gpg
NAME
gpg
- OpenPGP encryption and signing tool
SYNOPSIS
gpg
[--homedir
R dir ]
[--options
R file ]
[options]
command
[args]
DESCRIPTION
gpg is the OpenPGP part of the GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG). It
is a tool to provide digital encryption and signing services using the
OpenPGP standard. gpg features complete key management and
all bells and whistles you can expect from a decent OpenPGP
implementation.
This is the standalone version of gpg. For desktop use you
should consider using gpg2.
COMMANDS
Commands are not distinguished from options execpt for the fact that
only one command is allowed.
gpg may be run with no commands, in which case it will
perform a reasonable action depending on the type of file it is given
as input (an encrypted message is decrypted, a signature is verified,
a file containing keys is listed).
Please remember that option as well as command parsing stops as soon as
a non-option is encountered, you can explicitly stop parsing by
using the special option --.
Commands not specific to the function
--version
Print the program version and licensing information. Note that you
cannot abbreviate this command.
--help
-h
Print a usage message summarizing the most useful command line options.
Not that you cannot abbreviate this command.
--warranty
Print warranty information.
--dump-options
--sign
-s
Make a signature. This command may be combined with --encrypt
(for a signed and encrypted message), --symmetric (for a signed
and symmetrically encrypted message), or --encrypt and
--symmetric together (for a signed message that may be
decrypted via a secret key or a passphrase).
--clearsign
Make a clear text signature. The content in a clear text signature is
readable without any special software. OpenPGP software is only
needed to verify the signature. Clear text signatures may modify
end-of-line whitespace for platform independence and are not intended
to be reversible.
--detach-sign
-b
Make a detached signature.
--encrypt
-e
Encrypt data. This option may be combined with --sign (for a
signed and encrypted message), --symmetric (for a message that
may be decrypted via a secret key or a passphrase), or --sign
and --symmetric together (for a signed message that may be
decrypted via a secret key or a passphrase).
--symmetric
-c
Encrypt with a symmetric cipher using a passphrase. The default
symmetric cipher used is CAST5, but may be chosen with the
--cipher-algo option. This option may be combined with
--sign (for a signed and symmetrically encrypted message),
--encrypt (for a message that may be decrypted via a secret key
or a passphrase), or --sign and --encrypt together
(for a signed message that may be decrypted via a secret key or a
passphrase).
--store
Store only (make a simple RFC1991 literal data packet).
--decrypt
-d
Decrypt the file given on the command line (or stdin if no file
is specified) and write it to stdout (or the file specified with
--output). If the decrypted file is signed, the signature is also
verified. This command differs from the default operation, as it never
writes to the filename which is included in the file and it rejects
files which don't begin with an encrypted message.
--verify
Assume that the first argument is a signed file or a detached signature
and verify it without generating any output. With no arguments, the
signature packet is read from stdin. If only a sigfile is given, it may
be a complete signature or a detached signature, in which case the
signed stuff is expected in a file without the ".sig" or ".asc"
extension. With more than 1 argument, the first should be a detached
signature and the remaining files are the signed stuff. To read the
signed stuff from stdin, use
'-'
as the second filename. For
security reasons a detached signature cannot read the signed material
from stdin without denoting it in the above way.
--multifile
This modifies certain other commands to accept multiple files for
processing on the command line or read from stdin with each filename on
a separate line. This allows for many files to be processed at
once. --multifile may currently be used along with
--verify, --encrypt, and --decrypt. Note that
--multifile --verify may not be used with detached signatures.
--verify-files
Identical to --multifile --verify.
--encrypt-files
Identical to --multifile --encrypt.
--decrypt-files
Identical to --multifile --decrypt.
--list-keys
-k
--list-public-keys
List all keys from the public keyrings, or just the keys given on the
command line.
-k is slightly different from --list-keys in that it
allows only for one argument and takes the second argument as the
keyring to search. This is for command line compatibility with PGP 2
and has been removed in gpg2.
Avoid using the output of this command in scripts or other programs as
it is likely to change as GnuPG changes. See --with-colons for a
machine-parseable key listing command that is appropriate for use in
scripts and other programs.
--list-secret-keys
-K
List all keys from the secret keyrings, or just the ones given on the
command line. A # after the letters sec means that the
secret key is not usable (for example, if it was created via
--export-secret-subkeys).
--list-sigs
Same as --list-keys, but the signatures are listed too.
For each signature listed, there are several flags in between the "sig"
tag and keyid. These flags give additional information about each
signature. From left to right, they are the numbers 1-3 for certificate
check level (see --ask-cert-level), "L" for a local or
non-exportable signature (see --lsign-key), "R" for a
nonRevocable signature (see the --edit-key command "nrsign"),
"P" for a signature that contains a policy URL (see
--cert-policy-url), "N" for a signature that contains a
notation (see --cert-notation), "X" for an eXpired signature
(see --ask-cert-expire), and the numbers 1-9 or "T" for 10 and
above to indicate trust signature levels (see the --edit-key
command "tsign").
--check-sigs
Same as --list-sigs, but the signatures are verified.
--fingerprint
List all keys (or the specified ones) along with their
fingerprints. This is the same output as --list-keys but with
the additional output of a line with the fingerprint. May also be
combined with --list-sigs or --check-sigs. If this
command is given twice, the fingerprints of all secondary keys are
listed too.
--list-packets
List only the sequence of packets. This is mainly
useful for debugging.
--card-edit
Present a menu to work with a smartcard. The subcommand "help" provides
an overview on available commands. For a detailed description, please
see the Card HOWTO at
http://www.gnupg.org/documentation/howtos.html#GnuPG-cardHOWTO .
--card-status
Show the content of the smart card.
--change-pin
Present a menu to allow changing the PIN of a smartcard. This
functionality is also available as the subcommand "passwd" with the
--card-edit command.
--delete-key name
Remove key from the public keyring. In batch mode either --yes is
required or the key must be specified by fingerprint. This is a
safeguard against accidental deletion of multiple keys.
--delete-secret-key name
Remove key from the secret and public keyring. In batch mode the key
must be specified by fingerprint.
--delete-secret-and-public-key name
Same as --delete-key, but if a secret key exists, it will be
removed first. In batch mode the key must be specified by fingerprint.
--export
Either export all keys from all keyrings (default keyrings and those
registered via option --keyring), or if at least one name is given,
those of the given name. The new keyring is written to stdout or to the
file given with option --output. Use together with
--armor to mail those keys.
--send-keys key IDs
Similar to --export but sends the keys to a keyserver.
Fingerprints may be used instead of key IDs. Option --keyserver
must be used to give the name of this keyserver. Don't send your
complete keyring to a keyserver --- select only those keys which are new
or changed by you.
--export-secret-keys
--export-secret-subkeys
Same as --export, but exports the secret keys instead. This is
normally not very useful and a security risk. The second form of the
command has the special property to render the secret part of the
primary key useless; this is a GNU extension to OpenPGP and other
implementations can not be expected to successfully import such a key.
See the option --simple-sk-checksum if you want to import such
an exported key with an older OpenPGP implementation.
--import
--fast-import
Import/merge keys. This adds the given keys to the
keyring. The fast version is currently just a synonym.
There are a few other options which control how this command works.
Most notable here is the --keyserver-options merge-only option
which does not insert new keys but does only the merging of new
signatures, user-IDs and subkeys.
--recv-keys key IDs
Import the keys with the given key IDs from a keyserver. Option
--keyserver must be used to give the name of this keyserver.
--refresh-keys
Request updates from a keyserver for keys that already exist on the
local keyring. This is useful for updating a key with the latest
signatures, user IDs, etc. Calling this with no arguments will refresh
the entire keyring. Option --keyserver must be used to give the
name of the keyserver for all keys that do not have preferred keyservers
set (see --keyserver-options honor-keyserver-url).
--search-keys names
Search the keyserver for the given names. Multiple names given here will
be joined together to create the search string for the keyserver.
Option --keyserver must be used to give the name of this
keyserver. Keyservers that support different search methods allow using
the syntax specified in "How to specify a user ID" below. Note that
different keyserver types support different search methods. Currently
only LDAP supports them all.
--fetch-keys URIs
Retrieve keys located at the specified URIs. Note that different
installations of GnuPG may support different protocols (HTTP, FTP,
LDAP, etc.)
--update-trustdb
Do trust database maintenance. This command iterates over all keys and
builds the Web of Trust. This is an interactive command because it may
have to ask for the "ownertrust" values for keys. The user has to give
an estimation of how far she trusts the owner of the displayed key to
correctly certify (sign) other keys. GnuPG only asks for the ownertrust
value if it has not yet been assigned to a key. Using the
--edit-key menu, the assigned value can be changed at any time.
--check-trustdb
Do trust database maintenance without user interaction. From time to
time the trust database must be updated so that expired keys or
signatures and the resulting changes in the Web of Trust can be
tracked. Normally, GnuPG will calculate when this is required and do it
automatically unless --no-auto-check-trustdb is set. This
command can be used to force a trust database check at any time. The
processing is identical to that of --update-trustdb but it
skips keys with a not yet defined "ownertrust".
For use with cron jobs, this command can be used together with
--batch in which case the trust database check is done only if
a check is needed. To force a run even in batch mode add the option
--yes.
--export-ownertrust
Send the ownertrust values to stdout. This is useful for backup purposes
as these values are the only ones which can't be re-created from a
corrupted trust DB.
--import-ownertrust
Update the trustdb with the ownertrust values stored in files (or
stdin if not given); existing values will be overwritten.
--rebuild-keydb-caches
When updating from version 1.0.6 to 1.0.7 this command should be used
to create signature caches in the keyring. It might be handy in other
situations too.
--print-md algo
--print-mds
Print message digest of algorithm ALGO for all given files or stdin.
With the second form (or a deprecated "*" as algo) digests for all
available algorithms are printed.
--gen-random 0|1|2
Emit count random bytes of the given quality level. If count is
not given or zero, an endless sequence of random bytes will be emitted.
PLEASE, don't use this command unless you know what you are doing; it
may remove precious entropy from the system!
--gen-prime mode bits
Use the source, Luke :-). The output format is still subject to change.
--enarmor
--dearmor
--gen-key
Generate a new key pair. This command is normally only used
interactively.
There is an experimental feature which allows you to create keys in
batch mode. See the file `doc/DETAILS' in the source distribution
on how to use this.
--gen-revoke name
Generate a revocation certificate for the complete key. To revoke
a subkey or a signature, use the --edit command.
--desig-revoke name
Generate a designated revocation certificate for a key. This allows a
user (with the permission of the keyholder) to revoke someone else's
key.
--edit-key
Present a menu which enables you to do most of the key management
related tasks. It expects the specification of a key on the command
line.
sign
Make a signature on key of user name If the key is not yet
signed by the default user (or the users given with -u), the program
displays the information of the key again, together with its
fingerprint and asks whether it should be signed. This question is
repeated for all users specified with
-u.
lsign
Same as "sign" but the signature is marked as non-exportable and will
therefore never be used by others. This may be used to make keys
valid only in the local environment.
nrsign
Same as "sign" but the signature is marked as non-revocable and can
therefore never be revoked.
tsign
Make a trust signature. This is a signature that combines the notions
of certification (like a regular signature), and trust (like the
"trust" command). It is generally only useful in distinct communities
or groups.
Note that "l" (for local / non-exportable), "nr" (for non-revocable,
and "t" (for trust) may be freely mixed and prefixed to "sign" to
create a signature of any type desired.
revsig
Revoke a signature. For every signature which has been generated by
one of the secret keys, GnuPG asks whether a revocation certificate
should be generated.
trust
Change the owner trust value. This updates the
trust-db immediately and no save is required.
disable
enable
Disable or enable an entire key. A disabled key can not normally be
used for encryption.
adduid
Create an alternate user id.
addphoto
Create a photographic user id. This will prompt for a JPEG file that
will be embedded into the user ID. Note that a very large JPEG will make
for a very large key. Also note that some programs will display your
JPEG unchanged (GnuPG), and some programs will scale it to fit in a
dialog box (PGP).
deluid
Delete a user id. Note that it is not possible to retract a user id,
once it has been send to the public (i.e. to a keyserver). In that case
you better use revuid.
delsig
Delete a signature. Note that it is not possible to retract a signature,
once it has been send to the public (i.e. to a keyserver). In that case
you better use revsig.
revuid
Revoke a user id.
addkey
Add a subkey to this key.
addcardkey
Generate a key on a card and add it to this key.
keytocard
Transfer the selected secret key (or the primary key if no key has been
selected) to a smartcard. The secret key in the keyring will be replaced
by a stub if the key could be stored successfully on the card and you
use the save command later. Only certain key types may be transferred to
the card. A sub menu allows you to select on what card to store the
key. Note that it is not possible to get that key back from the card -
if the card gets broken your secret key will be lost unless you have a
backup somewhere.
bkuptocard file
Restore the given file to a card. This command may be used to restore a
backup key (as generated during card initialization) to a new card. In
almost all cases this will be the encryption key. You should use this
command only with the corresponding public key and make sure that the
file given as argument is indeed the backup to restore. You should then
select 2 to restore as encryption key. You will first be asked to enter
the passphrase of the backup key and then for the Admin PIN of the card.
delkey
Remove a subkey (secondart key). Note that it is not possible to retract
a subkey, once it has been send to the public (i.e. to a keyserver). In
that case you better use revkey.
addrevoker
Add a designated revoker. This takes one optional argument:
"sensitive". If a designated revoker is marked as sensitive, it will not
be exported by default (see export-options).
revkey
Revoke a subkey.
expire
Change the key expiration time. If a subkey is selected, the
expiration time of this subkey will be changed. With no selection,
the key expiration of the primary key is changed.
passwd
Change the passphrase of the secret key.
primary
Flag the current user id as the primary one, removes the primary user
id flag from all other user ids and sets the timestamp of all affected
self-signatures one second ahead. Note that setting a photo user ID
as primary makes it primary over other photo user IDs, and setting a
regular user ID as primary makes it primary over other regular user
IDs.
uid n
Toggle selection of user id with index n.
Use 0 to deselect all.
key n
Toggle selection of subkey with index n.
Use 0 to deselect all.
check
Check all selected user ids.
showphoto
Display the selected photographic user
id.
pref
List preferences from the selected user ID. This shows the actual
preferences, without including any implied preferences.
showpref
More verbose preferences listing for the selected user ID. This shows
the preferences in effect by including the implied preferences of 3DES
(cipher), SHA-1 (digest), and Uncompressed (compression) if they are
not already included in the preference list. In addition, the
preferred keyserver and signature notations (if any) are shown.
setpref string
Set the list of user ID preferences to string for all (or just
the selected) user IDs. Calling setpref with no arguments sets the
preference list to the default (either built-in or set via
--default-preference-list), and calling setpref with "none" as
the argument sets an empty preference list. Use gpg
--version to get a list of available algorithms. Note that while you
can change the preferences on an attribute user ID (aka "photo ID"),
GnuPG does not select keys via attribute user IDs so these preferences
will not be used by GnuPG.
keyserver
Set a preferred keyserver for the specified user ID(s). This allows
other users to know where you prefer they get your key from. See
--keyserver-options honor-keyserver-url for more on how this
works. Setting a value of "none" removes an existing preferred
keyserver.
notation
Set a name=value notation for the specified user ID(s). See
--cert-notation for more on how this works. Setting a value of
"none" removes all notations, setting a notation prefixed with a minus
sign (-) removes that notation, and setting a notation name (without the
=value) prefixed with a minus sign removes all notations with that name.
toggle
Toggle between public and secret key listing.
clean
Compact (by removing all signatures except the selfsig) any user ID
that is no longer usable (e.g. revoked, or expired). Then, remove any
signatures that are not usable by the trust calculations.
Specifically, this removes any signature that does not validate, any
signature that is superseded by a later signature, revoked signatures,
and signatures issued by keys that are not present on the keyring.
minimize
Make the key as small as possible. This removes all signatures from
each user ID except for the most recent self-signature.
cross-certify
Add cross-certification signatures to signing subkeys that may not
currently have them. Cross-certification signatures protect against a
subtle attack against signing subkeys. See
--require-cross-certification.
save
Save all changes to the key rings and quit.
quit
Quit the program without updating the
key rings.
The listing shows you the key with its secondary keys and all user
ids. Selected keys or user ids are indicated by an asterisk. The trust
value is displayed with the primary key: the first is the assigned owner
trust and the second is the calculated trust value. Letters are used for
the values:
-
No ownertrust assigned / not yet calculated.
e
Trust
calculation has failed; probably due to an expired key.
q
Not enough information for calculation.
n
Never trust this key.
m
Marginally trusted.
f
Fully trusted.
u
Ultimately trusted.
--sign-key name
Signs a public key with your secret key. This is a shortcut version of
the subcommand "sign" from --edit.
--lsign-key name
Signs a public key with your secret key but marks it as
non-exportable. This is a shortcut version of the subcommand "lsign"
from --edit-key.
OPTIONS
gpg comes features a bunch of options to control the exact
behaviour and to change the default configuration.
Long options can be put in an options file (default
"~/.gnupg/gpg.conf"). Short option names will not work - for example,
"armor" is a valid option for the options file, while "a" is not. Do not
write the 2 dashes, but simply the name of the option and any required
arguments. Lines with a hash ('#') as the first non-white-space
character are ignored. Commands may be put in this file too, but that is
not generally useful as the command will execute automatically with
every execution of gpg.
Please remember that option parsing stops as soon as a non-option is
encountered, you can explicitly stop parsing by using the special option
--.
How to change the configuration
These options are used to change the configuraton and are usually found in the option file.--default-key name
Use name as the default key to sign with. If this option is not
used, the default key is the first key found in the secret keyring.
Note that -u or --local-user overrides this option.
--default-recipient name
Use name as default recipient if option --recipient is
not used and don't ask if this is a valid one. name must be
non-empty.
--default-recipient-self
Use the default key as default recipient if option --recipient is not
used and don't ask if this is a valid one. The default key is the first
one from the secret keyring or the one set with --default-key.
--no-default-recipient
Reset --default-recipient and --default-recipient-self.
-v, --verbose
Give more information during processing. If used
twice, the input data is listed in detail.
--no-verbose
Reset verbose level to 0.
-q, --quiet
Try to be as quiet as possible.
--list-options parameters
This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options used when
listing keys and signatures (that is, --list-keys,
--list-sigs, --list-public-keys,
--list-secret-keys, and the --edit-key functions).
Options can be prepended with a no- (after the two dashes) to
give the opposite meaning. The options are:
show-photos
Causes --list-keys, --list-sigs,
--list-public-keys, and --list-secret-keys to display
any photo IDs attached to the key. Defaults to no. See also
--photo-viewer.
show-policy-urls
Show policy URLs in the --list-sigs or --check-sigs
listings. Defaults to no.
show-notations
show-std-notations
show-user-notations
Show all, IETF standard, or user-defined signature notations in the
--list-sigs or --check-sigs listings. Defaults to no.
show-keyserver-urls
Show any preferred keyserver URL in the --list-sigs or
--check-sigs listings. Defaults to no.
show-uid-validity
Display the calculated validity of user IDs during key listings.
Defaults to no.
show-unusable-uids
Show revoked and expired user IDs in key listings. Defaults to no.
show-unusable-subkeys
Show revoked and expired subkeys in key listings. Defaults to no.
show-keyring
Display the keyring name at the head of key listings to show which
keyring a given key resides on. Defaults to no.
show-sig-expire
Show signature expiration dates (if any) during --list-sigs or
--check-sigs listings. Defaults to no.
show-sig-subpackets
Include signature subpackets in the key listing. This option can take an
optional argument list of the subpackets to list. If no argument is
passed, list all subpackets. Defaults to no. This option is only
meaningful when using --with-colons along with
--list-sigs or --check-sigs.
--verify-options parameters
This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options used when
verifying signatures. Options can be prepended with a `no-' to give
the opposite meaning. The options are:
show-photos
Display any photo IDs present on the key that issued the signature.
Defaults to no. See also --photo-viewer.
show-policy-urls
Show policy URLs in the signature being verified. Defaults to no.
show-notations
show-std-notations
show-user-notations
Show all, IETF standard, or user-defined signature notations in the
signature being verified. Defaults to IETF standard.
show-keyserver-urls
Show any preferred keyserver URL in the signature being verified.
Defaults to no.
show-uid-validity
Display the calculated validity of the user IDs on the key that issued
the signature. Defaults to no.
show-unusable-uids
Show revoked and expired user IDs during signature verification.
Defaults to no.
show-primary-uid-only
Show only the primary user ID during signature verification.
Defaults to no.
pka-lookups
Enable PKA lookups to verify sender addresses. Note that PKA is based
on DNS, and so enabling this option may disclose information on when
and what signatures are verified or to whom data is encrypted. This
is similar to the "web bug" described for the auto-key-retrieve
feature.
pka-trust-increase
Raise the trust in a signature to full if the signature passes PKA
validation. This option is only meaningful if pka-lookups is set.
--enable-dsa2
--disable-dsa2
Enables new-style DSA keys which (unlike the old style) may be larger
than 1024 bit and use hashes other than SHA-1 and RIPEMD/160. Note
that very few programs currently support these keys and signatures
from them.
--photo-viewer string
This is the command line that should be run to view a photo ID. "%i"
will be expanded to a filename containing the photo. "%I" does the
same, except the file will not be deleted once the viewer exits.
Other flags are "%k" for the key ID, "%K" for the long key ID, "%f"
for the key fingerprint, "%t" for the extension of the image type
(e.g. "jpg"), "%T" for the MIME type of the image (e.g. "image/jpeg"),
and "%%" for an actual percent sign. If neither %i or %I are present,
then the photo will be supplied to the viewer on standard input.
The default viewer is "xloadimage -fork -quiet -title 'KeyID 0x%k'
stdin". Note that if your image viewer program is not secure, then
executing it from GnuPG does not make it secure.
--exec-path string
Sets a list of directories to search for photo viewers and keyserver
helpers. If not provided, keyserver helpers use the compiled-in
default directory, and photo viewers use the $PATH environment
variable.
Note, that on W32 system this value is ignored when searching for
keyserver helpers.
--keyring file
Add file to the current list of keyrings. If file begins
with a tilde and a slash, these are replaced by the $HOME directory. If
the filename does not contain a slash, it is assumed to be in the GnuPG
home directory ("~/.gnupg" if --homedir or $GNUPGHOME is not
used).
Note that this adds a keyring to the current list. If the intent is to
use the specified keyring alone, use --keyring along with
--no-default-keyring.
--secret-keyring file
Same as --keyring but for the secret keyrings.
--primary-keyring file
Designate file as the primary public keyring. This means that
newly imported keys (via --import or keyserver
--recv-from) will go to this keyring.
--trustdb-name file
Use file instead of the default trustdb. If file begins
with a tilde and a slash, these are replaced by the $HOME directory. If
the filename does not contain a slash, it is assumed to be in the GnuPG
home directory (`~/.gnupg' if --homedir or $GNUPGHOME is
not used).
--homedir dir
Set the name of the home directory to dir. If this option is not
used, the home directory defaults to `~/.gnupg'. It is only
recognized when given on the command line. It also overrides any home
directory stated through the environment variable `GNUPGHOME' or
(on W32 systems) by means of the Registry entry
HKCU\Software\GNU\GnuPG:HomeDir.
--pcsc-driver file
Use file to access the smartcard reader. The current default is
`libpcsclite.so.1' for GLIBC based systems,
`/System/Library/Frameworks/PCSC.framework/PCSC' for MAC OS X,
`winscard.dll' for Windows and `libpcsclite.so' for other systems.
--disable-ccid
Disable the integrated support for CCID compliant readers. This
allows to fall back to one of the other drivers even if the internal
CCID driver can handle the reader. Note, that CCID support is only
available if libusb was available at build time.
--reader-port number_or_string
This option may be used to specify the port of the card terminal. A
value of 0 refers to the first serial device; add 32768 to access USB
devices. The default is 32768 (first USB device). PC/SC or CCID
readers might need a string here; run the program in verbose mode to get
a list of available readers. The default is then the first reader
found.
--display-charset name
Set the name of the native character set. This is used to convert
some informational strings like user IDs to the proper UTF-8 encoding.
Note that this has nothing to do with the character set of data to be
encrypted or signed; GnuPG does not recode user supplied data. If
this option is not used, the default character set is determined from
the current locale. A verbosity level of 3 shows the chosen set.
Valid values for name are:
iso-8859-1
This is the Latin 1 set.
iso-8859-2
The Latin 2 set.
iso-8859-15
This is currently an alias for
the Latin 1 set.
koi8-r
The usual Russian set (rfc1489).
utf-8
Bypass all translations and assume
that the OS uses native UTF-8 encoding.
--utf8-strings
--no-utf8-strings
Assume that command line arguments are given as UTF8 strings. The
default (--no-utf8-strings) is to assume that arguments are
encoded in the character set as specified by
--display-charset. These options affect all following
arguments. Both options may be used multiple times.
--options file
Read options from file and do not try to read them from the
default options file in the homedir (see --homedir). This
option is ignored if used in an options file.
--no-options
Shortcut for --options /dev/null. This option is detected
before an attempt to open an option file. Using this option will also
prevent the creation of a `~/.gnupg' homedir.
-z n
--compress-level n
--bzip2-compress-level n
Set compression level to n for the ZIP and ZLIB compression
algorithms. The default is to use the default compression level of zlib
(normally 6). --bzip2-compress-level sets the compression level
for the BZIP2 compression algorithm (defaulting to 6 as well). This is a
different option from --compress-level since BZIP2 uses a
significant amount of memory for each additional compression level.
-z sets both. A value of 0 for n disables compression.
--bzip2-decompress-lowmem
Use a different decompression method for BZIP2 compressed files. This
alternate method uses a bit more than half the memory, but also runs
at half the speed. This is useful under extreme low memory
circumstances when the file was originally compressed at a high
--bzip2-compress-level.
--mangle-dos-filenames
--no-mangle-dos-filenames
Older version of Windows cannot handle filenames with more than one
dot. --mangle-dos-filenames causes GnuPG to replace (rather
than add to) the extension of an output filename to avoid this
problem. This option is off by default and has no effect on non-Windows
platforms.
--ask-cert-level
--no-ask-cert-level
When making a key signature, prompt for a certification level. If this
option is not specified, the certification level used is set via
--default-cert-level. See --default-cert-level for
information on the specific levels and how they are
used. --no-ask-cert-level disables this option. This option
defaults to no.
--default-cert-level n
The default to use for the check level when signing a key.
0 means you make no particular claim as to how carefully you verified
the key.
1 means you believe the key is owned by the person who claims to own
it but you could not, or did not verify the key at all. This is
useful for a "persona" verification, where you sign the key of a
pseudonymous user.
2 means you did casual verification of the key. For example, this
could mean that you verified that the key fingerprint and checked the
user ID on the key against a photo ID.
3 means you did extensive verification of the key. For example, this
could mean that you verified the key fingerprint with the owner of the
key in person, and that you checked, by means of a hard to forge
document with a photo ID (such as a passport) that the name of the key
owner matches the name in the user ID on the key, and finally that you
verified (by exchange of email) that the email address on the key
belongs to the key owner.
Note that the examples given above for levels 2 and 3 are just that:
examples. In the end, it is up to you to decide just what "casual"
and "extensive" mean to you.
This option defaults to 0 (no particular claim).
--min-cert-level
When building the trust database, treat any signatures with a
certification level below this as invalid. Defaults to 2, which
disregards level 1 signatures. Note that level 0 "no particular
claim" signatures are always accepted.
--trusted-key long key ID
Assume that the specified key (which must be given
as a full 8 byte key ID) is as trustworthy as one of
your own secret keys. This option is useful if you
don't want to keep your secret keys (or one of them)
online but still want to be able to check the validity of a given
recipient's or signator's key.
--trust-model pgp|classic|direct|always|auto
Set what trust model GnuPG should follow. The models are:
pgp
This is the Web of Trust combined with trust signatures as used in PGP
5.x and later. This is the default trust model when creating a new
trust database.
classic
This is the standard Web of Trust as used in PGP 2.x and earlier.
direct
Key validity is set directly by the user and not calculated via the
Web of Trust.
always
Skip key validation and assume that used keys are always fully
trusted. You generally won't use this unless you are using some
external validation scheme. This option also suppresses the
"[uncertain]" tag printed with signature checks when there is no
evidence that the user ID is bound to the key.
auto
Select the trust model depending on whatever the internal trust
database says. This is the default model if such a database already
exists.
--auto-key-locate parameters
--no-auto-key-locate
GnuPG can automatically locate and retrieve keys as needed using this
option. This happens when encrypting to an email address (in the
"user@example.com" form), and there are no user@example.com keys on
the local keyring. This option takes any number of the following
arguments, in the order they are to be tried:
cert
locate a key using DNS CERT, as specified in 2538bis (currently in
draft): http://www.josefsson.org/rfc2538bis/
pka
locate a key using DNS PKA.
ldap
locate a key using the PGP Universal method of checking
"ldap://keys.(thedomain)".
keyserver
locate a key using whatever keyserver is defined using the
--keyserver option.
(keyserver URL)
In addition, a keyserver URL as used in the --keyserver option may be
used here to query that particular keyserver.
--keyid-format short|0xshort|long|0xlong
Select how to display key IDs. "short" is the traditional 8-character
key ID. "long" is the more accurate (but less convenient)
16-character key ID. Add an "0x" to either to include an "0x" at the
beginning of the key ID, as in 0x99242560.
--keyserver name
Use name as your keyserver. This is the server that
--recv-keys, --send-keys, and --search-keys
will communicate with to receive keys from, send keys to, and search for
keys on. The format of the name is a URI:
`scheme:[//]keyservername[:port]' The scheme is the type of keyserver:
"hkp" for the HTTP (or compatible) keyservers, "ldap" for the LDAP
keyservers, or "mailto" for the Graff email keyserver. Note that your
particular installation of GnuPG may have other keyserver types
available as well. Keyserver schemes are case-insensitive. After the
keyserver name, optional keyserver configuration options may be
provided. These are the same as the global --keyserver-options
from below, but apply only to this particular keyserver.
Most keyservers synchronize with each other, so there is generally no
need to send keys to more than one server. The keyserver
hkp://subkeys.pgp.net uses round robin DNS to give a different
keyserver each time you use it.
--keyserver-options name=value1
This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for the
keyserver. Options can be prepended with a `no-' to give the opposite
meaning. Valid import-options or export-options may be used here as well
to apply to importing (--recv-key) or exporting
(--send-key) a key from a keyserver. While not all options are
available for all keyserver types, some common options are:
include-revoked
When searching for a key with --search-keys, include keys that
are marked on the keyserver as revoked. Note that not all keyservers
differentiate between revoked and unrevoked keys, and for such
keyservers this option is meaningless. Note also that most keyservers do
not have cryptographic verification of key revocations, and so turning
this option off may result in skipping keys that are incorrectly marked
as revoked.
include-disabled
When searching for a key with --search-keys, include keys that
are marked on the keyserver as disabled. Note that this option is not
used with HKP keyservers.
auto-key-retrieve
This option enables the automatic retrieving of keys from a keyserver
when verifying signatures made by keys that are not on the local
keyring.
Note that this option makes a "web bug" like behavior possible.
Keyserver operators can see which keys you request, so by sending you
a message signed by a brand new key (which you naturally will not have
on your local keyring), the operator can tell both your IP address and
the time when you verified the signature.
honor-keyserver-url
When using --refresh-keys, if the key in question has a preferred
keyserver URL, then use that preferred keyserver to refresh the key
from. In addition, if auto-key-retrieve is set, and the signature
being verified has a preferred keyserver URL, then use that preferred
keyserver to fetch the key from. Defaults to yes.
honor-pka-record
If auto-key-retrieve is set, and the signature being verified has a
PKA record, then use the PKA information to fetch the key. Defaults
to yes.
include-subkeys
When receiving a key, include subkeys as potential targets. Note that
this option is not used with HKP keyservers, as they do not support
retrieving keys by subkey id.
use-temp-files
On most Unix-like platforms, GnuPG communicates with the keyserver
helper program via pipes, which is the most efficient method. This
option forces GnuPG to use temporary files to communicate. On some
platforms (such as Win32 and RISC OS), this option is always enabled.
keep-temp-files
If using `use-temp-files', do not delete the temp files after using
them. This option is useful to learn the keyserver communication
protocol by reading the temporary files.
verbose
Tell the keyserver helper program to be more verbose. This option can
be repeated multiple times to increase the verbosity level.
timeout
Tell the keyserver helper program how long (in seconds) to try and
perform a keyserver action before giving up. Note that performing
multiple actions at the same time uses this timeout value per action.
For example, when retrieving multiple keys via --recv-keys, the
timeout applies separately to each key retrieval, and not to the
--recv-keys command as a whole. Defaults to 30 seconds.
http-proxy
For HTTP-like keyserver schemes that (such as HKP and HTTP itself),
try to access the keyserver over a proxy. If a value is
specified, use this as the HTTP proxy. If no value is
specified, the value of the environment variable "http_proxy", if any,
will be used.
max-cert-size
When retrieving a key via DNS CERT, only accept keys up to this size.
Defaults to 16384 bytes.
--completes-needed n
Number of completely trusted users to introduce a new
key signer (defaults to 1).
--marginals-needed n
Number of marginally trusted users to introduce a new
key signer (defaults to 3)
--max-cert-depth n
Maximum depth of a certification chain (default is 5).
--simple-sk-checksum
Secret keys are integrity protected by using a SHA-1 checksum. This
method is part of the upcoming enhanced OpenPGP specification but
GnuPG already uses it as a countermeasure against certain attacks.
Old applications don't understand this new format, so this option may
be used to switch back to the old behaviour. Using this option bears
a security risk. Note that using this option only takes effect when
the secret key is encrypted - the simplest way to make this happen is
to change the passphrase on the key (even changing it to the same
value is acceptable).
--no-sig-cache
Do not cache the verification status of key signatures.
Caching gives a much better performance in key listings. However, if
you suspect that your public keyring is not save against write
modifications, you can use this option to disable the caching. It
probably does not make sense to disable it because all kind of damage
can be done if someone else has write access to your public keyring.
--no-sig-create-check
GnuPG normally verifies each signature right after creation to protect
against bugs and hardware malfunctions which could leak out bits from
the secret key. This extra verification needs some time (about 115%
for DSA keys), and so this option can be used to disable it.
However, due to the fact that the signature creation needs manual
interaction, this performance penalty does not matter in most settings.
--auto-check-trustdb
--no-auto-check-trustdb
If GnuPG feels that its information about the Web of Trust has to be
updated, it automatically runs the --check-trustdb command
internally. This may be a time consuming
process. --no-auto-check-trustdb disables this option.
--use-agent
--no-use-agent
Try to use the GnuPG-Agent. With this option, GnuPG first tries to
connect to the agent before it asks for a
passphrase. --no-use-agent disables this option.
--gpg-agent-info
Override the value of the environment variable
been given
--lock-once
Lock the databases the first time a lock is requested
and do not release the lock until the process
terminates.
--lock-multiple
Release the locks every time a lock is no longer
needed. Use this to override a previous --lock-once
from a config file.
--lock-never
Disable locking entirely. This option should be used only in very
special environments, where it can be assured that only one process
is accessing those files. A bootable floppy with a stand-alone
encryption system will probably use this. Improper usage of this
option may lead to data and key corruption.
--exit-on-status-write-error
This option will cause write errors on the status FD to immediately
terminate the process. That should in fact be the default but it never
worked this way and thus we need an option to enable this, so that the
change won't break applications which close their end of a status fd
connected pipe too early. Using this option along with
--enable-progress-filter may be used to cleanly cancel long
running gpg operations.
--limit-card-insert-tries n
With n greater than 0 the number of prompts asking to insert a
smartcard gets limited to N-1. Thus with a value of 1 gpg won't at
all ask to insert a card if none has been inserted at startup. This
option is useful in the configuration file in case an application does
not know about the smartcard support and waits ad infinitum for an
inserted card.
--no-random-seed-file
GnuPG uses a file to store its internal random pool over invocations.
This makes random generation faster; however sometimes write operations
are not desired. This option can be used to achieve that with the cost of
slower random generation.
--no-greeting
Suppress the initial copyright message.
--no-secmem-warning
Suppress the warning about "using insecure memory".
--no-permission-warning
Suppress the warning about unsafe file and home directory (--homedir)
permissions. Note that the permission checks that GnuPG performs are
not intended to be authoritative, but rather they simply warn about
certain common permission problems. Do not assume that the lack of a
warning means that your system is secure.
Note that the warning for unsafe --homedir permissions cannot be
suppressed in the gpg.conf file, as this would allow an attacker to
place an unsafe gpg.conf file in place, and use this file to suppress
warnings about itself. The --homedir permissions warning may only be
suppressed on the command line.
--no-mdc-warning
Suppress the warning about missing MDC integrity protection.
--require-secmem
--no-require-secmem
Refuse to run if GnuPG cannot get secure memory. Defaults to no
(i.e. run, but give a warning).
--require-cross-certification
--no-require-cross-certification
When verifying a signature made from a subkey, ensure that the cross
certification "back signature" on the subkey is present and valid. This
protects against a subtle attack against subkeys that can sign.
Defaults to --require-cross-certification for
gpg.
--expert
--no-expert
Allow the user to do certain nonsensical or "silly" things like
signing an expired or revoked key, or certain potentially incompatible
things like generating unusual key types. This also disables certain
warning messages about potentially incompatible actions. As the name
implies, this option is for experts only. If you don't fully
understand the implications of what it allows you to do, leave this
off. --no-expert disables this option.
Key related options
--recipient name
-r
Encrypt for user id name. If this option or
--hidden-recipient is not specified, GnuPG asks for the user-id
unless --default-recipient is given.
--hidden-recipient name
-R
Encrypt for user ID name, but hide the key ID of this user's
key. This option helps to hide the receiver of the message and is a
limited countermeasure against traffic analysis. If this option or
--recipient is not specified, GnuPG asks for the user ID unless
--default-recipient is given.
--encrypt-to name
Same as --recipient but this one is intended for use in the
options file and may be used with your own user-id as an
"encrypt-to-self". These keys are only used when there are other
recipients given either by use of --recipient or by the asked
user id. No trust checking is performed for these user ids and even
disabled keys can be used.
--hidden-encrypt-to name
Same as --hidden-recipient but this one is intended for use in the
options file and may be used with your own user-id as a hidden
"encrypt-to-self". These keys are only used when there are other
recipients given either by use of --recipient or by the asked user id.
No trust checking is performed for these user ids and even disabled
keys can be used.
--no-encrypt-to
Disable the use of all --encrypt-to and
--hidden-encrypt-to keys.
--group name=value1
Sets up a named group, which is similar to aliases in email programs.
Any time the group name is a recipient (-r or
--recipient), it will be expanded to the values
specified. Multiple groups with the same name are automatically merged
into a single group.
The values are key IDs or fingerprints, but any key description
is accepted. Note that a value with spaces in it will be treated as
two different values. Note also there is only one level of expansion
--- you cannot make an group that points to another group. When used
from the command line, it may be necessary to quote the argument to
this option to prevent the shell from treating it as multiple
arguments.
--ungroup name
Remove a given entry from the --group list.
--no-groups
Remove all entries from the --group list.
--local-user name
-u
Use name as the key to sign with. Note that this option overrides
--default-key.
--try-all-secrets
Don't look at the key ID as stored in the message but try all secret
keys in turn to find the right decryption key. This option forces the
behaviour as used by anonymous recipients (created by using
--throw-keyids) and might come handy in case where an encrypted
message contains a bogus key ID.
Input and Output
--armor
-a
Create ASCII armored output. The default is to create the binary
OpenPGP format.
--no-armor
Assume the input data is not in ASCII armored format.
--output file
-o file
Write output to file.
--max-output n
This option sets a limit on the number of bytes that will be generated
when processing a file. Since OpenPGP supports various levels of
compression, it is possible that the plaintext of a given message may be
significantly larger than the original OpenPGP message. While GnuPG
works properly with such messages, there is often a desire to set a
maximum file size that will be generated before processing is forced to
stop by the OS limits. Defaults to 0, which means "no limit".
--import-options parameters
This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for
importing keys. Options can be prepended with a `no-' to give the
opposite meaning. The options are:
import-local-sigs
Allow importing key signatures marked as "local". This is not
generally useful unless a shared keyring scheme is being used.
Defaults to no.
repair-pks-subkey-bug
During import, attempt to repair the damage caused by the PKS keyserver
bug (pre version 0.9.6) that mangles keys with multiple subkeys. Note
that this cannot completely repair the damaged key as some crucial data
is removed by the keyserver, but it does at least give you back one
subkey. Defaults to no for regular --import and to yes for
keyserver --recv-keys.
merge-only
During import, allow key updates to existing keys, but do not allow
any new keys to be imported. Defaults to no.
import-clean
After import, compact (remove all signatures except the
self-signature) any user IDs from the new key that are not usable.
Then, remove any signatures from the new key that are not usable.
This includes signatures that were issued by keys that are not present
on the keyring. This option is the same as running the --edit-key
command "clean" after import. Defaults to no.
import-minimal
Import the smallest key possible. This removes all signatures except
the most recent self-signature on each user ID. This option is the
same as running the --edit-key command "minimize" after import.
Defaults to no.
--export-options parameters
This is a space or comma delimited string that gives options for
exporting keys. Options can be prepended with a `no-' to give the
opposite meaning. The options are:
export-local-sigs
Allow exporting key signatures marked as "local". This is not
generally useful unless a shared keyring scheme is being used.
Defaults to no.
export-attributes
Include attribute user IDs (photo IDs) while exporting. This is
useful to export keys if they are going to be used by an OpenPGP
program that does not accept attribute user IDs. Defaults to yes.
export-sensitive-revkeys
Include designated revoker information that was marked as
"sensitive". Defaults to no.
export-reset-subkey-passwd
When using the --export-secret-subkeys command, this option resets
the passphrases for all exported subkeys to empty. This is useful
when the exported subkey is to be used on an unattended machine where
a passphrase doesn't necessarily make sense. Defaults to no.
export-clean
Compact (remove all signatures from) user IDs on the key being
exported if the user IDs are not usable. Also, do not export any
signatures that are not usable. This includes signatures that were
issued by keys that are not present on the keyring. This option is
the same as running the --edit-key command "clean" before export
except that the local copy of the key is not modified. Defaults to
no.
export-minimal
Export the smallest key possible. This removes all signatures except the
most recent self-signature on each user ID. This option is the same as
running the --edit-key command "minimize" before export except
that the local copy of the key is not modified. Defaults to no.
--with-colons
Print key listings delimited by colons. Note that the output will be
encoded in UTF-8 regardless of any --display-charset setting. This
format is useful when GnuPG is called from scripts and other programs
as it is easily machine parsed. The details of this format are
documented in the file `doc/DETAILS', which is included in the GnuPG
source distribution.
--fixed-list-mode
Do not merge primary user ID and primary key in --with-colon
listing mode and print all timestamps as seconds since 1970-01-01.
--with-fingerprint
-t, --textmode
--no-textmode
Treat input files as text and store them in the OpenPGP canonical text
form with standard "CRLF" line endings. This also sets the necessary
flags to inform the recipient that the encrypted or signed data is text
and may need its line endings converted back to whatever the local
system uses. This option is useful when communicating between two
platforms that have different line ending conventions (UNIX-like to Mac,
Mac to Windows, etc). --no-textmode disables this option, and
is the default.
If -t (but not --textmode) is used together with
armoring and signing, this enables clearsigned messages. This kludge is
needed for command-line compatibility with command-line versions of PGP;
normally you would use --sign or --clearsign to select
the type of the signature.
--force-v3-sigs
--no-force-v3-sigs
OpenPGP states that an implementation should generate v4 signatures
but PGP versions 5 through 7 only recognize v4 signatures on key
material. This option forces v3 signatures for signatures on data.
Note that this option overrides --ask-sig-expire, as v3 signatures
cannot have expiration dates. --no-force-v3-sigs disables this
option.
--force-v4-certs
--no-force-v4-certs
Always use v4 key signatures even on v3 keys. This option also
changes the default hash algorithm for v3 RSA keys from MD5 to SHA-1.
--no-force-v4-certs disables this option.
--force-mdc
Force the use of encryption with a modification detection code. This
is always used with the newer ciphers (those with a blocksize greater
than 64 bits), or if all of the recipient keys indicate MDC support in
their feature flags.
--disable-mdc
Disable the use of the modification detection code. Note that by
using this option, the encrypted message becomes vulnerable to a
message modification attack.
--personal-cipher-preferences string
Set the list of personal cipher preferences to string, this list
should be a string similar to the one printed by the command "pref" in
the edit menu. This allows the user to factor in their own preferred
algorithms when algorithms are chosen via recipient key preferences.
The most highly ranked cipher in this list is also used for the
--symmetric encryption command.
--personal-digest-preferences string
Set the list of personal digest preferences to string, this list
should be a string similar to the one printed by the command "pref" in
the edit menu. This allows the user to factor in their own preferred
algorithms when algorithms are chosen via recipient key preferences.
The most highly ranked digest algorithm in this list is algo used when
signing without encryption (e.g. --clearsign or
--sign). The default value is SHA-1.
--personal-compress-preferences string
Set the list of personal compression preferences to string, this
list should be a string similar to the one printed by the command
"pref" in the edit menu. This allows the user to factor in their own
preferred algorithms when algorithms are chosen via recipient key
preferences. The most highly ranked algorithm in this list is also
used when there are no recipient keys to consider (e.g. --symmetric).
--s2k-cipher-algo name
Use name as the cipher algorithm used to protect secret keys.
The default cipher is CAST5. This cipher is also used for
conventional encryption if --personal-cipher-preferences and
--cipher-algo is not given.
--s2k-digest-algo name
Use name as the digest algorithm used to mangle the passphrases.
The default algorithm is SHA-1.
--s2k-mode n
Selects how passphrases are mangled. If n is 0 a plain
passphrase (which is not recommended) will be used, a 1 adds a salt to
the passphrase and a 3 (the default) iterates the whole process a
number of times (see --s2k-count). Unless --rfc1991 is used,
this mode is also used for conventional encryption.
--s2k-count n
Specify how many times the passphrase mangling is repeated. This
value may range between 1024 and 65011712 inclusive, and the default
is 65536. Note that not all values in the 1024-65011712 range are
legal and if an illegal value is selected, GnuPG will round up to the
nearest legal value. This option is only meaningful if
--s2k-mode is 3.
Compliance options
These options control what GnuPG is compliant to. Only one of these options may be active at a time. Note that the default setting of this is nearly always the correct one. See the INTEROPERABILITY WITH OTHER OPENPGP PROGRAMS section below before using one of these options.--gnupg
Use standard GnuPG behavior. This is essentially OpenPGP behavior
(see --openpgp), but with some additional workarounds for common
compatibility problems in different versions of PGP. This is the
default option, so it is not generally needed, but it may be useful to
override a different compliance option in the gpg.conf file.
--openpgp
Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict OpenPGP
behavior. Use this option to reset all previous options like
--rfc1991, --force-v3-sigs, --s2k-*,
--cipher-algo, --digest-algo and
--compress-algo to OpenPGP compliant values. All PGP
workarounds are disabled.
--rfc2440
Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to strict RFC-2440
behavior. Note that this is currently the same thing as --openpgp.
--rfc1991
Try to be more RFC-1991 (PGP 2.x) compliant.
--pgp2
Set up all options to be as PGP 2.x compliant as possible, and warn if
an action is taken (e.g. encrypting to a non-RSA key) that will create
a message that PGP 2.x will not be able to handle. Note that `PGP
2.x' here means `MIT PGP 2.6.2'. There are other versions of PGP 2.x
available, but the MIT release is a good common baseline.
This option implies --rfc1991 --disable-mdc --no-force-v4-certs
--no-sk-comment --escape-from-lines --force-v3-sigs --no-ask-sig-expire
--no-ask-cert-expire --cipher-algo IDEA --digest-algo MD5
--compress-algo 1. It also disables --textmode when
encrypting.
--pgp6
Set up all options to be as PGP 6 compliant as possible. This
restricts you to the ciphers IDEA (if the IDEA plugin is installed),
3DES, and CAST5, the hashes MD5, SHA1 and RIPEMD160, and the
compression algorithms none and ZIP. This also disables
--throw-keyids, and making signatures with signing subkeys as PGP 6
does not understand signatures made by signing subkeys.
This option implies --disable-mdc --no-sk-comment
--escape-from-lines --force-v3-sigs --no-ask-sig-expire.
--pgp7
Set up all options to be as PGP 7 compliant as possible. This is
identical to --pgp6 except that MDCs are not disabled, and the
list of allowable ciphers is expanded to add AES128, AES192, AES256, and
TWOFISH.
--pgp8
Set up all options to be as PGP 8 compliant as possible. PGP 8 is a lot
closer to the OpenPGP standard than previous versions of PGP, so all
this does is disable --throw-keyids and set
--escape-from-lines. All algorithms are allowed except for the
SHA224, SHA384, and SHA512 digests.
Doing things one usually don't want to do.
-n
--dry-run
Don't make any changes (this is not completely implemented).
--list-only
Changes the behaviour of some commands. This is like --dry-run but
different in some cases. The semantic of this command may be extended in
the future. Currently it only skips the actual decryption pass and
therefore enables a fast listing of the encryption keys.
-i
--interactive
Prompt before overwriting any files.
--debug flags
Set debugging flags. All flags are or-ed and flags may
be given in C syntax (e.g. 0x0042).
--debug-all
Set all useful debugging flags.
--debug-ccid-driver
Enable debug output from the included CCID driver for smartcards.
Note that this option is only available on some system.
--enable-progress-filter
Enable certain PROGRESS status outputs. This option allows frontends
to display a progress indicator while gpg is processing larger files.
There is a slight performance overhead using it.
--status-fd n
Write special status strings to the file descriptor n.
See the file DETAILS in the documentation for a listing of them.
--status-file file
Same as --status-fd, except the status data is written to file
file.
--logger-fd n
Write log output to file descriptor n and not to stderr.
--logger-file file
Same as --logger-fd, except the logger data is written to file
file.
--attribute-fd n
Write attribute subpackets to the file descriptor n. This is most
useful for use with --status-fd, since the status messages are
needed to separate out the various subpackets from the stream delivered
to the file descriptor.
--attribute-file file
Same as --attribute-fd, except the attribute data is written to
file file.
--comment string
--no-comments
Use string as a comment string in clear text signatures and ASCII
armored messages or keys (see --armor). The default behavior is
not to use a comment string. --comment may be repeated multiple
times to get multiple comment strings. --no-comments removes
all comments. It is a good idea to keep the length of a single comment
below 60 characters to avoid problems with mail programs wrapping such
lines. Note that comment lines, like all other header lines, are not
protected by the signature.
--emit-version
--no-emit-version
Force inclusion of the version string in ASCII armored output.
--no-emit-version disables this option.
--sig-notation name=value
--cert-notation name=value
-N, --set-notation name=value
Put the name value pair into the signature as notation data.
name must consist only of printable characters or spaces, and
must contain a '@' character in the form keyname@domain.example.com
(substituting the appropriate keyname and domain name, of course). This
is to help prevent pollution of the IETF reserved notation
namespace. The --expert flag overrides the '@'
check. value may be any printable string; it will be encoded in
UTF8, so you should check that your --display-charset is set
correctly. If you prefix name with an exclamation mark (!), the
notation data will be flagged as critical
(rfc2440:5.2.3.15). --sig-notation sets a notation for data
signatures. --cert-notation sets a notation for key signatures
(certifications). --set-notation sets both.
There are special codes that may be used in notation names. "%k" will
be expanded into the key ID of the key being signed, "%K" into the
long key ID of the key being signed, "%f" into the fingerprint of the
key being signed, "%s" into the key ID of the key making the
signature, "%S" into the long key ID of the key making the signature,
"%g" into the fingerprint of the key making the signature (which might
be a subkey), "%p" into the fingerprint of the primary key of the key
making the signature, "%c" into the signature count from the OpenPGP
smartcard, and "%%" results in a single "%". %k, %K, and %f are only
meaningful when making a key signature (certification), and %c is only
meaningful when using the OpenPGP smartcard.
--sig-policy-url string
--cert-policy-url string
--set-policy-url string
Use string as a Policy URL for signatures (rfc2440:5.2.3.19). If
you prefix it with an exclamation mark (!), the policy URL packet will
be flagged as critical. --sig-policy-url sets a policy url for
data signatures. --cert-policy-url sets a policy url for key
signatures (certifications). --set-policy-url sets both.
The same %-expandos used for notation data are available here as well.
--sig-keyserver-url string
Use string as a preferred keyserver URL for data signatures. If
you prefix it with an exclamation mark, the keyserver URL packet will
be flagged as critical.
The same %-expandos used for notation data are available here as well.
--set-filename string
Use string as the filename which is stored inside messages.
This overrides the default, which is to use the actual filename of the
file being encrypted.
--for-your-eyes-only
--no-for-your-eyes-only
Set the `for your eyes only' flag in the message. This causes GnuPG
to refuse to save the file unless the --output option is given, and
PGP to use the "secure viewer" with a Tempest-resistant font to
display the message. This option overrides --set-filename.
--no-for-your-eyes-only disables this option.
--use-embedded-filename
--no-use-embedded-filename
Try to create a file with a name as embedded in the data. This can be
a dangerous option as it allows to overwrite files. Defaults to no.
--cipher-algo name
Use name as cipher algorithm. Running the program with the
command --version yields a list of supported algorithms. If
this is not used the cipher algorithm is selected from the preferences
stored with the key. In general, you do not want to use this option as
it allows you to violate the OpenPGP standard.
--personal-cipher-preferences is the safe way to accomplish the
same thing.
--digest-algo name
Use name as the message digest algorithm. Running the program
with the command --version yields a list of supported algorithms. In
general, you do not want to use this option as it allows you to
violate the OpenPGP standard. --personal-digest-preferences is the
safe way to accomplish the same thing.
--compress-algo name
Use compression algorithm name. "zlib" is RFC-1950 ZLIB
compression. "zip" is RFC-1951 ZIP compression which is used by PGP.
"bzip2" is a more modern compression scheme that can compress some
things better than zip or zlib, but at the cost of more memory used
during compression and decompression. "uncompressed" or "none"
disables compression. If this option is not used, the default
behavior is to examine the recipient key preferences to see which
algorithms the recipient supports. If all else fails, ZIP is used for
maximum compatibility.
ZLIB may give better compression results than ZIP, as the compression
window size is not limited to 8k. BZIP2 may give even better
compression results than that, but will use a significantly larger
amount of memory while compressing and decompressing. This may be
significant in low memory situations. Note, however, that PGP (all
versions) only supports ZIP compression. Using any algorithm other
than ZIP or "none" will make the message unreadable with PGP. In
general, you do not want to use this option as it allows you to
violate the OpenPGP standard. --personal-compress-preferences is the
safe way to accomplish the same thing.
--cert-digest-algo name
Use name as the message digest algorithm used when signing a
key. Running the program with the command --version yields a
list of supported algorithms. Be aware that if you choose an algorithm
that GnuPG supports but other OpenPGP implementations do not, then some
users will not be able to use the key signatures you make, or quite
possibly your entire key.
--disable-cipher-algo name
Never allow the use of name as cipher algorithm.
The given name will not be checked so that a later loaded algorithm
will still get disabled.
--disable-pubkey-algo name
Never allow the use of name as public key algorithm.
The given name will not be checked so that a later loaded algorithm
will still get disabled.
--throw-keyids
--no-throw-keyids
Do not put the recipient key IDs into encrypted messages. This helps
to hide the receivers of the message and is a limited countermeasure
against traffic analysis. On the receiving side, it may slow down the
decryption process because all available secret keys must be tried.
--no-throw-keyids disables this option. This option is essentially
the same as using --hidden-recipient for all recipients.
--not-dash-escaped
This option changes the behavior of cleartext signatures
so that they can be used for patch files. You should not
send such an armored file via email because all spaces
and line endings are hashed too. You can not use this
option for data which has 5 dashes at the beginning of a
line, patch files don't have this. A special armor header
line tells GnuPG about this cleartext signature option.
--escape-from-lines
--no-escape-from-lines
Because some mailers change lines starting with "From " to ">From " it
is good to handle such lines in a special way when creating cleartext
signatures to prevent the mail system from breaking the signature. Note
that all other PGP versions do it this way too. Enabled by
default. --no-escape-from-lines disables this option.
--passphrase-repeat n
Specify how many times gpg will request a new
passphrase be repeated. This is useful for helping memorize a
passphrase. Defaults to 1 repetition.
--passphrase-fd n
Read the passphrase from file descriptor n. Only the first line
will be read from file descriptor n. If you use 0 for n,
the passphrase will be read from stdin. This can only be used if only
one passphrase is supplied.
--passphrase-file file
Read the passphrase from file file. Only the first line will
be read from file file. This can only be used if only one
passphrase is supplied. Obviously, a passphrase stored in a file is
of questionable security if other users can read this file. Don't use
this option if you can avoid it.
--passphrase string
Use string as the passphrase. This can only be used if only one
passphrase is supplied. Obviously, this is of very questionable
security on a multi-user system. Don't use this option if you can
avoid it.
--command-fd n
This is a replacement for the deprecated shared-memory IPC mode.
If this option is enabled, user input on questions is not expected
from the TTY but from the given file descriptor. It should be used
together with --status-fd. See the file doc/DETAILS in the source
distribution for details on how to use it.
--command-file file
Same as --command-fd, except the commands are read out of file
file
--allow-non-selfsigned-uid
--no-allow-non-selfsigned-uid
Allow the import and use of keys with user IDs which are not
self-signed. This is not recommended, as a non self-signed user ID is
trivial to forge. --no-allow-non-selfsigned-uid disables.
--allow-freeform-uid
Disable all checks on the form of the user ID while generating a new
one. This option should only be used in very special environments as
it does not ensure the de-facto standard format of user IDs.
--ignore-time-conflict
GnuPG normally checks that the timestamps associated with keys and
signatures have plausible values. However, sometimes a signature
seems to be older than the key due to clock problems. This option
makes these checks just a warning. See also --ignore-valid-from for
timestamp issues on subkeys.
--ignore-valid-from
GnuPG normally does not select and use subkeys created in the future.
This option allows the use of such keys and thus exhibits the
pre-1.0.7 behaviour. You should not use this option unless you there
is some clock problem. See also --ignore-time-conflict for timestamp
issues with signatures.
--ignore-crc-error
The ASCII armor used by OpenPGP is protected by a CRC checksum against
transmission errors. Occasionally the CRC gets mangled somewhere on
the transmission channel but the actual content (which is protected by
the OpenPGP protocol anyway) is still okay. This option allows GnuPG
to ignore CRC errors.
--ignore-mdc-error
This option changes a MDC integrity protection failure into a warning.
This can be useful if a message is partially corrupt, but it is
necessary to get as much data as possible out of the corrupt message.
However, be aware that a MDC protection failure may also mean that the
message was tampered with intentionally by an attacker.
--no-default-keyring
Do not add the default keyrings to the list of keyrings. Note that
GnuPG will not operate without any keyrings, so if you use this option
and do not provide alternate keyrings via --keyring or
--secret-keyring, then GnuPG will still use the default public or
secret keyrings.
--skip-verify
Skip the signature verification step. This may be
used to make the decryption faster if the signature
verification is not needed.
--with-key-data
Print key listings delimited by colons (like --with-colons) and
print the public key data.
--fast-list-mode
Changes the output of the list commands to work faster; this is achieved
by leaving some parts empty. Some applications don't need the user ID
and the trust information given in the listings. By using this options
they can get a faster listing. The exact behaviour of this option may
change in future versions. If you are missing some information, don't
use this option.
--no-literal
This is not for normal use. Use the source to see for what it might be useful.
--set-filesize
This is not for normal use. Use the source to see for what it might be useful.
--show-session-key
Display the session key used for one message. See
--override-session-key for the counterpart of this option.
We think that Key Escrow is a Bad Thing; however the user should have
the freedom to decide whether to go to prison or to reveal the content
of one specific message without compromising all messages ever
encrypted for one secret key. DON'T USE IT UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY
FORCED TO DO SO.
--override-session-key string
Don't use the public key but the session key string. The format
of this string is the same as the one printed by
--show-session-key. This option is normally not used but comes
handy in case someone forces you to reveal the content of an encrypted
message; using this option you can do this without handing out the
secret key.
--ask-sig-expire
--no-ask-sig-expire
When making a data signature, prompt for an expiration time. If this
option is not specified, the expiration time set via
--default-sig-expire is used. --no-ask-sig-expire
disables this option. Note that by default, --force-v3-sigs is
set which also disables this option. If you want signature expiration,
you must set --no-force-v3-sigs as well as turning
--ask-sig-expire on.
--default-sig-expire
The default expiration time to use for signature expiration. Valid
values are "0" for no expiration, a number followed by the letter d
(for days), w (for weeks), m (for months), or y (for years) (for
example "2m" for two months, or "5y" for five years), or an absolute
date in the form YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to "0".
--ask-cert-expire
--no-ask-cert-expire
When making a key signature, prompt for an expiration time. If this
option is not specified, the expiration time set via
--default-cert-expire is used. --no-ask-cert-expire
disables this option.
--default-cert-expire
The default expiration time to use for key signature expiration.
Valid values are "0" for no expiration, a number followed by the
letter d (for days), w (for weeks), m (for months), or y (for years)
(for example "2m" for two months, or "5y" for five years), or an
absolute date in the form YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to "0".
--allow-secret-key-import
This is an obsolete option and is not used anywhere.
--allow-multisig-verification
Allow verification of concatenated signed messages. This will run a
signature verification for each data+signature block. There are some
security issues with this option and thus it is off by default. Note
that versions of GPG prior to version 1.4.3 implicitly allowed this.
--enable-special-filenames
This options enables a mode in which filenames of the form
`-&n', where n is a non-negative decimal number,
refer to the file descriptor n and not to a file with that name.
--no-expensive-trust-checks
Experimental use only.
--preserve-permissions
Don't change the permissions of a secret keyring back to user
read/write only. Use this option only if you really know what you are doing.
--default-preference-list string
Set the list of default preferences to string. This preference
list is used for new keys and becomes the default for "setpref" in the
edit menu.
--default-keyserver-url name
Set the default keyserver URL to name. This keyserver will be
used as the keyserver URL when writing a new self-signature on a key,
which includes key generation and changing preferences.
--list-config
Display various internal configuration parameters of GnuPG. This option
is intended for external programs that call GnuPG to perform tasks, and
is thus not generally useful. See the file `doc/DETAILS' in the
source distribution for the details of which configuration items may be
listed. --list-config is only usable with
--with-colons set.
--gpgconf-list
This command is simliar to --list-config but in general only
internally used by the gpgconf tool.
--gpgconf-test
--load-extension name
Load an extension module. If name does not contain a slash it is
searched for in the directory configured when GnuPG was built
(generally "/usr/lib/gnupg"). Extensions are not generally
useful anymore, and the use of this option is deprecated.
--show-photos
--no-show-photos
Causes --list-keys, --list-sigs,
--list-public-keys, --list-secret-keys, and verifying
a signature to also display the photo ID attached to the key, if
any. See also --photo-viewer. These options are deprecated. Use
--list-options [no-]show-photos and/or --verify-options
[no-]show-photos instead.
--show-keyring
Display the keyring name at the head of key listings to show which
keyring a given key resides on. This option is deprecated: use
--list-options [no-]show-keyring instead.
--ctapi-driver file
Use file to access the smartcard reader. The current default
is `libtowitoko.so'. Note that the use of this interface is
deprecated; it may be removed in future releases.
--always-trust
Identical to --trust-model always. This option is deprecated.
--show-notation
--no-show-notation
Show signature notations in the --list-sigs or --check-sigs listings
as well as when verifying a signature with a notation in it. These
options are deprecated. Use --list-options [no-]show-notation
and/or --verify-options [no-]show-notation instead.
--show-policy-url
--no-show-policy-url
Show policy URLs in the --list-sigs or --check-sigs
listings as well as when verifying a signature with a policy URL in
it. These options are deprecated. Use --list-options
[no-]show-policy-url and/or --verify-options
[no-]show-policy-url instead.
EXAMPLES
gpg -se -r Bob file
sign and encrypt for user Bob
gpg --clearsign file
make a clear text signature
gpg -sb file
make a detached signature
gpg --list-keys user_ID
show keys
gpg --fingerprint user_ID
show fingerprint
gpg --verify pgpfile
gpg --verify sigfile
Verify the signature of the file but do not output the data. The
second form is used for detached signatures, where sigfile
is the detached signature (either ASCII armored or binary) and
are the signed data; if this is not given, the name of
the file holding the signed data is constructed by cutting off the
extension (".asc" or ".sig") of sigfile or by asking the
user for the filename.
HOW TO SPECIFY A USER ID
There are different ways to specify a user ID to GnuPG. Some of them
are only valid for gpg others are only good for
gpgsm. Here is the entire list of ways to specify a key:
By key Id.
This format is deduced from the length of the string and its content or
0x prefix. The key Id of an X.509 certificate are the low 64 bits
of its SHA-1 fingerprint. The use of key Ids is just a shortcut, for
all automated processing the fingerprint should be used.
When using gpg an exclamation mark may be appended to force
using the specified primary or secondary key and not to try and
calculate which primary or secondary key to use.
The last four lines of the example give the key ID in their long form as
internally used by the OpenPGP protocol. You can see the long key ID
using the option --with-colons.
234567C4 0F34E556E 01347A56A 0xAB123456 234AABBCC34567C4 0F323456784E56EAB 01AB3FED1347A5612 0x234AABBCC34567C4
By fingerprint.
This format is deduced from the length of the string and its content or
the 0x prefix. Note, that only the 20 byte version fingerprint
is available with gpgsm (i.e. the SHA-1 hash of the
certificate).
When using gpg an exclamation mark may be appended to force
using the specified primary or secondary key and not to try and
calculate which primary or secondary key to use.
The best way to specify a key Id is by using the fingerprint. This
avoids any ambiguities in case that there are duplicated key IDs.
1234343434343434C434343434343434 123434343434343C3434343434343734349A3434 0E12343434343434343434EAB3484343434343434 0xE12343434343434343434EAB3484343434343434(gpgsm also accepts colons between each pair of hexadecimal digits because this is the de-facto standard on how to present X.509 fingerprints.)
By exact match on OpenPGP user ID.
This is denoted by a leading equal sign. It does not make sense for
X.509 certificates.
=Heinrich Heine <heinrichh@uni-duesseldorf.de>
By exact match on an email address.
This is indicated by enclosing the email address in the usual way
with left and right angles.
<heinrichh@uni-duesseldorf.de>
By word match.
All words must match exactly (not case sensitive) but can appear in any
order in the user ID or a subjects name. Words are any sequences of
letters, digits, the underscore and all characters with bit 7 set.
+Heinrich Heine duesseldorf
By exact match on the subject's DN.
This is indicated by a leading slash, directly followed by the RFC-2253
encoded DN of the subject. Note that you can't use the string printed
by "gpgsm --list-keys" because that one as been reordered and modified
for better readability; use --with-colons to print the raw (but standard
escaped) RFC-2253 string
/CN=Heinrich Heine,O=Poets,L=Paris,C=FR
By exact match on the issuer's DN.
This is indicated by a leading hash mark, directly followed by a slash
and then directly followed by the rfc2253 encoded DN of the issuer.
This should return the Root cert of the issuer. See note above.
#/CN=Root Cert,O=Poets,L=Paris,C=FR
By exact match on serial number and issuer's DN.
This is indicated by a hash mark, followed by the hexadecmal
representation of the serial number, the followed by a slash and the
RFC-2253 encoded DN of the issuer. See note above.
#4F03/CN=Root Cert,O=Poets,L=Paris,C=FR
By keygrip
This is indicated by an ampersand followed by the 40 hex digits of a
keygrip. gpgsm prints the keygrip when using the command
--dump-cert. It does not yet work for OpenPGP keys.
&D75F22C3F86E355877348498CDC92BD21010A480
By substring match.
This is the default mode but applications may want to explicitly
indicate this by putting the asterisk in front. Match is not case
sensitive.
Heine *HeinePlease note that we have reused the hash mark identifier which was used in old GnuPG versions to indicate the so called local-id. It is not anymore used and there should be no conflict when used with X.509 stuff. Using the RFC-2253 format of DNs has the drawback that it is not possible to map them back to the original encoding, however we don't have to do this because our key database stores this encoding as meta data.
RETURN VAUE
The program returns 0 if everything was fine, 1 if at least
a signature was bad, and other error codes for fatal errors.
WARNINGS
Use a *good* password for your user account and a *good* passphrase
to protect your secret key. This passphrase is the weakest part of the
whole system. Programs to do dictionary attacks on your secret keyring
are very easy to write and so you should protect your "~/.gnupg/"
directory very well.
Keep in mind that, if this program is used over a network (telnet), it
is *very* easy to spy out your passphrase!
If you are going to verify detached signatures, make sure that the
program knows about it; either give both filenames on the command line
or use
'-'
to specify stdin.
INTEROPERABILITY
GnuPG tries to be a very flexible implementation of the OpenPGP
standard. In particular, GnuPG implements many of the optional parts
of the standard, such as the SHA-512 hash, and the ZLIB and BZIP2
compression algorithms. It is important to be aware that not all
OpenPGP programs implement these optional algorithms and that by
forcing their use via the --cipher-algo, --digest-algo,
--cert-digest-algo, or --compress-algo options in GnuPG, it is
possible to create a perfectly valid OpenPGP message, but one that
cannot be read by the intended recipient.
There are dozens of variations of OpenPGP programs available, and each
supports a slightly different subset of these optional algorithms.
For example, until recently, no (unhacked) version of PGP supported
the BLOWFISH cipher algorithm. A message using BLOWFISH simply could
not be read by a PGP user. By default, GnuPG uses the standard
OpenPGP preferences system that will always do the right thing and
create messages that are usable by all recipients, regardless of which
OpenPGP program they use. Only override this safe default if you
really know what you are doing.
If you absolutely must override the safe default, or if the preferences
on a given key are invalid for some reason, you are far better off using
the --pgp6, --pgp7, or --pgp8 options. These
options are safe as they do not force any particular algorithms in
violation of OpenPGP, but rather reduce the available algorithms to a
"PGP-safe" list.
FILES
There are a few configuration files to control certain aspects of
gpg's operation. Unless noted, they are expected in the
current home directory (see: [option --homedir]).
gpg.conf
This is the standard configuration file read by gpg on
startup. It may contain any valid long option; the leading two dashes
may not be entered and the option may not be abbreviated. This default
name may be changed on the command line (see: [option
--options]).
Note that on larger installations, it is useful to put predefined files
into the directory `/etc/skel/.gnupg/' so that newly created users
start up with a working configuration.
For internal purposes gpg creates and maintaines a few other
files; They all live in in the current home directory (see: [option
--homedir]). Only the gpg may modify these files.
~/.gnupg/secring.gpg
The secret keyring.
~/.gnupg/secring.gpg.lock
and the lock file
~/.gnupg/pubring.gpg
The public keyring
~/.gnupg/pubring.gpg.lock
and the lock file
~/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg
The trust database
~/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg.lock
and the lock file
~/.gnupg/random_seed
used to preserve the internal random pool
/usr[/local]/share/gnupg/options.skel
Skeleton options file
/usr[/local]/lib/gnupg/
Default location for extensions
Operation is further controlled by a few environment variables:
HOME
Used to locate the default home directory.
GNUPGHOME
If set directory used instead of "~/.gnupg".
GPG_AGENT_INFO
Used to locate the gpg-agent.
This is only honored when --use-agent is set.
The value consists of 3 colon delimited fields: The first is the path
to the Unix Domain Socket, the second the PID of the gpg-agent and the
protocol version which should be set to 1. When starting the gpg-agent
as described in its documentation, this variable is set to the correct
value. The option --gpg-agent-info can be used to override it.
COLUMNS
LINES
Used to size some displays to the full size of the screen.
BUGS
On many systems this program should be installed as setuid(root). This
is necessary to lock memory pages. Locking memory pages prevents the
operating system from writing memory pages (which may contain
passphrases or other sensitive material) to disk. If you get no
warning message about insecure memory your operating system supports
locking without being root. The program drops root privileges as soon
as locked memory is allocated.
SEE ALSO
gpgv(1),
The full documentation for this tool is maintained as a Texinfo manual.
If GnuPG and the info program are properly installed at your site, the
command
info gnupg1should give you access to the complete manual including a menu structure and an index.
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