that the user ID is
1644 bound to the key. Note that this trust model still does
1645 not allow the use of expired, revoked, or disabled keys.
1646 auto Select the trust model depending on whatever the internal
1649 trust database says. This is the default model if such a
1650 database already exists. Note that a tofu trust model is
1651 not considered here and must be enabled explicitly.
1652 --auto-key-locate mechanisms
1655 --no-auto-key-locate
1656 GnuPG can automatically locate and retrieve keys as needed using
1657 this option. This happens when encrypting to an email address
1658 (in the "user@example.com" form), and there are no "user@exam‐
1659 ple.com" keys on the local keyring. This option takes any num‐
1660 ber of the mechanisms listed below, in the order they are to be
1661 tried. Instead of listing the mechanisms as comma delimited
1662 arguments, the option may also be given several times to add
1663 more mechanism. The option --no-auto-key-locate or the mecha‐
1664 nism "clear" resets the list. The default is "local,wkd".
1665 cert Locate a key using DNS CERT, as specified in RFC-4398.
1669 pka Locate a key using DNS PKA.
1672 dane Locate a key using DANE, as specified in draft-ietf-dane-
1675 openpgpkey-05.txt.
1676 wkd Locate a key using the Web Key Directory protocol.
1679 ldap Using DNS Service Discovery, check the domain in question
1682 for any LDAP keyservers to use. If this fails, attempt
1683 to locate the key using the PGP Universal method of
1684 checking 'ldap://keys.(thedomain)'.
1685 keyserver
1688 Locate a key using whatever keyserver is defined using
1689 the --keyserver option.
1690 keyserver-URL
1693 In addition, a keyserver URL as used in the --keyserver
1694 option may be used here to query that particular key‐
1695 server.
1696 local Locate the key using the local keyrings. This mechanism
1699 allows the user to select the order a local key lookup is
1700 done. Thus using '--auto-key-locate local' is identical
1701 to --no-auto-key-locate.
1702 nodefault
1705 This flag disables the standard local key lookup, done
1706 before any of the mechanisms defined by the --auto-key-
1707 locate are tried. The position of this mechanism in the
1708 list does not matter. It is not required if local is
1709 also used.
1710 clear Clear all defined mechanisms. This is useful to override
1713 mechanisms given in a config file. Note that a nodefault
1714 in mechanisms will also be cleared unless it is given
1715 after the clear.
1716 --auto-key-retrieve
1721 --no-auto-key-retrieve
1722 These options enable or disable the automatic retrieving of keys
1723 from a keyserver when verifying signatures made by keys that are
1724 not on the local keyring. The default is --no-auto-key-
1725 retrieve.
1726 If the method "wkd" is included in the list of methods given to
1728 auto-key-locate, the signer's user ID is part of the signature,
1729 and the option --disable-signer-uid is not used, the "wkd"
1730 method may also be used to retrieve a key.
1731 Note that this option makes a "web bug" like behavior possible.
1733 Keyserver or Web Key Directory operators can see which keys you
1734 request, so by sending you a message signed by a brand new key
1735 (which you naturally will not have on your local keyring), the
1736 operator can tell both your IP address and the time when you
1737 verified the signature.
1738 --keyid-format {none|short|0xshort|long|0xlong}
1741 Select how to display key IDs. "none" does not show the key ID
1742 at all but shows the fingerprint in a separate line. "short" is
1743 the traditional 8-character key ID. "long" is the more accurate
1744 (but less convenient) 16-character key ID. Add an "0x" to
1745 either to include an "0x" at the beginning of the key ID, as in
1746 0x99242560. Note that this option is ignored if the option
1747 --with-colons is used.
1748 --keyserver name
1751 This option is deprecated - please use the --keyserver in ‘dirm‐
1752 ngr.conf’ instead.
1753 Use name as your keyserver. This is the server that --receive-
1755 keys, --send-keys, and --search-keys will communicate with to
1756 receive keys from, send keys to, and search for keys on. The
1757 format of the name is a URI: `scheme:[//]keyservername[:port]'
1758 The scheme is the type of keyserver: "hkp" for the HTTP (or com‐
1759 patible) keyservers, "ldap" for the LDAP keyservers, or "mailto"
1760 for the Graff email keyserver. Note that your particular instal‐
1761 lation of GnuPG may have other keyserver types available as
1762 well. Keyserver schemes are case-insensitive. After the key‐
1763 server name, optional keyserver configuration options may be
1764 provided. These are the same as the global --keyserver-options
1765 from below, but apply only to this particular keyserver.
1766 Most keyservers synchronize with each other, so there is gener‐
1768 ally no need to send keys to more than one server. The keyserver
1769 hkp://keys.gnupg.net uses round robin DNS to give a different
1770 keyserver each time you use it.
1771 --keyserver-options {name=value}
1774 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for
1775 the keyserver. Options can be prefixed with a `no-' to give the
1776 opposite meaning. Valid import-options or export-options may be
1777 used here as well to apply to importing (--recv-key) or export‐
1778 ing (--send-key) a key from a keyserver. While not all options
1779 are available for all keyserver types, some common options are:
1780 include-revoked
1784 When searching for a key with --search-keys, include keys
1785 that are marked on the keyserver as revoked. Note that
1786 not all keyservers differentiate between revoked and
1787 unrevoked keys, and for such keyservers this option is
1788 meaningless. Note also that most keyservers do not have
1789 cryptographic verification of key revocations, and so
1790 turning this option off may result in skipping keys that
1791 are incorrectly marked as revoked.
1792 include-disabled
1795 When searching for a key with --search-keys, include keys
1796 that are marked on the keyserver as disabled. Note that
1797 this option is not used with HKP keyservers.
1798 auto-key-retrieve
1801 This is an obsolete alias for the option auto-key-
1802 retrieve. Please do not use it; it will be removed in
1803 future versions..
1804 honor-keyserver-url
1807 When using --refresh-keys, if the key in question has a
1808 preferred keyserver URL, then use that preferred key‐
1809 server to refresh the key from. In addition, if auto-key-
1810 retrieve is set, and the signature being verified has a
1811 preferred keyserver URL, then use that preferred key‐
1812 server to fetch the key from. Note that this option
1813 introduces a "web bug": The creator of the key can see
1814 when the keys is refreshed. Thus this option is not
1815 enabled by default.
1816 honor-pka-record
1819 If --auto-key-retrieve is used, and the signature being
1820 verified has a PKA record, then use the PKA information
1821 to fetch the key. Defaults to "yes".
1822 include-subkeys
1825 When receiving a key, include subkeys as potential tar‐
1826 gets. Note that this option is not used with HKP key‐
1827 servers, as they do not support retrieving keys by subkey
1828 id.
1829 timeout
1832 http-proxy=value
1833 verbose
1834 debug
1835 check-cert
1836 ca-cert-file
1838 These options have no more function since GnuPG 2.1. Use
1839 the dirmngr configuration options instead.
1840 --completes-needed n
1844 Number of completely trusted users to introduce a new key signer
1845 (defaults to 1).
1846 --marginals-needed n
1849 Number of marginally trusted users to introduce a new key signer
1850 (defaults to 3)
1851 --tofu-default-policy {auto|good|unknown|bad|ask}
1854 The default TOFU policy (defaults to auto). For more informa‐
1855 tion about the meaning of this option, see: [trust-model-tofu].
1856 --max-cert-depth n
1859 Maximum depth of a certification chain (default is 5).
1860 --no-sig-cache
1863 Do not cache the verification status of key signatures. Caching
1864 gives a much better performance in key listings. However, if you
1865 suspect that your public keyring is not safe against write modi‐
1866 fications, you can use this option to disable the caching. It
1867 probably does not make sense to disable it because all kind of
1868 damage can be done if someone else has write access to your pub‐
1869 lic keyring.
1870 --auto-check-trustdb
1873 --no-auto-check-trustdb
1874 If GnuPG feels that its information about the Web of Trust has
1875 to be updated, it automatically runs the --check-trustdb command
1876 internally. This may be a time consuming process. --no-auto-
1877 check-trustdb disables this option.
1878 --use-agent
1881 --no-use-agent
1882 This is dummy option. gpg2 always requires the agent.
1883 --gpg-agent-info
1886 This is dummy option. It has no effect when used with gpg2.
1887 --agent-program file
1891 Specify an agent program to be used for secret key operations.
1892 The default value is determined by running gpgconf with the
1893 option --list-dirs. Note that the pipe symbol (|) is used for a
1894 regression test suite hack and may thus not be used in the file
1895 name.
1896 --dirmngr-program file
1899 Specify a dirmngr program to be used for keyserver access. The
1900 default value is ‘/usr/bin/dirmngr’.
1901 --disable-dirmngr
1904 Entirely disable the use of the Dirmngr.
1905 --no-autostart
1908 Do not start the gpg-agent or the dirmngr if it has not yet been
1909 started and its service is required. This option is mostly use‐
1910 ful on machines where the connection to gpg-agent has been redi‐
1911 rected to another machines. If dirmngr is required on the
1912 remote machine, it may be started manually using gpgconf
1913 --launch dirmngr.
1914 --lock-once
1917 Lock the databases the first time a lock is requested and do not
1918 release the lock until the process terminates.
1919 --lock-multiple
1922 Release the locks every time a lock is no longer needed. Use
1923 this to override a previous --lock-once from a config file.
1924 --lock-never
1927 Disable locking entirely. This option should be used only in
1928 very special environments, where it can be assured that only one
1929 process is accessing those files. A bootable floppy with a
1930 stand-alone encryption system will probably use this. Improper
1931 usage of this option may lead to data and key corruption.
1932 --exit-on-status-write-error
1935 This option will cause write errors on the status FD to immedi‐
1936 ately terminate the process. That should in fact be the default
1937 but it never worked this way and thus we need an option to
1938 enable this, so that the change won't break applications which
1939 close their end of a status fd connected pipe too early. Using
1940 this option along with --enable-progress-filter may be used to
1941 cleanly cancel long running gpg operations.
1942 --limit-card-insert-tries n
1945 With n greater than 0 the number of prompts asking to insert a
1946 smartcard gets limited to N-1. Thus with a value of 1 gpg won't
1947 at all ask to insert a card if none has been inserted at
1948 startup. This option is useful in the configuration file in case
1949 an application does not know about the smartcard support and
1950 waits ad infinitum for an inserted card.
1951 --no-random-seed-file
1954 GnuPG uses a file to store its internal random pool over invoca‐
1955 tions. This makes random generation faster; however sometimes
1956 write operations are not desired. This option can be used to
1957 achieve that with the cost of slower random generation.
1958 --no-greeting
1961 Suppress the initial copyright message.
1962 --no-secmem-warning
1965 Suppress the warning about "using insecure memory".
1966 --no-permission-warning
1969 Suppress the warning about unsafe file and home directory
1970 (--homedir) permissions. Note that the permission checks that
1971 GnuPG performs are not intended to be authoritative, but rather
1972 they simply warn about certain common permission problems. Do
1973 not assume that the lack of a warning means that your system is
1974 secure.
1975 Note that the warning for unsafe --homedir permissions cannot be
1977 suppressed in the gpg.conf file, as this would allow an attacker
1978 to place an unsafe gpg.conf file in place, and use this file to
1979 suppress warnings about itself. The --homedir permissions warn‐
1980 ing may only be suppressed on the command line.
1981 --require-secmem
1984 --no-require-secmem
1985 Refuse to run if GnuPG cannot get secure memory. Defaults to no
1986 (i.e. run, but give a warning).
1987 --require-cross-certification
1991 --no-require-cross-certification
1992 When verifying a signature made from a subkey, ensure that the
1993 cross certification "back signature" on the subkey is present
1994 and valid. This protects against a subtle attack against sub‐
1995 keys that can sign. Defaults to --require-cross-certification
1996 for gpg2.
1997 --expert
2000 --no-expert
2001 Allow the user to do certain nonsensical or "silly" things like
2002 signing an expired or revoked key, or certain potentially incom‐
2003 patible things like generating unusual key types. This also dis‐
2004 ables certain warning messages about potentially incompatible
2005 actions. As the name implies, this option is for experts only.
2006 If you don't fully understand the implications of what it allows
2007 you to do, leave this off. --no-expert disables this option.
2008 Key related options
2011 --recipient name
2016 -r Encrypt for user id name. If this option or --hidden-recipient
2017 is not specified, GnuPG asks for the user-id unless --default-
2018 recipient is given.
2019 --hidden-recipient name
2022 -R Encrypt for user ID name, but hide the key ID of this user's
2023 key. This option helps to hide the receiver of the message and
2024 is a limited countermeasure against traffic analysis. If this
2025 option or --recipient is not specified, GnuPG asks for the user
2026 ID unless --default-recipient is given.
2027 --recipient-file file
2030 -f This option is similar to --recipient except that it encrypts to
2031 a key stored in the given file. file must be the name of a file
2032 containing exactly one key. gpg2 assumes that the key in this
2033 file is fully valid.
2034 --hidden-recipient-file file
2037 -F This option is similar to --hidden-recipient except that it
2038 encrypts to a key stored in the given file. file must be the
2039 name of a file containing exactly one key. gpg2 assumes that
2040 the key in this file is fully valid.
2041 --encrypt-to name
2044 Same as --recipient but this one is intended for use in the
2045 options file and may be used with your own user-id as an
2046 "encrypt-to-self". These keys are only used when there are other
2047 recipients given either by use of --recipient or by the asked
2048 user id. No trust checking is performed for these user ids and
2049 even disabled keys can be used.
2050 --hidden-encrypt-to name
2053 Same as --hidden-recipient but this one is intended for use in
2054 the options file and may be used with your own user-id as a hid‐
2055 den "encrypt-to-self". These keys are only used when there are
2056 other recipients given either by use of --recipient or by the
2057 asked user id. No trust checking is performed for these user
2058 ids and even disabled keys can be used.
2059 --no-encrypt-to
2062 Disable the use of all --encrypt-to and --hidden-encrypt-to
2063 keys.
2064 --group {name=value}
2067 Sets up a named group, which is similar to aliases in email pro‐
2068 grams. Any time the group name is a recipient (-r or --recipi‐
2069 ent), it will be expanded to the values specified. Multiple
2070 groups with the same name are automatically merged into a single
2071 group.
2072 The values are key IDs or fingerprints, but any key description
2074 is accepted. Note that a value with spaces in it will be treated
2075 as two different values. Note also there is only one level of
2076 expansion --- you cannot make an group that points to another
2077 group. When used from the command line, it may be necessary to
2078 quote the argument to this option to prevent the shell from
2079 treating it as multiple arguments.
2080 --ungroup name
2083 Remove a given entry from the --group list.
2084 --no-groups
2087 Remove all entries from the --group list.
2088 --local-user name
2091 -u Use name as the key to sign with. Note that this option over‐
2092 rides --default-key.
2093 --sender mbox
2096 This option has two purposes. mbox must either be a complete
2097 user id with a proper mail address or just a mail address. When
2098 creating a signature this option tells gpg the user id of a key
2099 used to make a signature if the key was not directly specified
2100 by a user id. When verifying a signature the mbox is used to
2101 restrict the information printed by the TOFU code to matching
2102 user ids.
2103 --try-secret-key name
2106 For hidden recipients GPG needs to know the keys to use for
2107 trial decryption. The key set with --default-key is always
2108 tried first, but this is often not sufficient. This option
2109 allows setting more keys to be used for trial decryption.
2110 Although any valid user-id specification may be used for name it
2111 makes sense to use at least the long keyid to avoid ambiguities.
2112 Note that gpg-agent might pop up a pinentry for a lot keys to do
2113 the trial decryption. If you want to stop all further trial
2114 decryption you may use close-window button instead of the cancel
2115 button.
2116 --try-all-secrets
2119 Don't look at the key ID as stored in the message but try all
2120 secret keys in turn to find the right decryption key. This
2121 option forces the behaviour as used by anonymous recipients
2122 (created by using --throw-keyids or --hidden-recipient) and
2123 might come handy in case where an encrypted message contains a
2124 bogus key ID.
2125 --skip-hidden-recipients
2128 --no-skip-hidden-recipients
2129 During decryption skip all anonymous recipients. This option
2130 helps in the case that people use the hidden recipients feature
2131 to hide their own encrypt-to key from others. If one has many
2132 secret keys this may lead to a major annoyance because all keys
2133 are tried in turn to decrypt something which was not really
2134 intended for it. The drawback of this option is that it is cur‐
2135 rently not possible to decrypt a message which includes real
2136 anonymous recipients.
2137 Input and Output
2141 --armor
2146 -a Create ASCII armored output. The default is to create the
2147 binary OpenPGP format.
2148 --no-armor
2151 Assume the input data is not in ASCII armored format.
2152 --output file
2155 -o file
2156 Write output to file. To write to stdout use - as the filename.
2157 --max-output n
2160 This option sets a limit on the number of bytes that will be
2161 generated when processing a file. Since OpenPGP supports various
2162 levels of compression, it is possible that the plaintext of a
2163 given message may be significantly larger than the original
2164 OpenPGP message. While GnuPG works properly with such messages,
2165 there is often a desire to set a maximum file size that will be
2166 generated before processing is forced to stop by the OS limits.
2167 Defaults to 0, which means "no limit".
2168 --input-size-hint n
2171 This option can be used to tell GPG the size of the input data
2172 in bytes. n must be a positive base-10 number. This option is
2173 only useful if the input is not taken from a file. GPG may use
2174 this hint to optimize its buffer allocation strategy. It is
2175 also used by the --status-fd line ``PROGRESS'' to provide a
2176 value for ``total'' if that is not available by other means.
2177 --key-origin string[,url]
2180 gpg can track the origin of a key. Certain origins are implic‐
2181 itly known (e.g. keyserver, web key directory) and set. For a
2182 standard import the origin of the keys imported can be set with
2183 this option. To list the possible values use "help" for string.
2184 Some origins can store an optional url argument. That URL can
2185 appended to string after a comma.
2186 --import-options parameters
2189 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for
2190 importing keys. Options can be prepended with a `no-' to give
2191 the opposite meaning. The options are:
2192 import-local-sigs
2196 Allow importing key signatures marked as "local". This is
2197 not generally useful unless a shared keyring scheme is
2198 being used. Defaults to no.
2199 keep-ownertrust
2202 Normally possible still existing ownertrust values of a
2203 key are cleared if a key is imported. This is in general
2204 desirable so that a formerly deleted key does not auto‐
2205 matically gain an ownertrust values merely due to import.
2206 On the other hand it is sometimes necessary to re-import
2207 a trusted set of keys again but keeping already assigned
2208 ownertrust values. This can be achieved by using this
2209 option.
2210 repair-pks-subkey-bug
2213 During import, attempt to repair the damage caused by the
2214 PKS keyserver bug (pre version 0.9.6) that mangles keys
2215 with multiple subkeys. Note that this cannot completely
2216 repair the damaged key as some crucial data is removed by
2217 the keyserver, but it does at least give you back one
2218 subkey. Defaults to no for regular --import and to yes
2219 for keyserver --receive-keys.
2220 import-show
2223 show-only
2224 Show a listing of the key as imported right before it is
2225 stored. This can be combined with the option --dry-run
2226 to only look at keys; the option show-only is a shortcut
2227 for this combination. The command --show-keys is another
2228 shortcut for this. Note that suffixes like '#' for "sec"
2229 and "sbb" lines may or may not be printed.
2230 import-export
2233 Run the entire import code but instead of storing the key
2234 to the local keyring write it to the output. The export
2235 options export-pka and export-dane affect the output.
2236 This option can be used to remove all invalid parts from
2237 a key without the need to store it.
2238 merge-only
2241 During import, allow key updates to existing keys, but do
2242 not allow any new keys to be imported. Defaults to no.
2243 import-clean
2246 After import, compact (remove all signatures except the
2247 self-signature) any user IDs from the new key that are
2248 not usable. Then, remove any signatures from the new key
2249 that are not usable. This includes signatures that were
2250 issued by keys that are not present on the keyring. This
2251 option is the same as running the --edit-key command
2252 "clean" after import. Defaults to no.
2253 repair-keys. After import, fix various problems with the
2256 keys. For example, this reorders signatures, and strips
2257 duplicate signatures. Defaults to yes.
2258 import-minimal
2261 Import the smallest key possible. This removes all signa‐
2262 tures except the most recent self-signature on each user
2263 ID. This option is the same as running the --edit-key
2264 command "minimize" after import. Defaults to no.
2265 restore
2268 import-restore
2269 Import in key restore mode. This imports all data which
2270 is usually skipped during import; including all GnuPG
2271 specific data. All other contradicting options are over‐
2272 ridden.
2273 --import-filter {name=expr}
2276 --export-filter {name=expr}
2277 These options define an import/export filter which are applied
2278 to the imported/exported keyblock right before it will be
2279 stored/written. name defines the type of filter to use, expr
2280 the expression to evaluate. The option can be used several
2281 times which then appends more expression to the same name.
2282 The available filter types are:
2285 keep-uid
2289 This filter will keep a user id packet and its dependent
2290 packets in the keyblock if the expression evaluates to
2291 true.
2292 drop-subkey
2295 This filter drops the selected subkeys. Currently only
2296 implemented for --export-filter.
2297 drop-sig
2300 This filter drops the selected key signatures on user
2301 ids. Self-signatures are not considered. Currently only
2302 implemented for --import-filter.
2303 For the syntax of the expression see the chapter "FILTER EXPRESSIONS".
2306 The property names for the expressions depend on the actual filter type
2307 and are indicated in the following table.
2308 The available properties are:
2310 uid A string with the user id. (keep-uid)
2314 mbox The addr-spec part of a user id with mailbox or the empty
2317 string. (keep-uid)
2318 key_algo
2321 A number with the public key algorithm of a key or subkey
2322 packet. (drop-subkey)
2323 key_created
2326 key_created_d
2327 The first is the timestamp a public key or subkey packet
2328 was created. The second is the same but given as an ISO
2329 string, e.g. "2016-08-17". (drop-subkey)
2330 primary
2333 Boolean indicating whether the user id is the primary
2334 one. (keep-uid)
2335 expired
2338 Boolean indicating whether a user id (keep-uid), a key
2339 (drop-subkey), or a signature (drop-sig) expired.
2340 revoked
2343 Boolean indicating whether a user id (keep-uid) or a key
2344 (drop-subkey) has been revoked.
2345 disabled
2348 Boolean indicating whether a primary key is disabled.
2349 (not used)
2350 secret Boolean indicating whether a key or subkey is a secret
2353 one. (drop-subkey)
2354 usage A string indicating the usage flags for the subkey, from
2357 the sequence ``ecsa?''. For example, a subkey capable of
2358 just signing and authentication would be an exact match
2359 for ``sa''. (drop-subkey)
2360 sig_created
2363 sig_created_d
2364 The first is the timestamp a signature packet was cre‐
2365 ated. The second is the same but given as an ISO date
2366 string, e.g. "2016-08-17". (drop-sig)
2367 sig_algo
2370 A number with the public key algorithm of a signature
2371 packet. (drop-sig)
2372 sig_digest_algo
2375 A number with the digest algorithm of a signature packet.
2376 (drop-sig)
2377 --export-options parameters
2381 This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for
2382 exporting keys. Options can be prepended with a `no-' to give
2383 the opposite meaning. The options are:
2384 export-local-sigs
2388 Allow exporting key signatures marked as "local". This is
2389 not generally useful unless a shared keyring scheme is
2390 being used. Defaults to no.
2391 export-attributes
2394 Include attribute user IDs (photo IDs) while exporting.
2395 Not including attribute user IDs is useful to export keys
2396 that are going to be used by an OpenPGP program that does
2397 not accept attribute user IDs. Defaults to yes.
2398 export-sensitive-revkeys
2401 Include designated revoker information that was marked as
2402 "sensitive". Defaults to no.
2403 backup
2407 export-backup
2408 Export for use as a backup. The exported data includes
2409 all data which is needed to restore the key or keys later
2410 with GnuPG. The format is basically the OpenPGP format
2411 but enhanced with GnuPG specific data. All other contra‐
2412 dicting options are overridden.
2413 export-clean
2416 Compact (remove all signatures from) user IDs on the key
2417 being exported if the user IDs are not usable. Also, do
2418 not export any signatures that are not usable. This
2419 includes signatures that were issued by keys that are not
2420 present on the keyring. This option is the same as run‐
2421 ning the --edit-key command "clean" before export except
2422 that the local copy of the key is not modified. Defaults
2423 to no.
2424 export-minimal
2427 Export the smallest key possible. This removes all signa‐
2428 tures except the most recent self-signature on each user
2429 ID. This option is the same as running the --edit-key
2430 command "minimize" before export except that the local
2431 copy of the key is not modified. Defaults to no.
2432 export-pka
2435 Instead of outputting the key material output PKA records
2436 suitable to put into DNS zone files. An ORIGIN line is
2437 printed before each record to allow diverting the records
2438 to the corresponding zone file.
2439 export-dane
2442 Instead of outputting the key material output OpenPGP
2443 DANE records suitable to put into DNS zone files. An
2444 ORIGIN line is printed before each record to allow
2445 diverting the records to the corresponding zone file.
2446 --with-colons
2450 Print key listings delimited by colons. Note that the output
2451 will be encoded in UTF-8 regardless of any --display-charset
2452 setting. This format is useful when GnuPG is called from scripts
2453 and other programs as it is easily machine parsed. The details
2454 of this format are documented in the file ‘doc/DETAILS’, which
2455 is included in the GnuPG source distribution.
2456 --fixed-list-mode
2459 Do not merge primary user ID and primary key in --with-colon
2460 listing mode and print all timestamps as seconds since
2461 1970-01-01. Since GnuPG 2.0.10, this mode is always used and
2462 thus this option is obsolete; it does not harm to use it though.
2463 --legacy-list-mode
2466 Revert to the pre-2.1 public key list mode. This only affects
2467 the human readable output and not the machine interface (i.e.
2468 --with-colons). Note that the legacy format does not convey
2469 suitable information for elliptic curves.
2470 --with-fingerprint
2473 Same as the command --fingerprint but changes only the format of
2474 the output and may be used together with another command.
2475 --with-subkey-fingerprint
2478 If a fingerprint is printed for the primary key, this option
2479 forces printing of the fingerprint for all subkeys. This could
2480 also be achieved by using the --with-fingerprint twice but by
2481 using this option along with keyid-format "none" a compact fin‐
2482 gerprint is printed.
2483 --with-icao-spelling
2486 Print the ICAO spelling of the fingerprint in addition to the
2487 hex digits.
2488 --with-keygrip
2491 Include the keygrip in the key listings. In --with-colons mode
2492 this is implicitly enable for secret keys.
2493 --with-key-origin
2496 Include the locally held information on the origin and last
2497 update of a key in a key listing. In --with-colons mode this is
2498 always printed. This data is currently experimental and shall
2499 not be considered part of the stable API.
2500 --with-wkd-hash
2503 Print a Web Key Directory identifier along with each user ID in
2504 key listings. This is an experimental feature and semantics may
2505 change.
2506 --with-secret
2509 Include info about the presence of a secret key in public key
2510 listings done with --with-colons.
2511 OpenPGP protocol specific options
2514 -t, --textmode
2519 --no-textmode
2520 Treat input files as text and store them in the OpenPGP canoni‐
2521 cal text form with standard "CRLF" line endings. This also sets
2522 the necessary flags to inform the recipient that the encrypted
2523 or signed data is text and may need its line endings converted
2524 back to whatever the local system uses. This option is useful
2525 when communicating between two platforms that have different
2526 line ending conventions (UNIX-like to Mac, Mac to Windows, etc).
2527 --no-textmode disables this option, and is the default.
2528 --force-v3-sigs
2531 --no-force-v3-sigs
2532 --force-v4-certs
2534 --no-force-v4-certs
2535 These options are obsolete and have no effect since GnuPG 2.1.
2536 --force-mdc
2539 --disable-mdc
2540 These options are obsolete and have no effect since GnuPG 2.2.8.
2541 The MDC is always used. But note: If the creation of a legacy
2542 non-MDC message is exceptionally required, the option --rfc2440
2543 allows for this.
2544 --disable-signer-uid
2547 By default the user ID of the signing key is embedded in the
2548 data signature. As of now this is only done if the signing key
2549 has been specified with local-user using a mail address. This
2550 information can be helpful for verifier to locate the key; see
2551 option --auto-key-retrieve.
2552 --personal-cipher-preferences string
2555 Set the list of personal cipher preferences to string. Use gpg2
2556 --version to get a list of available algorithms, and use none to
2557 set no preference at all. This allows the user to safely over‐
2558 ride the algorithm chosen by the recipient key preferences, as
2559 GPG will only select an algorithm that is usable by all recipi‐
2560 ents. The most highly ranked cipher in this list is also used
2561 for the --symmetric encryption command.
2562 --personal-digest-preferences string
2565 Set the list of personal digest preferences to string. Use gpg2
2566 --version to get a list of available algorithms, and use none to
2567 set no preference at all. This allows the user to safely over‐
2568 ride the algorithm chosen by the recipient key preferences, as
2569 GPG will only select an algorithm that is usable by all recipi‐
2570 ents. The most highly ranked digest algorithm in this list is
2571 also used when signing without encryption (e.g. --clear-sign or
2572 --sign).
2573 --personal-compress-preferences string
2576 Set the list of personal compression preferences to string. Use
2577 gpg2 --version to get a list of available algorithms, and use
2578 none to set no preference at all. This allows the user to
2579 safely override the algorithm chosen by the recipient key pref‐
2580 erences, as GPG will only select an algorithm that is usable by
2581 all recipients. The most highly ranked compression algorithm in
2582 this list is also used when there are no recipient keys to con‐
2583 sider (e.g. --symmetric).
2584 --s2k-cipher-algo name
2587 Use name as the cipher algorithm for symmetric encryption with a
2588 passphrase if --personal-cipher-preferences and --cipher-algo
2589 are not given. The default is AES-128.
2590 --s2k-digest-algo name
2593 Use name as the digest algorithm used to mangle the passphrases
2594 for symmetric encryption. The default is SHA-1.
2595 --s2k-mode n
2598 Selects how passphrases for symmetric encryption are mangled. If
2599 n is 0 a plain passphrase (which is in general not recommended)
2600 will be used, a 1 adds a salt (which should not be used) to the
2601 passphrase and a 3 (the default) iterates the whole process a
2602 number of times (see --s2k-count).
2603 --s2k-count n
2606 Specify how many times the passphrases mangling for symmetric
2607 encryption is repeated. This value may range between 1024 and
2608 65011712 inclusive. The default is inquired from gpg-agent.
2609 Note that not all values in the 1024-65011712 range are legal
2610 and if an illegal value is selected, GnuPG will round up to the
2611 nearest legal value. This option is only meaningful if --s2k-
2612 mode is set to the default of 3.
2613 Compliance options
2617 These options control what GnuPG is compliant to. Only one of these
2620 options may be active at a time. Note that the default setting of this
2621 is nearly always the correct one. See the INTEROPERABILITY WITH OTHER
2622 OPENPGP PROGRAMS section below before using one of these options.
2623 --gnupg
2627 Use standard GnuPG behavior. This is essentially OpenPGP behav‐
2628 ior (see --openpgp), but with some additional workarounds for
2629 common compatibility problems in different versions of PGP. This
2630 is the default option, so it is not generally needed, but it may
2631 be useful to override a different compliance option in the
2632 gpg.conf file.
2633 --openpgp
2636 Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict OpenPGP
2637 behavior. Use this option to reset all previous options like
2638 --s2k-*, --cipher-algo, --digest-algo and --compress-algo to
2639 OpenPGP compliant values. All PGP workarounds are disabled.
2640 --rfc4880
2643 Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict RFC-4880
2644 behavior. Note that this is currently the same thing as
2645 --openpgp.
2646 --rfc4880bis
2649 Enable experimental features from proposed updates to RFC-4880.
2650 This option can be used in addition to the other compliance
2651 options. Warning: The behavior may change with any GnuPG
2652 release and created keys or data may not be usable with future
2653 GnuPG versions.
2654 --rfc2440
2657 Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict RFC-2440
2658 behavior. Note that by using this option encryption packets are
2659 created in a legacy mode without MDC protection. This is dan‐
2660 gerous and should thus only be used for experiments. See also
2661 option --ignore-mdc-error.
2662 --pgp6 Set up all options to be as PGP 6 compliant as possible. This
2665 restricts you to the ciphers IDEA (if the IDEA plugin is
2666 installed), 3DES, and CAST5, the hashes MD5, SHA1 and RIPEMD160,
2667 and the compression algorithms none and ZIP. This also disables
2668 --throw-keyids, and making signatures with signing subkeys as
2669 PGP 6 does not understand signatures made by signing subkeys.
2670 This option implies --escape-from-lines.
2672 --pgp7 Set up all options to be as PGP 7 compliant as possible. This is
2675 identical to --pgp6 except that MDCs are not disabled, and the
2676 list of allowable ciphers is expanded to add AES128, AES192,
2677 AES256, and TWOFISH.
2678 --pgp8 Set up all options to be as PGP 8 compliant as possible. PGP 8
2681 is a lot closer to the OpenPGP standard than previous versions
2682 of PGP, so all this does is disable --throw-keyids and set
2683 --escape-from-lines. All algorithms are allowed except for the
2684 SHA224, SHA384, and SHA512 digests.
2685 --compliance string
2688 This option can be used instead of one of the options above.
2689 Valid values for string are the above option names (without the
2690 double dash) and possibly others as shown when using "help" for
2691 value.
2692 Doing things one usually doesn't want to do
2695 -n
2700 --dry-run
2701 Don't make any changes (this is not completely implemented).
2702 --list-only
2705 Changes the behaviour of some commands. This is like --dry-run
2706 but different in some cases. The semantic of this option may be
2707 extended in the future. Currently it only skips the actual
2708 decryption pass and therefore enables a fast listing of the
2709 encryption keys.
2710 -i
2713 --interactive
2714 Prompt before overwriting any files.
2715 --debug-level level
2718 Select the debug level for investigating problems. level may be
2719 a numeric value or by a keyword:
2720 none No debugging at all. A value of less than 1 may be used
2723 instead of the keyword.
2724 basic Some basic debug messages. A value between 1 and 2 may
2726 be used instead of the keyword.
2727 advanced
2729 More verbose debug messages. A value between 3 and 5 may
2730 be used instead of the keyword.
2731 expert Even more detailed messages. A value between 6 and 8 may
2733 be used instead of the keyword.
2734 guru All of the debug messages you can get. A value greater
2736 than 8 may be used instead of the keyword. The creation
2737 of hash tracing files is only enabled if the keyword is
2738 used.
2739 How these messages are mapped to the actual debugging flags is not
2741 specified and may change with newer releases of this program. They are
2742 however carefully selected to best aid in debugging.
2743 --debug flags
2746 Set debugging flags. All flags are or-ed and flags may be given
2747 in C syntax (e.g. 0x0042) or as a comma separated list of flag
2748 names. To get a list of all supported flags the single word
2749 "help" can be used.
2750 --debug-all
2753 Set all useful debugging flags.
2754 --debug-iolbf
2757 Set stdout into line buffered mode. This option is only honored
2758 when given on the command line.
2759 --faked-system-time epoch
2762 This option is only useful for testing; it sets the system time
2763 back or forth to epoch which is the number of seconds elapsed
2764 since the year 1970. Alternatively epoch may be given as a full
2765 ISO time string (e.g. "20070924T154812").
2766 If you suffix epoch with an exclamation mark (!), the system
2768 time will appear to be frozen at the specified time.
2769 --enable-progress-filter
2772 Enable certain PROGRESS status outputs. This option allows fron‐
2773 tends to display a progress indicator while gpg is processing
2774 larger files. There is a slight performance overhead using it.
2775 --status-fd n
2778 Write special status strings to the file descriptor n. See the
2779 file DETAILS in the documentation for a listing of them.
2780 --status-file file
2783 Same as --status-fd, except the status data is written to file
2784 file.
2785 --logger-fd n
2788 Write log output to file descriptor n and not to STDERR.
2789 --log-file file
2792 --logger-file file
2793 Same as --logger-fd, except the logger data is written to file
2794 file. Use ‘socket://’ to log to s socket.
2795 --attribute-fd n
2798 Write attribute subpackets to the file descriptor n. This is
2799 most useful for use with --status-fd, since the status messages
2800 are needed to separate out the various subpackets from the
2801 stream delivered to the file descriptor.
2802 --attribute-file file
2805 Same as --attribute-fd, except the attribute data is written to
2806 file file.
2807 --comment string
2810 --no-comments
2811 Use string as a comment string in cleartext signatures and ASCII
2812 armored messages or keys (see --armor). The default behavior is
2813 not to use a comment string. --comment may be repeated multiple
2814 times to get multiple comment strings. --no-comments removes all
2815 comments. It is a good idea to keep the length of a single com‐
2816 ment below 60 characters to avoid problems with mail programs
2817 wrapping such lines. Note that comment lines, like all other
2818 header lines, are not protected by the signature.
2819 --emit-version
2822 --no-emit-version
2823 Force inclusion of the version string in ASCII armored output.
2824 If given once only the name of the program and the major number
2825 is emitted, given twice the minor is also emitted, given thrice
2826 the micro is added, and given four times an operating system
2827 identification is also emitted. --no-emit-version (default)
2828 disables the version line.
2829 --sig-notation {name=value}
2832 --cert-notation {name=value}
2833 -N, --set-notation {name=value}
2834 Put the name value pair into the signature as notation data.
2835 name must consist only of printable characters or spaces, and
2836 must contain a '@' character in the form keyname@domain.exam‐
2837 ple.com (substituting the appropriate keyname and domain name,
2838 of course). This is to help prevent pollution of the IETF
2839 reserved notation namespace. The --expert flag overrides the '@'
2840 check. value may be any printable string; it will be encoded in
2841 UTF-8, so you should check that your --display-charset is set
2842 correctly. If you prefix name with an exclamation mark (!), the
2843 notation data will be flagged as critical (rfc4880:5.2.3.16).
2844 --sig-notation sets a notation for data signatures. --cert-nota‐
2845 tion sets a notation for key signatures (certifications). --set-
2846 notation sets both.
2847 There are special codes that may be used in notation names. "%k"
2849 will be expanded into the key ID of the key being signed, "%K"
2850 into the long key ID of the key being signed, "%f" into the fin‐
2851 gerprint of the key being signed, "%s" into the key ID of the
2852 key making the signature, "%S" into the long key ID of the key
2853 making the signature, "%g" into the fingerprint of the key mak‐
2854 ing the signature (which might be a subkey), "%p" into the fin‐
2855 gerprint of the primary key of the key making the signature,
2856 "%c" into the signature count from the OpenPGP smartcard, and
2857 "%%" results in a single "%". %k, %K, and %f are only meaningful
2858 when making a key signature (certification), and %c is only
2859 meaningful when using the OpenPGP smartcard.
2860 --known-notation name
2863 Adds name to a list of known critical signature notations. The
2864 effect of this is that gpg will not mark a signature with a
2865 critical signature notation of that name as bad. Note that gpg
2866 already knows by default about a few critical signatures nota‐
2867 tion names.
2868 --sig-policy-url string
2871 --cert-policy-url string
2872 --set-policy-url string
2873 Use string as a Policy URL for signatures (rfc4880:5.2.3.20).
2874 If you prefix it with an exclamation mark (!), the policy URL
2875 packet will be flagged as critical. --sig-policy-url sets a pol‐
2876 icy url for data signatures. --cert-policy-url sets a policy url
2877 for key signatures (certifications). --set-policy-url sets both.
2878 The same %-expandos used for notation data are available here as
2880 well.
2881 --sig-keyserver-url string
2884 Use string as a preferred keyserver URL for data signatures. If
2885 you prefix it with an exclamation mark (!), the keyserver URL
2886 packet will be flagged as critical.
2887 The same %-expandos used for notation data are available here as
2889 well.
2890 --set-filename string
2893 Use string as the filename which is stored inside messages.
2894 This overrides the default, which is to use the actual filename
2895 of the file being encrypted. Using the empty string for string
2896 effectively removes the filename from the output.
2897 --for-your-eyes-only
2900 --no-for-your-eyes-only
2901 Set the `for your eyes only' flag in the message. This causes
2902 GnuPG to refuse to save the file unless the --output option is
2903 given, and PGP to use a "secure viewer" with a claimed Tempest-
2904 resistant font to display the message. This option overrides
2905 --set-filename. --no-for-your-eyes-only disables this option.
2906 --use-embedded-filename
2909 --no-use-embedded-filename
2910 Try to create a file with a name as embedded in the data. This
2911 can be a dangerous option as it enables overwriting files.
2912 Defaults to no.
2913 --cipher-algo name
2916 Use name as cipher algorithm. Running the program with the com‐
2917 mand --version yields a list of supported algorithms. If this is
2918 not used the cipher algorithm is selected from the preferences
2919 stored with the key. In general, you do not want to use this
2920 option as it allows you to violate the OpenPGP standard. --per‐
2921 sonal-cipher-preferences is the safe way to accomplish the same
2922 thing.
2923 --digest-algo name
2926 Use name as the message digest algorithm. Running the program
2927 with the command --version yields a list of supported algo‐
2928 rithms. In general, you do not want to use this option as it
2929 allows you to violate the OpenPGP standard. --personal-digest-
2930 preferences is the safe way to accomplish the same thing.
2931 --compress-algo name
2934 Use compression algorithm name. "zlib" is RFC-1950 ZLIB compres‐
2935 sion. "zip" is RFC-1951 ZIP compression which is used by PGP.
2936 "bzip2" is a more modern compression scheme that can compress
2937 some things better than zip or zlib, but at the cost of more
2938 memory used during compression and decompression. "uncompressed"
2939 or "none" disables compression. If this option is not used, the
2940 default behavior is to examine the recipient key preferences to
2941 see which algorithms the recipient supports. If all else fails,
2942 ZIP is used for maximum compatibility.
2943 ZLIB may give better compression results than ZIP, as the com‐
2945 pression window size is not limited to 8k. BZIP2 may give even
2946 better compression results than that, but will use a signifi‐
2947 cantly larger amount of memory while compressing and decompress‐
2948 ing. This may be significant in low memory situations. Note,
2949 however, that PGP (all versions) only supports ZIP compression.
2950 Using any algorithm other than ZIP or "none" will make the mes‐
2951 sage unreadable with PGP. In general, you do not want to use
2952 this option as it allows you to violate the OpenPGP standard.
2953 --personal-compress-preferences is the safe way to accomplish
2954 the same thing.
2955 --cert-digest-algo name
2958 Use name as the message digest algorithm used when signing a
2959 key. Running the program with the command --version yields a
2960 list of supported algorithms. Be aware that if you choose an
2961 algorithm that GnuPG supports but other OpenPGP implementations
2962 do not, then some users will not be able to use the key signa‐
2963 tures you make, or quite possibly your entire key.
2964 --disable-cipher-algo name
2967 Never allow the use of name as cipher algorithm. The given name
2968 will not be checked so that a later loaded algorithm will still
2969 get disabled.
2970 --disable-pubkey-algo name
2973 Never allow the use of name as public key algorithm. The given
2974 name will not be checked so that a later loaded algorithm will
2975 still get disabled.
2976 --throw-keyids
2979 --no-throw-keyids
2980 Do not put the recipient key IDs into encrypted messages. This
2981 helps to hide the receivers of the message and is a limited
2982 countermeasure against traffic analysis. ([Using a little social
2983 engineering anyone who is able to decrypt the message can check
2984 whether one of the other recipients is the one he suspects.])
2985 On the receiving side, it may slow down the decryption process
2986 because all available secret keys must be tried. --no-throw-
2987 keyids disables this option. This option is essentially the same
2988 as using --hidden-recipient for all recipients.
2989 --not-dash-escaped
2992 This option changes the behavior of cleartext signatures so that
2993 they can be used for patch files. You should not send such an
2994 armored file via email because all spaces and line endings are
2995 hashed too. You can not use this option for data which has 5
2996 dashes at the beginning of a line, patch files don't have this.
2997 A special armor header line tells GnuPG about this cleartext
2998 signature option.
2999 --escape-from-lines
3002 --no-escape-from-lines
3003 Because some mailers change lines starting with "From " to
3004 ">From " it is good to handle such lines in a special way when
3005 creating cleartext signatures to prevent the mail system from
3006 breaking the signature. Note that all other PGP versions do it
3007 this way too. Enabled by default. --no-escape-from-lines dis‐
3008 ables this option.
3009 --passphrase-repeat n
3012 Specify how many times gpg2 will request a new passphrase be
3013 repeated. This is useful for helping memorize a passphrase.
3014 Defaults to 1 repetition.
3015 --passphrase-fd n
3018 Read the passphrase from file descriptor n. Only the first line
3019 will be read from file descriptor n. If you use 0 for n, the
3020 passphrase will be read from STDIN. This can only be used if
3021 only one passphrase is supplied.
3022 Note that since Version 2.0 this passphrase is only used if the
3024 option --batch has also been given. Since Version 2.1 the
3025 --pinentry-mode also needs to be set to loopback.
3026 --passphrase-file file
3029 Read the passphrase from file file. Only the first line will be
3030 read from file file. This can only be used if only one
3031 passphrase is supplied. Obviously, a passphrase stored in a file
3032 is of questionable security if other users can read this file.
3033 Don't use this option if you can avoid it.
3034 Note that since Version 2.0 this passphrase is only used if the
3036 option --batch has also been given. Since Version 2.1 the
3037 --pinentry-mode also needs to be set to loopback.
3038 --passphrase string
3041 Use string as the passphrase. This can only be used if only one
3042 passphrase is supplied. Obviously, this is of very questionable
3043 security on a multi-user system. Don't use this option if you
3044 can avoid it.
3045 Note that since Version 2.0 this passphrase is only used if the
3047 option --batch has also been given. Since Version 2.1 the
3048 --pinentry-mode also needs to be set to loopback.
3049 --pinentry-mode mode
3052 Set the pinentry mode to mode. Allowed values for mode are:
3053 default
3055 Use the default of the agent, which is ask.
3056 ask Force the use of the Pinentry.
3058 cancel Emulate use of Pinentry's cancel button.
3060 error Return a Pinentry error (``No Pinentry'').
3062 loopback
3064 Redirect Pinentry queries to the caller. Note that in
3065 contrast to Pinentry the user is not prompted again if he
3066 enters a bad password.
3067 --no-symkey-cache
3070 Disable the passphrase cache used for symmetrical en- and
3071 decryption. This cache is based on the message specific salt
3072 value (cf. --s2k-mode).
3073 --request-origin origin
3076 Tell gpg to assume that the operation ultimately originated at
3077 origin. Depending on the origin certain restrictions are
3078 applied and the Pinentry may include an extra note on the ori‐
3079 gin. Supported values for origin are: local which is the
3080 default, remote to indicate a remote origin or browser for an
3081 operation requested by a web browser.
3082 --command-fd n
3085 This is a replacement for the deprecated shared-memory IPC mode.
3086 If this option is enabled, user input on questions is not
3087 expected from the TTY but from the given file descriptor. It
3088 should be used together with --status-fd. See the file
3089 doc/DETAILS in the source distribution for details on how to use
3090 it.
3091 --command-file file
3094 Same as --command-fd, except the commands are read out of file
3095 file
3096 --allow-non-selfsigned-uid
3099 --no-allow-non-selfsigned-uid
3100 Allow the import and use of keys with user IDs which are not
3101 self-signed. This is not recommended, as a non self-signed user
3102 ID is trivial to forge. --no-allow-non-selfsigned-uid disables.
3103 --allow-freeform-uid
3106 Disable all checks on the form of the user ID while generating a
3107 new one. This option should only be used in very special envi‐
3108 ronments as it does not ensure the de-facto standard format of
3109 user IDs.
3110 --ignore-time-conflict
3113 GnuPG normally checks that the timestamps associated with keys
3114 and signatures have plausible values. However, sometimes a sig‐
3115 nature seems to be older than the key due to clock problems.
3116 This option makes these checks just a warning. See also
3117 --ignore-valid-from for timestamp issues on subkeys.
3118 --ignore-valid-from
3121 GnuPG normally does not select and use subkeys created in the
3122 future. This option allows the use of such keys and thus
3123 exhibits the pre-1.0.7 behaviour. You should not use this option
3124 unless there is some clock problem. See also --ignore-time-con‐
3125 flict for timestamp issues with signatures.
3126 --ignore-crc-error
3129 The ASCII armor used by OpenPGP is protected by a CRC checksum
3130 against transmission errors. Occasionally the CRC gets mangled
3131 somewhere on the transmission channel but the actual content
3132 (which is protected by the OpenPGP protocol anyway) is still
3133 okay. This option allows GnuPG to ignore CRC errors.
3134 --ignore-mdc-error
3137 This option changes a MDC integrity protection failure into a
3138 warning. It is required to decrypt old messages which did not
3139 use an MDC. It may also be useful if a message is partially
3140 garbled, but it is necessary to get as much data as possible out
3141 of that garbled message. Be aware that a missing or failed MDC
3142 can be an indication of an attack. Use with great caution; see
3143 also option --rfc2440.
3144 --allow-weak-digest-algos
3147 Signatures made with known-weak digest algorithms are normally
3148 rejected with an ``invalid digest algorithm'' message. This
3149 option allows the verification of signatures made with such weak
3150 algorithms. MD5 is the only digest algorithm considered weak by
3151 default. See also --weak-digest to reject other digest algo‐
3152 rithms.
3153 --weak-digest name
3156 Treat the specified digest algorithm as weak. Signatures made
3157 over weak digests algorithms are normally rejected. This option
3158 can be supplied multiple times if multiple algorithms should be
3159 considered weak. See also --allow-weak-digest-algos to disable
3160 rejection of weak digests. MD5 is always considered weak, and
3161 does not need to be listed explicitly.
3162 --no-default-keyring
3165 Do not add the default keyrings to the list of keyrings. Note
3166 that GnuPG will not operate without any keyrings, so if you use
3167 this option and do not provide alternate keyrings via --keyring
3168 or --secret-keyring, then GnuPG will still use the default pub‐
3169 lic or secret keyrings.
3170 --no-keyring
3173 Do not add use any keyrings even if specified as options.
3174 --skip-verify
3177 Skip the signature verification step. This may be used to make
3178 the decryption faster if the signature verification is not
3179 needed.
3180 --with-key-data
3183 Print key listings delimited by colons (like --with-colons) and
3184 print the public key data.
3185 --list-signatures
3188 --list-sigs
3189 Same as --list-keys, but the signatures are listed too. This
3190 command has the same effect as using --list-keys with --with-
3191 sig-list. Note that in contrast to --check-signatures the key
3192 signatures are not verified. This command can be used to create
3193 a list of signing keys missing in the lcoal keyring; for exam‐
3194 ple:
3195 gpg --list-sigs --with-colons USERID | \
3197 awk -F: '$1=="sig" && $2=="?" {if($13){print $13}else{print $5}}'
3198 --fast-list-mode
3201 Changes the output of the list commands to work faster; this is
3202 achieved by leaving some parts empty. Some applications don't
3203 need the user ID and the trust information given in the list‐
3204 ings. By using this options they can get a faster listing. The
3205 exact behaviour of this option may change in future versions.
3206 If you are missing some information, don't use this option.
3207 --no-literal
3210 This is not for normal use. Use the source to see for what it
3211 might be useful.
3212 --set-filesize
3215 This is not for normal use. Use the source to see for what it
3216 might be useful.
3217 --show-session-key
3220 Display the session key used for one message. See --override-
3221 session-key for the counterpart of this option.
3222 We think that Key Escrow is a Bad Thing; however the user should
3224 have the freedom to decide whether to go to prison or to reveal
3225 the content of one specific message without compromising all
3226 messages ever encrypted for one secret key.
3227 You can also use this option if you receive an encrypted message
3229 which is abusive or offensive, to prove to the administrators of
3230 the messaging system that the ciphertext transmitted corresponds
3231 to an inappropriate plaintext so they can take action against
3232 the offending user.
3233 --override-session-key string
3236 --override-session-key-fd fd
3237 Don't use the public key but the session key string respective
3238 the session key taken from the first line read from file
3239 descriptor fd. The format of this string is the same as the one
3240 printed by --show-session-key. This option is normally not used
3241 but comes handy in case someone forces you to reveal the content
3242 of an encrypted message; using this option you can do this with‐
3243 out handing out the secret key. Note that using --override-ses‐
3244 sion-key may reveal the session key to all local users via the
3245 global process table. Often it is useful to combine this option
3246 with --no-keyring.
3247 --ask-sig-expire
3250 --no-ask-sig-expire
3251 When making a data signature, prompt for an expiration time. If
3252 this option is not specified, the expiration time set via
3253 --default-sig-expire is used. --no-ask-sig-expire disables this
3254 option.
3255 --default-sig-expire
3258 The default expiration time to use for signature expiration.
3259 Valid values are "0" for no expiration, a number followed by the
3260 letter d (for days), w (for weeks), m (for months), or y (for
3261 years) (for example "2m" for two months, or "5y" for five
3262 years), or an absolute date in the form YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to
3263 "0".
3264 --ask-cert-expire
3267 --no-ask-cert-expire
3268 When making a key signature, prompt for an expiration time. If
3269 this option is not specified, the expiration time set via
3270 --default-cert-expire is used. --no-ask-cert-expire disables
3271 this option.
3272 --default-cert-expire
3275 The default expiration time to use for key signature expiration.
3276 Valid values are "0" for no expiration, a number followed by the
3277 letter d (for days), w (for weeks), m (for months), or y (for
3278 years) (for example "2m" for two months, or "5y" for five
3279 years), or an absolute date in the form YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to
3280 "0".
3281 --default-new-key-algo string
3284 This option can be used to change the default algorithms for key
3285 generation. The string is similar to the arguments required for
3286 the command --quick-add-key but slightly different. For example
3287 the current default of "rsa2048/cert,sign+rsa2048/encr" (or
3288 "rsa3072") can be changed to the value of what we currently call
3289 future default, which is "ed25519/cert,sign+cv25519/encr". You
3290 need to consult the source code to learn the details. Note that
3291 the advanced key generation commands can always be used to spec‐
3292 ify a key algorithm directly.
3293 --allow-secret-key-import
3296 This is an obsolete option and is not used anywhere.
3297 --allow-multiple-messages
3300 --no-allow-multiple-messages
3302 Allow processing of multiple OpenPGP messages contained in a
3303 single file or stream. Some programs that call GPG are not pre‐
3304 pared to deal with multiple messages being processed together,
3305 so this option defaults to no. Note that versions of GPG prior
3306 to 1.4.7 always allowed multiple messages.
3307 Warning: Do not use this option unless you need it as a tempo‐
3309 rary workaround!
3310 --enable-special-filenames
3314 This option enables a mode in which filenames of the form ‘-&n’,
3315 where n is a non-negative decimal number, refer to the file
3316 descriptor n and not to a file with that name.
3317 --no-expensive-trust-checks
3320 Experimental use only.
3321 --preserve-permissions
3324 Don't change the permissions of a secret keyring back to user
3325 read/write only. Use this option only if you really know what
3326 you are doing.
3327 --default-preference-list string
3330 Set the list of default preferences to string. This preference
3331 list is used for new keys and becomes the default for "setpref"
3332 in the edit menu.
3333 --default-keyserver-url name
3336 Set the default keyserver URL to name. This keyserver will be
3337 used as the keyserver URL when writing a new self-signature on a
3338 key, which includes key generation and changing preferences.
3339 --list-config
3342 Display various internal configuration parameters of GnuPG. This
3343 option is intended for external programs that call GnuPG to per‐
3344 form tasks, and is thus not generally useful. See the file
3345 ‘doc/DETAILS’ in the source distribution for the details of
3346 which configuration items may be listed. --list-config is only
3347 usable with --with-colons set.
3348 --list-gcrypt-config
3351 Display various internal configuration parameters of Libgcrypt.
3352 --gpgconf-list
3355 This command is similar to --list-config but in general only
3356 internally used by the gpgconf tool.
3357 --gpgconf-test
3360 This is more or less dummy action. However it parses the con‐
3361 figuration file and returns with failure if the configuration
3362 file would prevent gpg2 from startup. Thus it may be used to
3363 run a syntax check on the configuration file.
3364 Deprecated options
3367 --show-photos
3372 --no-show-photos
3373 Causes --list-keys, --list-signatures, --list-public-keys,
3374 --list-secret-keys, and verifying a signature to also display
3375 the photo ID attached to the key, if any. See also --photo-
3376 viewer. These options are deprecated. Use --list-options
3377 [no-]show-photos and/or --verify-options [no-]show-photos
3378 instead.
3379 --show-keyring
3382 Display the keyring name at the head of key listings to show
3383 which keyring a given key resides on. This option is deprecated:
3384 use --list-options [no-]show-keyring instead.
3385 --always-trust
3388 Identical to --trust-model always. This option is deprecated.
3389 --show-notation
3392 --no-show-notation
3393 Show signature notations in the --list-signatures or --check-
3394 signatures listings as well as when verifying a signature with a
3395 notation in it. These options are deprecated. Use --list-options
3396 [no-]show-notation and/or --verify-options [no-]show-notation
3397 instead.
3398 --show-policy-url
3401 --no-show-policy-url
3402 Show policy URLs in the --list-signatures or --check-signatures
3403 listings as well as when verifying a signature with a policy URL
3404 in it. These options are deprecated. Use --list-options
3405 [no-]show-policy-url and/or --verify-options [no-]show-policy-
3406 url instead.
3407
3411 gpg -se -r Bob file
3412 sign and encrypt for user Bob
3413 gpg --clear-sign file
3416 make a cleartext signature
3417 gpg -sb file
3420 make a detached signature
3421 gpg -u 0x12345678 -sb file
3424 make a detached signature with the key 0x12345678
3425 gpg --list-keys user_ID
3428 show keys
3429 gpg --fingerprint user_ID
3432 show fingerprint
3433 gpg --verify pgpfile
3436 gpg --verify sigfile [datafile]
3437 Verify the signature of the file but do not output the data
3438 unless requested. The second form is used for detached signa‐
3439 tures, where sigfile is the detached signature (either ASCII
3440 armored or binary) and datafile are the signed data; if this is
3441 not given, the name of the file holding the signed data is con‐
3442 structed by cutting off the extension (".asc" or ".sig") of sig‐
3443 file or by asking the user for the filename. If the option
3444 --output is also used the signed data is written to the file
3445 specified by that option; use - to write the signed data to std‐
3446 out.
3447
3449 There are different ways to specify a user ID to GnuPG. Some of them
3450 are only valid for gpg others are only good for gpgsm. Here is the
3451 entire list of ways to specify a key:
3452 By key Id.
3456 This format is deduced from the length of the string and its
3457 content or 0x prefix. The key Id of an X.509 certificate are the
3458 low 64 bits of its SHA-1 fingerprint. The use of key Ids is
3459 just a shortcut, for all automated processing the fingerprint
3460 should be used.
3461 When using gpg an exclamation mark (!) may be appended to force
3463 using the specified primary or secondary key and not to try and
3464 calculate which primary or secondary key to use.
3465 The last four lines of the example give the key ID in their long
3467 form as internally used by the OpenPGP protocol. You can see the
3468 long key ID using the option --with-colons.
3469 234567C4
3471 0F34E556E
3472 01347A56A
3473 0xAB123456
3474 234AABBCC34567C4
3476 0F323456784E56EAB
3477 01AB3FED1347A5612
3478 0x234AABBCC34567C4
3479 By fingerprint.
3484 This format is deduced from the length of the string and its
3485 content or the 0x prefix. Note, that only the 20 byte version
3486 fingerprint is available with gpgsm (i.e. the SHA-1 hash of the
3487 certificate).
3488 When using gpg an exclamation mark (!) may be appended to force
3490 using the specified primary or secondary key and not to try and
3491 calculate which primary or secondary key to use.
3492 The best way to specify a key Id is by using the fingerprint.
3494 This avoids any ambiguities in case that there are duplicated
3495 key IDs.
3496 1234343434343434C434343434343434
3498 123434343434343C3434343434343734349A3434
3499 0E12343434343434343434EAB3484343434343434
3500 0xE12343434343434343434EAB3484343434343434
3501 gpgsm also accepts colons between each pair of hexadecimal digits
3504 because this is the de-facto standard on how to present X.509 finger‐
3505 prints. gpg also allows the use of the space separated SHA-1 finger‐
3506 print as printed by the key listing commands.
3507 By exact match on OpenPGP user ID.
3510 This is denoted by a leading equal sign. It does not make sense
3511 for X.509 certificates.
3512 =Heinrich Heine <heinrichh@uni-duesseldorf.de>
3514 By exact match on an email address.
3517 This is indicated by enclosing the email address in the usual
3518 way with left and right angles.
3519 <heinrichh@uni-duesseldorf.de>
3521 By partial match on an email address.
3525 This is indicated by prefixing the search string with an @.
3526 This uses a substring search but considers only the mail address
3527 (i.e. inside the angle brackets).
3528 @heinrichh
3530 By exact match on the subject's DN.
3533 This is indicated by a leading slash, directly followed by the
3534 RFC-2253 encoded DN of the subject. Note that you can't use the
3535 string printed by gpgsm --list-keys because that one has been
3536 reordered and modified for better readability; use --with-colons
3537 to print the raw (but standard escaped) RFC-2253 string.
3538 /CN=Heinrich Heine,O=Poets,L=Paris,C=FR
3540 By exact match on the issuer's DN.
3543 This is indicated by a leading hash mark, directly followed by a
3544 slash and then directly followed by the RFC-2253 encoded DN of
3545 the issuer. This should return the Root cert of the issuer.
3546 See note above.
3547 #/CN=Root Cert,O=Poets,L=Paris,C=FR
3549 By exact match on serial number and issuer's DN.
3553 This is indicated by a hash mark, followed by the hexadecimal
3554 representation of the serial number, then followed by a slash
3555 and the RFC-2253 encoded DN of the issuer. See note above.
3556 #4F03/CN=Root Cert,O=Poets,L=Paris,C=FR
3558 By keygrip.
3561 This is indicated by an ampersand followed by the 40 hex digits
3562 of a keygrip. gpgsm prints the keygrip when using the command
3563 --dump-cert.
3564 &D75F22C3F86E355877348498CDC92BD21010A480
3566 By substring match.
3570 This is the default mode but applications may want to explicitly
3571 indicate this by putting the asterisk in front. Match is not
3572 case sensitive.
3573 Heine
3575 *Heine
3576 . and + prefixes
3579 These prefixes are reserved for looking up mails anchored at the
3580 end and for a word search mode. They are not yet implemented
3581 and using them is undefined.
3582 Please note that we have reused the hash mark identifier which
3585 was used in old GnuPG versions to indicate the so called local-
3586 id. It is not anymore used and there should be no conflict when
3587 used with X.509 stuff.
3588 Using the RFC-2253 format of DNs has the drawback that it is not
3590 possible to map them back to the original encoding, however we
3591 don't have to do this because our key database stores this
3592 encoding as meta data.
3593
3596 The options --import-filter and --export-filter use expressions with
3597 this syntax (square brackets indicate an optional part and curly braces
3598 a repetition, white space between the elements are allowed):
3599 [lc] {[{flag}] PROPNAME op VALUE [lc]}
3601 The name of a property (PROPNAME) may only consist of letters, digits
3603 and underscores. The description for the filter type describes which
3604 properties are defined. If an undefined property is used it evaluates
3605 to the empty string. Unless otherwise noted, the VALUE must always be
3606 given and may not be the empty string. No quoting is defined for the
3607 value, thus the value may not contain the strings && or ||, which are
3608 used as logical connection operators. The flag -- can be used to
3609 remove this restriction.
3610 Numerical values are computed as long int; standard C notation applies.
3612 lc is the logical connection operator; either && for a conjunction or
3613 || for a disjunction. A conjunction is assumed at the begin of an
3614 expression. Conjunctions have higher precedence than disjunctions. If
3615 VALUE starts with one of the characters used in any op a space after
3616 the op is required.
3617 The supported operators (op) are:
3620 =~ Substring must match.
3624 !~ Substring must not match.
3627 = The full string must match.
3630 <> The full string must not match.
3633 == The numerical value must match.
3636 != The numerical value must not match.
3639 <= The numerical value of the field must be LE than the value.
3642 < The numerical value of the field must be LT than the value.
3645 > The numerical value of the field must be GT than the value.
3648 >= The numerical value of the field must be GE than the value.
3651 -le The string value of the field must be less or equal than the
3654 value.
3655 -lt The string value of the field must be less than the value.
3658 -gt The string value of the field must be greater than the value.
3661 -ge The string value of the field must be greater or equal than the
3664 value.
3665 -n True if value is not empty (no value allowed).
3668 -z True if value is empty (no value allowed).
3671 -t Alias for "PROPNAME != 0" (no value allowed).
3674 -f Alias for "PROPNAME == 0" (no value allowed).
3677 Values for flag must be space separated. The supported flags are:
3680 -- VALUE spans to the end of the expression.
3683 -c The string match in this part is done case-sensitive.
3685 The filter options concatenate several specifications for a filter of
3687 the same type. For example the four options in this example:
3688 --import-option keep-uid="uid =~ Alfa"
3690 --import-option keep-uid="&& uid !~ Test"
3691 --import-option keep-uid="|| uid =~ Alpha"
3692 --import-option keep-uid="uid !~ Test"
3693 which is equivalent to
3696 --import-option \
3698 keep-uid="uid =~ Alfa" && uid !~ Test" || uid =~ Alpha" && "uid !~ Test"
3699 imports only the user ids of a key containing the strings "Alfa" or
3701 "Alpha" but not the string "test".
3702
3705 Trust values are used to indicate ownertrust and validity of keys and
3706 user IDs. They are displayed with letters or strings:
3707 -
3711 unknown
3712 No ownertrust assigned / not yet calculated.
3713 e
3716 expired
3717 Trust calculation has failed; probably due to an expired key.
3719 q
3722 undefined, undef
3723 Not enough information for calculation.
3724 n
3727 never Never trust this key.
3728 m
3731 marginal
3732 Marginally trusted.
3733 f
3736 full Fully trusted.
3737 u
3740 ultimate
3741 Ultimately trusted.
3742 r
3745 revoked
3746 For validity only: the key or the user ID has been revoked.
3747 ?
3750 err The program encountered an unknown trust value.
3751
3754 There are a few configuration files to control certain aspects of
3755 gpg2's operation. Unless noted, they are expected in the current home
3756 directory (see: [option --homedir]).
3757 gpg.conf
3761 This is the standard configuration file read by gpg2 on startup.
3762 It may contain any valid long option; the leading two dashes may
3763 not be entered and the option may not be abbreviated. This
3764 default name may be changed on the command line (see: [gpg-
3765 option --options]). You should backup this file.
3766 Note that on larger installations, it is useful to put predefined files
3769 into the directory ‘/etc/skel/.gnupg’ so that newly created users start
3770 up with a working configuration. For existing users a small helper
3771 script is provided to create these files (see: [addgnupghome]).
3772 For internal purposes gpg2 creates and maintains a few other files;
3774 They all live in the current home directory (see: [option --homedir]).
3775 Only the gpg2 program may modify these files.
3776 ~/.gnupg
3780 This is the default home directory which is used if neither the
3781 environment variable GNUPGHOME nor the option --homedir is
3782 given.
3783 ~/.gnupg/pubring.gpg
3786 The public keyring. You should backup this file.
3787 ~/.gnupg/pubring.gpg.lock
3790 The lock file for the public keyring.
3791 ~/.gnupg/pubring.kbx
3794 The public keyring using a different format. This file is
3795 shared with gpgsm. You should backup this file.
3796 ~/.gnupg/pubring.kbx.lock
3799 The lock file for ‘pubring.kbx’.
3800 ~/.gnupg/secring.gpg
3803 A secret keyring as used by GnuPG versions before 2.1. It is
3804 not used by GnuPG 2.1 and later.
3805 ~/.gnupg/secring.gpg.lock
3808 The lock file for the secret keyring.
3809 ~/.gnupg/.gpg-v21-migrated
3812 File indicating that a migration to GnuPG 2.1 has been done.
3813 ~/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg
3816 The trust database. There is no need to backup this file; it is
3817 better to backup the ownertrust values (see: [option --export-
3818 ownertrust]).
3819 ~/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg.lock
3822 The lock file for the trust database.
3823 ~/.gnupg/random_seed
3826 A file used to preserve the state of the internal random pool.
3827 ~/.gnupg/openpgp-revocs.d/
3830 This is the directory where gpg stores pre-generated revocation
3831 certificates. The file name corresponds to the OpenPGP finger‐
3832 print of the respective key. It is suggested to backup those
3833 certificates and if the primary private key is not stored on the
3834 disk to move them to an external storage device. Anyone who can
3835 access theses files is able to revoke the corresponding key.
3836 You may want to print them out. You should backup all files in
3837 this directory and take care to keep this backup closed away.
3838 Operation is further controlled by a few environment variables:
3841 HOME Used to locate the default home directory.
3845 GNUPGHOME
3848 If set directory used instead of "~/.gnupg".
3849 GPG_AGENT_INFO
3852 This variable is obsolete; it was used by GnuPG versions before
3853 2.1.
3854 PINENTRY_USER_DATA
3857 This value is passed via gpg-agent to pinentry. It is useful to
3858 convey extra information to a custom pinentry.
3859 COLUMNS
3862 LINES Used to size some displays to the full size of the screen.
3863 LANGUAGE
3866 Apart from its use by GNU, it is used in the W32 version to
3867 override the language selection done through the Registry. If
3868 used and set to a valid and available language name (langid),
3869 the file with the translation is loaded from
3870 gpgdir/gnupg.nls/langid.mo. Here gpgdir is the directory out of
3871 which the gpg binary has been loaded. If it can't be loaded the
3872 Registry is tried and as last resort the native Windows locale
3873 system is used.
3874 When calling the gpg-agent component gpg2 sends a set of environment
3877 variables to gpg-agent. The names of these variables can be listed
3878 using the command:
3879 gpg-connect-agent 'getinfo std_env_names' /bye | awk '$1=="D" {print $2}'
3881
3887 On older systems this program should be installed as setuid(root). This
3888 is necessary to lock memory pages. Locking memory pages prevents the
3889 operating system from writing memory pages (which may contain
3890 passphrases or other sensitive material) to disk. If you get no warning
3891 message about insecure memory your operating system supports locking
3892 without being root. The program drops root privileges as soon as locked
3893 memory is allocated.
3894 Note also that some systems (especially laptops) have the ability to
3896 ``suspend to disk'' (also known as ``safe sleep'' or ``hibernate'').
3897 This writes all memory to disk before going into a low power or even
3898 powered off mode. Unless measures are taken in the operating system to
3899 protect the saved memory, passphrases or other sensitive material may
3900 be recoverable from it later.
3901 Before you report a bug you should first search the mailing list ar‐
3903 chives for similar problems and second check whether such a bug has
3904 already been reported to our bug tracker at https://bugs.gnupg.org.
3905
3909 gpgv(1), gpgsm(1), gpg-agent(1)
3910 The full documentation for this tool is maintained as a Texinfo manual.
3912 If GnuPG and the info program are properly installed at your site, the
3913 command
3914 info gnupg
3916 should give you access to the complete manual including a menu struc‐
3918 ture and an index.
3919GnuPG 2.2.13 2019-02-11 GPG2(1)