1GPG-CONNECT-AGENT(1) GNU Privacy Guard 2.2 GPG-CONNECT-AGENT(1)
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6 gpg-connect-agent - Communicate with a running agent
7
9 gpg-connect-agent [options][commands]
10
13 The gpg-connect-agent is a utility to communicate with a running gpg-
14 agent. It is useful to check out the commands gpg-agent provides using
15 the Assuan interface. It might also be useful for scripting simple
16 applications. Input is expected at stdin and output gets printed to
17 stdout.
18 It is very similar to running gpg-agent in server mode; but here we
20 connect to a running instance.
21 The following options may be used:
26 -v
29 --verbose
30 Output additional information while running.
31 -q
34 --quiet
36 Try to be as quiet as possible.
37 --homedir dir
40 Set the name of the home directory to dir. If this option is not
41 used, the home directory defaults to ‘~/.gnupg’. It is only
42 recognized when given on the command line. It also overrides
43 any home directory stated through the environment variable
44 ‘GNUPGHOME’ or (on Windows systems) by means of the Registry
45 entry HKCU\Software\GNU\GnuPG:HomeDir.
46 On Windows systems it is possible to install GnuPG as a portable
48 application. In this case only this command line option is con‐
49 sidered, all other ways to set a home directory are ignored.
50 To install GnuPG as a portable application under Windows, create
52 an empty file named ‘gpgconf.ctl’ in the same directory as the
53 tool ‘gpgconf.exe’. The root of the installation is then that
54 directory; or, if ‘gpgconf.exe’ has been installed directly
55 below a directory named ‘bin’, its parent directory. You also
56 need to make sure that the following directories exist and are
57 writable: ‘ROOT/home’ for the GnuPG home and
58 ‘ROOT/var/cache/gnupg’ for internal cache files.
59 --agent-program file
62 Specify the agent program to be started if none is running. The
63 default value is determined by running gpgconf with the option
64 --list-dirs. Note that the pipe symbol (|) is used for a
65 regression test suite hack and may thus not be used in the file
66 name.
67 --dirmngr-program file
70 Specify the directory manager (keyserver client) program to be
71 started if none is running. This has only an effect if used
72 together with the option --dirmngr.
73 --dirmngr
76 Connect to a running directory manager (keyserver client)
77 instead of to the gpg-agent. If a dirmngr is not running, start
78 it.
79 -S
82 --raw-socket name
83 Connect to socket name assuming this is an Assuan style server.
84 Do not run any special initializations or environment checks.
85 This may be used to directly connect to any Assuan style socket
86 server.
87 -E
90 --exec Take the rest of the command line as a program and it's argu‐
91 ments and execute it as an Assuan server. Here is how you would
92 run gpgsm:
93 gpg-connect-agent --exec gpgsm --server
94 Note that you may not use options on the command line in this case.
95 --no-ext-connect
98 When using -S or --exec, gpg-connect-agent connects to the
99 Assuan server in extended mode to allow descriptor passing.
100 This option makes it use the old mode.
101 --no-autostart
104 Do not start the gpg-agent or the dirmngr if it has not yet been
105 started.
106 -r file
109 --run file
110 Run the commands from file at startup and then continue with the
111 regular input method. Note, that commands given on the command
112 line are executed after this file.
113 -s
116 --subst
117 Run the command /subst at startup.
118 --hex Print data lines in a hex format and the ASCII representation of
121 non-control characters.
122 --decode
125 Decode data lines. That is to remove percent escapes but make
126 sure that a new line always starts with a D and a space.
127
130 While reading Assuan commands, gpg-agent also allows a few special com‐
131 mands to control its operation. These control commands all start with
132 a slash (/).
133 /echo args
137 Just print args.
138 /let name value
141 Set the variable name to value. Variables are only substituted
142 on the input if the /subst has been used. Variables are refer‐
143 enced by prefixing the name with a dollar sign and optionally
144 include the name in curly braces. The rules for a valid name
145 are identically to those of the standard bourne shell. This is
146 not yet enforced but may be in the future. When used with curly
147 braces no leading or trailing white space is allowed.
148 If a variable is not found, it is searched in the environment
150 and if found copied to the table of variables.
151 Variable functions are available: The name of the function must
153 be followed by at least one space and the at least one argument.
154 The following functions are available:
155 get Return a value described by the argument. Available
158 arguments are:
159 cwd The current working directory.
162 homedir
164 The gnupg homedir.
165 sysconfdir
167 GnuPG's system configuration directory.
168 bindir GnuPG's binary directory.
170 libdir GnuPG's library directory.
172 libexecdir
174 GnuPG's library directory for executable files.
175 datadir
177 GnuPG's data directory.
178 serverpid
180 The PID of the current server. Command /serverpid
181 must have been given to return a useful value.
182 unescape args
185 Remove C-style escapes from args. Note that \0 and \x00
186 terminate the returned string implicitly. The string to
187 be converted are the entire arguments right behind the
188 delimiting space of the function name.
189 unpercent args
192 unpercent+ args
193 Remove percent style escaping from args. Note that %00
194 terminates the string implicitly. The string to be con‐
195 verted are the entire arguments right behind the delimit‐
196 ing space of the function name. unpercent+ also maps plus
197 signs to a spaces.
198 percent args
201 percent+ args
202 Escape the args using percent style escaping. Tabs,
203 formfeeds, linefeeds, carriage returns and colons are
204 escaped. percent+ also maps spaces to plus signs.
205 errcode arg
208 errsource arg
209 errstring arg
210 Assume arg is an integer and evaluate it using strtol.
211 Return the gpg-error error code, error source or a for‐
212 matted string with the error code and error source.
213 +
217 -
218 *
219 /
220 % Evaluate all arguments as long integers using strtol and
221 apply this operator. A division by zero yields an empty
222 string.
223 !
226 |
227 & Evaluate all arguments as long integers using strtol and
228 apply the logical operators NOT, OR or AND. The NOT
229 operator works on the last argument only.
230 /definq name var
236 Use content of the variable var for inquiries with name. name
237 may be an asterisk (*) to match any inquiry.
238 /definqfile name file
242 Use content of file for inquiries with name. name may be an
243 asterisk (*) to match any inquiry.
244 /definqprog name prog
247 Run prog for inquiries matching name and pass the entire line to
248 it as command line arguments.
249 /datafile name
252 Write all data lines from the server to the file name. The file
253 is opened for writing and created if it does not exists. An
254 existing file is first truncated to 0. The data written to the
255 file fully decoded. Using a single dash for name writes to std‐
256 out. The file is kept open until a new file is set using this
257 command or this command is used without an argument.
258 /showdef
261 Print all definitions
262 /cleardef
265 Delete all definitions
266 /sendfd file mode
269 Open file in mode (which needs to be a valid fopen mode string)
270 and send the file descriptor to the server. This is usually
271 followed by a command like INPUT FD to set the input source for
272 other commands.
273 /recvfd
276 Not yet implemented.
277 /open var file [mode]
280 Open file and assign the file descriptor to var. Warning: This
281 command is experimental and might change in future versions.
282 /close fd
285 Close the file descriptor fd. Warning: This command is experi‐
286 mental and might change in future versions.
287 /showopen
290 Show a list of open files.
291 /serverpid
294 Send the Assuan command GETINFO pid to the server and store the
295 returned PID for internal purposes.
296 /sleep Sleep for a second.
299 /hex
302 /nohex Same as the command line option --hex.
303 /decode
306 /nodecode
307 Same as the command line option --decode.
308 /subst
311 /nosubst
312 Enable and disable variable substitution. It defaults to dis‐
313 abled unless the command line option --subst has been used. If
314 /subst as been enabled once, leading whitespace is removed from
315 input lines which makes scripts easier to read.
316 /while condition
319 /end These commands provide a way for executing loops. All lines
320 between the while and the corresponding end are executed as long
321 as the evaluation of condition yields a non-zero value or is the
322 string true or yes. The evaluation is done by passing condition
323 to the strtol function. Example:
324 /subst
326 /let i 3
327 /while $i
328 /echo loop counter is $i
329 /let i ${- $i 1}
330 /end
331 /if condition
334 /end These commands provide a way for conditional execution. All
335 lines between the if and the corresponding end are executed only
336 if the evaluation of condition yields a non-zero value or is the
337 string true or yes. The evaluation is done by passing condition
338 to the strtol function.
339 /run file
342 Run commands from file.
343 /bye Terminate the connection and the program.
346 /help Print a list of available control commands.
349
352 gpg-agent(1), scdaemon(1)
353 The full documentation for this tool is maintained as a Texinfo manual.
355 If GnuPG and the info program are properly installed at your site, the
356 command
357 info gnupg
359 should give you access to the complete manual including a menu struc‐
361 ture and an index.
362GnuPG 2.2.25 2020-11-23 GPG-CONNECT-AGENT(1)