(gnupg1.info.gz) GPG Configuration Options
Info Catalog
(gnupg1.info.gz) GPG Options
(gnupg1.info.gz) GPG Key related Options
1.2.1 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.
That is all the AKA lines as well as photo Ids are not shown
with the signature verification status.
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 his 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 on 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=`value'
Set the proxy to use for HTTP and HKP keyservers. This
overrides the "http_proxy" environment variable, if any.
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 `GPG_AGENT_INFO'.
This is only used when `--use-agent' has been given. Given that
this option is not anymore used by `gpg2', it should be avoided if
possible.
`--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.
Info Catalog
(gnupg1.info.gz) GPG Options
(gnupg1.info.gz) GPG Key related Options
automatically generated byinfo2html