gpg(1) General Commands Manual gpg(1)
NAME
gpg -- encryption and signing tool
SYNOPSIS
gpg [--homedir name] [--options file] [options] command [args]
DESCRIPTION
gpg is the main program for the GnuPG system.
This man page only lists the commands and options available. For more verbose documentation get the GNU Privacy Handbook (GPH) or one of
the other documents at http://www.gnupg.org/docs.html .
Please remember that option parsing stops as soon as a non option is encountered, you can explicitly stop option parsing by using the spe-
cial option "--".
COMMANDS
gpg recognizes these commands:
-s, --sign
Make a signature. This command may be combined with --encrypt.
--clearsign
Make a clear text signature.
-b, --detach-sign
Make a detached signature.
-e, --encrypt
Encrypt data. This option may be combined with --sign.
-c, --symmetric
Encrypt with symmetric cipher only. This command asks for a passphrase.
--store Store only (make a simple RFC1991 packet).
--decrypt [file]
Decrypt file (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 file-
name which is included in the file and it rejects files which don't begin with an encrypted message.
--verify [[sigfile] [signed-files]]
Assume that sigfile is a 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 signa-
ture and the remaining files are the signed stuff. To read the signed stuff from stdin, use - as the second filename. For secu-
rity reasons a detached signature cannot read the signed material from stdin without denoting it in the above way.
--verify-files [files]
This is a special version of the --verify command which does not work with detached signatures. The command expects the files to
be verified either on the command line or reads the filenames from stdin; each name must be on separate line. The command is
intended for quick checking of many files.
--encrypt-files [files]
This is a special version of the --encrypt command. The command expects the files to be encrypted either on the command line or
reads the filenames from stdin; each name must be on separate line. The command is intended for a quick encryption of multiple
files.
--decrypt-files [files]
The same as --encrypt-files with the difference that files will be decrypted. The syntax or the filenames is the same.
--list-keys [names]
--list-public-keys [names]
List all keys from the public keyrings, or just the ones given on the command line.
--list-secret-keys [names]
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 [names]
Same as --list-keys, but the signatures are listed too.
--check-sigs [names]
Same as --list-sigs, but the signatures are verified.
--fingerprint [names]
List all keys 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 sec-
ondary keys are listed too.
--list-packets
List only the sequence of packets. This is mainly useful for debugging.
--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 distribu-
tion on how to use this.
--edit-key name
Present a menu which enables you to do all key related tasks:
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.
nrlsign Combines the functionality of nrsign and lsign to make a signature that is both non-revocable and non-exportable.
revsig Revoke a signature. For every signature which has been generated by one of the secret keys, GnuPG asks whether a revo-
cation 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 normally not be used for encryption.
adduid Create an alternate user id.
addphoto Create a photographic user id.
deluid Delete a user id.
addkey Add a subkey to this key.
delkey Remove a subkey.
addrevoker
Add a designated revoker. This takes one optional argument: "sensitive". If a designated revoker is marked as sensi-
tive, 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 pri-
mary 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 prefer-
ences.
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.
setpref string
Set the list of user ID preferences to string, this should be a string similar to the one printed by "pref". Using an
empty string will set the default preference string, using "none" will set the preferences to nil. Use "gpg -v --ver-
sion" to get a list of available algorithms. This command just initializes an internal list and does not change any-
thing unless another command (such as "updpref") which changes the self-signatures is used.
updpref Change the preferences of all user IDs (or just of the selected ones to the current list of preferences. The timestamp
of all affected self-signatures will be advanced by one second. 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.
toggle Toggle between public and secret key listing.
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.
--nrsign-key name
Signs a public key with your secret key but marks it as non-revocable. This is a shortcut version of the subcommand "nrsign"
from --edit.
--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 finger-
print.
--gen-revoke
Generate a revocation certificate for the complete key. To revoke a subkey or a signature, use the --edit command.
--desig-revoke
Generate a designated revocation certificate for a key. This allows a user (with the permission of the keyholder) to revoke
someone elses key.
--export [names]
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 [names]
Same as --export but sends the keys to a keyserver. 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-all [names]
Same as --export, but also exports keys which are not compatible with OpenPGP.
--export-secret-keys [names]
--export-secret-subkeys [names]
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 [files]
--fast-import [files]
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 --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 key IDs
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. Option --keyserver must be used to give the name of this keyserver.
--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.
--update-trustdb
Do trust DB maintenance. This command goes over all keys and builds the Web-of-Trust. This is an interactive command because it
may has to ask for the "ownertrust" values of keys. The user has to give an estimation in how far she trusts the owner of the
displayed key to correctly certify (sign) other keys. It does only ask for that value if it has not yet been assigned to a key.
Using the edit menu, that value can be changed at any time later.
--check-trustdb
Do trust DB maintenance without user interaction. Form time to time the trust database must be updated so that expired keys and
resulting changes in the Web-of-Trust can be tracked. GnuPG tries to figure when this is required and then does it implicitly;
this command can be used to force such a check. The processing is identically 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 check is only done when it is due. To
force a run even in batch mode add the option --yes.
--export-ownertrust [file]
Store the ownertrust values into file (or stdin if not given). 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 [files]
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 [files]
--print-mds [files]
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 [count]
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 [qbits]
Use the source, Luke :-). The output format is still subject to change.
--version Print version information along with a list of supported algorithms.
--warranty
Print warranty information.
-h, --help
Print usage information. This is a really long list even though it doesn't list all options.
OPTIONS
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 argu-
ments. Lines with a hash ('#') as the first non-white-space character are ignored. Commands may be put in this file too, but that does
not make sense.
gpg recognizes these options:
-a, --armor
Create ASCII armored output.
-o, --output file
Write output to file.
-u, --local-user name
Use name as the user ID to sign. This option is silently ignored for the list commands, so that it can be used in an options
file.
--default-key name
Use name as default user ID for signatures. If this is not used the default user ID is the first user ID found in the secret
keyring.
-r, --recipient name
Encrypt for user id name. If this option is not specified, GnuPG asks for the user-id unless --default-recipient is given
--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.
--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.
--no-encrypt-to
Disable the use of all --encrypt-to keys.
-v, --verbose
Give more information during processing. If used twice, the input data is listed in detail.
-q, --quiet
Try to be as quiet as possible.
-z n, --compress n
Set compression level to n. A value of 0 for n disables compression. Default is to use the default compression level of zlib
(normally 6).
-t, --textmode
Use canonical text mode. If -t (but not --textmode) is used together with armoring and signing, this enables clearsigned mes-
sages. This kludge is needed for PGP compatibility; normally you would use --sign or --clearsign to selected the type of the
signature.
-n, --dry-run
Don't make any changes (this is not completely implemented).
-i, --interactive
Prompt before overwriting any files.
--batch Use batch mode. Never ask, do not allow interactive commands.
--no-tty Make sure that the TTY (terminal) is never used for any output. This option is needed in some cases because GnuPG sometimes
prints warnings to the TTY if --batch is used.
--no-batch
Disable batch mode. This may be of use if --batch is enabled from an options file.
--yes Assume "yes" on most questions.
--no Assume "no" on most questions.
--default-cert-check-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.
--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.
--always-trust
Skip key validation and assume that used keys are always fully trusted. You won't use this unless you have installed some exter-
nal 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.
--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 Horowitz (or compatible) keyservers, "ldap" for the NAI LDAP keyserver, or "mailto" for
the Horowitz email keyserver. Note that your particular installation of GnuPG may have other keyserver types available as well.
Keyserver schemes are case-insensitive.
Most keyservers synchronize with each other, so there is generally no need to send keys to more than one server. Using the com-
mand "host -l pgp.net | grep wwwkeys" gives you a list of HKP keyservers. When using one of the wwwkeys servers, due to load
balancing using round-robin DNS you may notice that you get a different key server each time.
--keyserver-options parameters
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, include keys that are marked on the keyserver as revoked. Note that this option is always
set when using the NAI HKP keyserver, as this keyserver does not differentiate between revoked and unrevoked keys.
When using the LDAP keyserver, this applies to both searching (--search-keys) and receiving (--recv-keys).
include-disabled
When receiving or searching for a key, include keys that are marked on the keyserver as disabled. Note that this
option is not used with HKP keyservers, as they do not support disabling keys.
include-subkeys
When receiving a key, include subkeys in the search. 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 effi-
cient 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 ver-
bosity level.
honor-http-proxy
For keyserver schemes that use HTTP (such as HKP), try to access the keyserver over the proxy set with the environment
variable "http_proxy".
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.
--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:
allow-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-hkp-subkey-bug
During import, attempt to repair the HKP keyserver mangling multiple subkeys bug. 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.
--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:
include-non-rfc
Include non-RFC compliant keys in the export. Defaults to yes.
include-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.
include-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.
include-sensitive-revkeys
Include designated revoker information that was marked as "sensitive". Defaults to 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.
--no-show-photos
Resets the --show-photos flag.
--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"
--exec-path string
Sets a list of directories to search for photo viewers and keyserver helpers. If not provided, keyserver helpers use the com-
piled-in default directory, and photo viewers use the $PATH environment variable.
--show-keyring
Causes --list-keys, --list-public-keys, and --list-secret-keys to display the name of the keyring a given key resides on. This is
only useful when you're listing a specific key or set of keys. It has no effect when listing all keys.
--keyring file
Add file to the 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 home-directory ("~/.gnupg" if --homedir is not used). The filename
may be prefixed with a scheme:
"gnupg-ring:" is the default one.
It might make sense to use it together with --no-default-keyring.
--secret-keyring file
Same as --keyring but for the secret keyrings.
--homedir directory
Set the name of the home directory to directory If this option is not used it defaults to "~/.gnupg". It does not make sense to
use this in a options file. This also overrides the environment variable "GNUPGHOME".
--charset name
Set the name of the native character set. This is used to convert some strings to proper UTF-8 encoding. If this option is not
used, the default character set is determined from the current locale. A verbosity level of 3 shows the used one. 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 the arguments are already given as UTF8 strings. The default (--no-utf8-strings) is to assume that arguments are
encoded in the character set as specified by --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.
--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/local/lib/gnupg"). Extensions are not generally useful anymore, and the use of this option is deprecated.
--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.
--status-fd n
Write special status strings to the file descriptor n. See the file DETAILS in the documentation for a listing of them.
--logger-fd n
Write log output to file descriptor n and not to stderr.
--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.
--sk-comments
Include secret key comment packets when exporting secret keys. This is a GnuPG extension to the OpenPGP standard, and is off by
default. Please note that this has nothing to do with the comments in clear text signatures or armor headers.
--no-sk-comments
Resets the --sk-comments option.
--no-comment
See --sk-comments. This option is deprecated and may be removed soon.
--comment string
Use string as comment string in clear text signatures. The default is not do write a comment string.
--default-comment
Force to write the standard comment string in clear text signatures. Use this to overwrite a --comment from a config file. This
option is now obsolete because there is no default comment string anymore.
--no-version
Omit the version string in clear text signatures.
--emit-version
Force to write the version string in clear text signatures. Use this to overwrite a previous --no-version from a config file.
-N, --notation-data name=value
Put the name value pair into the signature as notation data. name must consist only of alphanumeric characters, digits or the
underscore; the first character must not be a digit. value may be any printable string; it will be encoded in UTF8, so you
should check that your --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).
--show-notation
Show key signature notations in the --list-sigs or --check-sigs listings.
--no-show-notation
Do not show key signature notations in the --list-sigs or --check-sigs listings.
--set-policy-url string
Use string as 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.
--show-policy-url
Show any policy URLs set in the --list-sigs or --check-sigs listings.
--no-show-policy-url
Do not show any policy URLs set in the --list-sigs or --check-sigs listings.
--set-filename string
Use string as the name of file which is stored in messages.
--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
Resets the --for-your-eyes-only flag.
--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.
--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).
--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.
--digest-algo name
Use name as the message digest algorithm. Running the program with the command --version yields a list of supported algorithms.
--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.
--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 conven-
tional encryption if --cipher-algo is not given.
--s2k-digest-algo name
Use name as the digest algorithm used to mangle the passphrases. The default algorithm is RIPE-MD-160. This digest algorithm
is also used for conventional encryption if --digest-algo is not given.
--s2k-mode n
Selects how passphrases are mangled. If n is 0 a plain passphrase (which is not recommended) will be used, a 1 (default) adds a
salt to the passphrase and a 3 iterates the whole process a couple of times. Unless --rfc1991 is used, this mode is also used
for conventional encryption.
--simple-sk-checksum
Secret keys are integrity protected by using a SHA-1 checksum. This method will be part of an 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 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).
--compress-algo n
Use compression algorithm n. Default is 2 which is RFC1950 compression. You may use 1 to use the old zlib version (RFC1951) which
is used by PGP. 0 disables compression. The default algorithm may give better results because the window size is not limited to
8K. If this is not used the OpenPGP behavior is used, i.e. the compression algorithm is selected from the preferences; note, that
this can't be done if you do not encrypt the data.
--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.
--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
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
Resets the --auto-check-trustdb option.
--throw-keyid
Do not put the keyid into encrypted packets. This option hides the receiver of the message and is a countermeasure against traf-
fic analysis. It may slow down the decryption process because all available secret keys are tried.
--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 sig-
nature option.
--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 creat-
ing cleartext signatures. All other PGP versions do it this way too. This option is not enabled by default because it would vio-
late rfc2440.
--passphrase-fd n
Read the passphrase 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. 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.
--use-agent
Try to use the GnuPG-Agent. Please note that this agent is still under development. With this option, GnuPG first tries to con-
nect to the agent before it asks for a passphrase.
--gpg-agent-info
Override the value of the environment variable GPG_AGENT_INFO. This is only used when --use-agent has been given
--rfc1991 Try to be more RFC1991 (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 --no-openpgp --disable-mdc --no-force-v4-certs --no-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.
--no-pgp2 Resets the --pgp2 option.
--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
making signatures with signing subkeys as PGP 6 does not understand signatures made by signing subkeys.
This option implies `--disable-mdc --no-comment --escape-from-lines --force-v3-sigs --no-ask-sig-expire --compress-algo 1'
--no-pgp6 Resets the --pgp6 option.
--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.
--no-pgp7 Resets the --pgp7 option.
--openpgp Reset all packet, cipher and digest options to 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
also disabled.
--force-v3-sigs
OpenPGP states that an implementation should generate v4 signatures but PGP versions 5 and higher 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
Reset the --force-v3-sigs option.
--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
Reset the --force-v4-certs option.
--force-mdc
Force the use of encryption with a modification detection code. This is always used with the newer ciphers (those with a block-
size greater than 64 bits), or if the recipient key has one of those ciphers as a preference.
--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.
--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
Reset the --allow-non-selfsigned-uid option.
--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 envi-
ronments 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 signa-
ture seems to be older than the key due to clock problems. This option makes these checks just a warning.
--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.
--ignore-crc-error
The ASCII armor used by OpenPGP is protected by a CRC checksum against transmission errors. Sometimes it happens that 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 will let gpg 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.
--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.
--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-verbose
Reset verbose level to 0.
--no-greeting
Suppress the initial copyright message but do not enter batch mode.
--no-secmem-warning
Suppress the warning about "using insecure memory".
--no-permission-warning
Suppress the warning about unsafe file permissions.
--no-mdc-warning
Suppress the warning about missing MDC integrity protection.
--no-armor
Assume the input data is not in ASCII armored format.
--no-default-keyring
Do not add the default keyrings to the list of 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-colons
Print key listings delimited by colons. Note, that the output will be encoded in UTF-8 regardless of any --charset setting.
--with-key-data
Print key listings delimited by colons (like --with-colons) and print the public key data.
--with-fingerprint
Same as the command --fingerprint but changes only the format of the output and may be used together with another command.
--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.
--fixed-list-mode
Do not merge user ID and primary key in --with-colon listing mode and print all timestamps as seconds since 1970-01-01.
--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 encryp-
tion keys.
--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.
--emulate-md-encode-bug
GnuPG versions prior to 1.0.2 had a bug in the way a signature was encoded. This options enables a workaround by checking faulty
signatures again with the encoding used in old versions. This may only happen for ElGamal signatures which are not widely used.
--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
When making a data signature, prompt for an expiration time. If this option is not specified, the expiration time is "never".
--no-ask-sig-expire
Resets the --ask-sig-expire option.
--ask-cert-expire
When making a key signature, prompt for an expiration time. If this option is not specified, the expiration time is "never".
--no-ask-cert-expire
Resets the --ask-cert-expire option.
--expert Allow the user to do certain nonsensical or "silly" things like signing an expired or revoked key, or certain potentially incom-
patible things like generating deprecated 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
Resets the --expert option.
--merge-only
Don't insert new keys into the keyrings while doing an import.
--allow-secret-key-import
This is an obsolete option and is not used anywhere.
--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-keyid) and might come handy in case where an
encrypted message contains a bogus key ID.
--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.
--group name=value1 [value2 value3 ...]
Sets up a named group, which is similar to aliases in email programs. Any time the group name is a receipient (-r or --recipi-
ent), it will be expanded to the values specified.
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.
--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.
--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 recipi-
ent key preferences.
--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 recipi-
ent key preferences.
--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 com-
mand "pref" in the edit menu. This allows the user to factor in their own preferred algorithms when algorithms are chosen via
recipient key preferences.
--default-preference-list string
Set the list of default preferences to string, this list should be a string similar to the one printed by the command "pref" in
the edit menu. This affects both key generation and "updpref" in the edit menu.
How to specify a user ID
There are different ways on how to specify a user ID to GnuPG; here are some examples:
234567C4
0F34E556E
01347A56A
0xAB123456
Here the key ID is given in the usual short form.
234AABBCC34567C4
0F323456784E56EAB
01AB3FED1347A5612
0x234AABBCC34567C4
Here the key ID is given in the long form as used by OpenPGP (you can get the long key ID using the option --with-colons).
1234343434343434C434343434343434
123434343434343C3434343434343734349A3434
0E12343434343434343434EAB3484343434343434
0xE12343434343434343434EAB3484343434343434
The best way to specify a key ID is by using the fingerprint of the key. This avoids any ambiguities in case that there are
duplicated key IDs (which are really rare for the long key IDs).
=Heinrich Heine <heinrichh@uni-duesseldorf.de>
Using an exact to match string. The equal sign indicates this.
<heinrichh@uni-duesseldorf.de>
Using the email address part which must match exactly. The left angle bracket indicates this email address mode.
+Heinrich Heine duesseldorf
All words must match exactly (not case sensitive) but can appear in any order in the user ID. Words are any sequences of let-
ters, digits, the underscore and all characters with bit 7 set.
Heine
*Heine By case insensitive substring matching. This is the default mode but applications may want to explicitly indicate this by
putting the asterisk in front.
Note that you can append an exclamation mark to key IDs or fingerprints. This flag tells GnuPG to use exactly the given primary or sec-
ondary key and not to try to figure out which secondary or primary key to use.
RETURN VALUE
The program returns 0 if everything was fine, 1 if at least a signature was bad, and other error codes for fatal errors.
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 [files]
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 of binary) and [files] 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.
ENVIRONMENT
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; 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.
http_proxy
Only honored when the keyserver-option honor-http-proxy is set.
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
~/.gnupg/gpg.conf
Default configuration file
~/.gnupg/options
Old style configuration file; only used when gpg.conf is not found
/usr[/local]/share/gnupg/options.skel
Skeleton options file
/usr[/local]/lib/gnupg/
Default location for extensions
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 be giving both filenames on the command
line or using - to specify stdin.
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 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.
gpg(1)