GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1)
NAME
gpgconf - Modify .gnupg home directories
SYNOPSIS
gpgconf [options] --list-components
gpgconf [options] --list-options component
gpgconf [options] --change-options component
DESCRIPTION
The gpgconf is a utility to automatically and reasonable
safely query and modify configuration files in the .gnupg home directory. It is designed not to be invoked manually by the user, but automatically by graphical user interfaces (GUI). ([Please note that currently no locking is done, soconcurrent access should be avoided. There are some precau-
tions to avoid corruption with concurrent usage, but results may be inconsistent and some changes may get lost. Thestateless design makes it difficult to provide more guaran-
tees.])gpgconf provides access to the configuration of one or more
components of the GnuPG system. These components correspondmore or less to the programs that exist in the GnuPG frame-
work, like GnuPG, GPGSM, DirMngr, etc. But this is not astrict one-to-one relationship. Not all configuration
options are available through gpgconf. gpgconf provides a
generic and abstract method to access the most important configuration options that can feasibly be controlled via such a mechanism.gpgconf can be used to gather and change the options avail-
able in each component, and can also provide their defaultvalues. gpgconf will give detailed type information that
can be used to restrict the user's input without making an attempt to commit the changes.gpgconf provides the backend of a configuration editor. The
configuration editor would usually be a graphical user interface program, that allows to display the current options, their default values, and allows the user to make changes to the options. These changes can then be madeactive with gpgconf again. Such a program that uses gpgconf
in this way will be called GUI throughout this section. COMMANDS One of the following commands must be given:GnuPG 2.0.13 Last change: 2010-10-12 1
GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1)--list-components
List all components. This is the default command used if none is specified.--check-programs
List all available backend programs and test whether they are runnable.--list-options component
List all options of the component component.--change-options component
Change the options of the component component.--check-options component
Check the options for the component component.--apply-defaults
Update all configuration files with values taken from the global configuration file (usually/etc/gnupg/gpgconf.conf).
--list-dirs
Lists the directories used by gpgconf. One directory
is listed per line, and each line consists of a colon-
separated list where the first field names the direc-
tory type (for example sysconfdir) and the second fieldcontains the percent-escaped directory. Although they
are not directories, the socket file names used bygpg-agent and dirmngr are printed as well. Note that
the socket file names and the homedir lines are the default names and they may be overridden by command line switches.--list-config [filename]
List the global configuration file in a colon separated format. If filename is given, check that file instead.--check-config [filename]
Run a syntax check on the global configuration file. If filename is given, check that file instead.GnuPG 2.0.13 Last change: 2010-10-12 2
GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1) OPTIONS The following options may be used:-v
--verbose
Outputs additional information while running. Specifi-
cally, this extends numerical field values by human-
readable descriptions.-n
--dry-run
Do not actually change anything. This is currentlyonly implemented for --change-options and can be used
for testing purposes.-r
--runtime
Only used together with --change-options. If one of
the modified options can be changed in a running daemon process, signal the running daemon to ask it to reparse its configuration file after changing.This means that the changes will take effect at run-
time, as far as this is possible. Otherwise, they will take effect at the next start of the respective backend programs.USAGE
The command --list-components will list all components that
can be configured with gpgconf. Usually, one component will
correspond to one GnuPG-related program and contain the
options of that programs configuration file that can bemodified using gpgconf. However, this is not necessarily
the case. A component might also be a group of selected options from several programs, or contain entirely virtual options that have a special effect rather than changing exactly one option in one configuration file.A component is a set of configuration options that semanti-
cally belong together. Furthermore, several changes to acomponent can be made in an atomic way with a single opera-
tion. The GUI could for example provide a menu with one entry for each component, or a window with one tabulator sheet per component.GnuPG 2.0.13 Last change: 2010-10-12 3
GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1)The command argument --list-components lists all available
components, one per line. The format of each line is: name:description:pgmname: name This field contains a name tag of the component. Thename tag is used to specify the component in all com-
munication with gpgconf. The name tag is to be used
verbatim. It is thus not in any escaped format. descriptionThe string in this field contains a human-readable
description of the component. It can be displayed to the user of the GUI for informational purposes. It ispercent-escaped and localized.
pgmname The string in this field contains the absolute name of the program's file. It can be used to unambiguouslyinvoke that program. It is percent-escaped.
Example:$ gpgconf --list-components
gpg:GPG for OpenPGP:/usr/local/bin/gpg2:gpg-agent:GPG Agent:/usr/local/bin/gpg-agent:
scdaemon:Smartcard Daemon:/usr/local/bin/scdaemon:gpgsm:GPG for S/MIME:/usr/local/bin/gpgsm: dirmngr:Directory Manager:/usr/local/bin/dirmngr: Checking programs
The command --check-programs is similar to --list-components
but works on backend programs and not on components. Itruns each program to test whether it is installed and runn-
able. This also includes a syntax check of all config file options of the program.The command argument --check-programs lists all available
programs, one per line. The format of each line is: name:description:pgmname:avail:okay:cfgfile:line:error: name This field contains a name tag of the program which isGnuPG 2.0.13 Last change: 2010-10-12 4
GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1) identical to the name of the component. The name tag is to be used verbatim. It is thus not in any escapedformat. This field may be empty to indicate a con-
tinuation of error descriptions for the last name. The description and pgmname fields are then also empty. descriptionThe string in this field contains a human-readable
description of the component. It can be displayed to the user of the GUI for informational purposes. It ispercent-escaped and localized.
pgmname The string in this field contains the absolute name of the program's file. It can be used to unambiguouslyinvoke that program. It is percent-escaped.
avail The boolean value in this field indicates whether the program is installed and runnable. okay The boolean value in this field indicates whether the program's config file is syntactically okay. cfgfile If an error occurred in the configuration file (as indicated by a false value in the field okay), this field has the name of the failing configuration file.It is percent-escaped.
line If an error occurred in the configuration file, this field has the line number of the failing statement in the configuration file. It is an unsigned number. error If an error occurred in the configuration file, this field has the error text of the failing statement inthe configuration file. It is percent-escaped and
localized. In the following example the dirmngr is not runnable and the configuration file of scdaemon is not okay.GnuPG 2.0.13 Last change: 2010-10-12 5
GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1)$ gpgconf --check-programs
gpg:GPG for OpenPGP:/usr/local/bin/gpg2:1:1:gpg-agent:GPG Agent:/usr/local/bin/gpg-agent:1:1:
scdaemon:Smartcard Daemon:/usr/local/bin/scdaemon:1:0:gpgsm:GPG for S/MIME:/usr/local/bin/gpgsm:1:1: dirmngr:Directory Manager:/usr/local/bin/dirmngr:0:0:
The command configuration file in the same manner as --
check-programs, but only for the component component.
Listing options Every component contains one or more options. Options may be gathered into option groups to allow the GUI to give visual hints to the user about which options are related. The command argument lists all options (and the groups theybelong to) in the component component, one per line. com-
ponent must be the string in the field name in the output ofthe --list-components command.
There is one line for each option and each group. First come all options that are not in any group. Then comes a line describing a group. Then come all options that belong into each group. Then comes the next group and so on. There does not need to be any group (and in this case theoutput will stop after the last non-grouped option).
The format of each line is:name:flags:level:description:type:alt-
type:argname:default:argdef:value name This field contains a name tag for the group or option. The name tag is used to specify the group or option inall communication with gpgconf. The name tag is to be
used verbatim. It is thus not in any escaped format. flags The flags field contains an unsigned number. Its valueis the OR-wise combination of the following flag
values: group (1)GnuPG 2.0.13 Last change: 2010-10-12 6
GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1) If this flag is set, this is a line describing a group and not an option. The following flag values are only defined for options (that is, if the group flag is not used). optional arg (2) If this flag is set, the argument is optional. This is never set for type 0 (none) options. list (4)If this flag is set, the option can be given mul-
tiple times. runtime (8) If this flag is set, the option can be changed at runtime. default (16) If this flag is set, a default value is available. default desc (32)If this flag is set, a (runtime) default is avail-
able. This and the default flag are mutually exclusive. no arg desc (64) If this flag is set, and the optional arg flag is set, then the option has a special meaning if no argument is given. no change (128)If this flag is set, gpgconf ignores requests to
change the value. GUI frontends should grey out this option. Note, that manual changes of the configuration files are still possible. level This field is defined for options and for groups. It contains an unsigned number that specifies the expert level under which this group or option should be displayed. The following expert levels are defined for options (they have analogous meaning for groups):GnuPG 2.0.13 Last change: 2010-10-12 7
GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1) basic (0) This option should always be offered to the user. advanced (1) This option may be offered to advanced users. expert (2) This option should only be offered to expert users. invisible (3) This option should normally never be displayed, not even to expert users. internal (4) This option is for internal use only. Ignore it. The level of a group will always be the lowest level of all options it contains. description This field is defined for options and groups. Thestring in this field contains a human-readable descrip-
tion of the option or group. It can be displayed to the user of the GUI for informational purposes. It ispercent-escaped and localized.
type This field is only defined for options. It contains an unsigned number that specifies the type of the option's argument, if any. The following types are defined: Basic types: none (0) No argument allowed. string (1) An unformatted string. int32 (2) A signed number.GnuPG 2.0.13 Last change: 2010-10-12 8
GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1) uint32 (3) An unsigned number. Complex types: pathname (32) A string that describes the pathname of a file. The file does not necessarily need to exist. ldap server (33)A string that describes an LDAP server in the for-
mat:hostname:port:username:password:base_dn
key fingerprint (34) A string with a 40 digit fingerprint specifying a certificate. pub key (35) A string that describes a certificate by user ID, key ID or fingerprint. sec key (36) A string that describes a certificate with a key by user ID, key ID or fingerprint. alias list (37) A string that describes an alias list, like theone used with gpg's group option. The list con-
sists of a key, an equal sign and space separated values. More types will be added in the future. Please see thealt-type field for information on how to cope with unknown
types.alt-type
This field is identical to type, except that only the types 0 to 31 are allowed. The GUI is expected to present the user the option in the format specified by type. But if the argument type type is not supported by the GUI, it can still display the option in the moregeneric basic type alt-type. The GUI must support all
the defined basic types to be able to display allGnuPG 2.0.13 Last change: 2010-10-12 9
GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1)options. More basic types may be added in future ver-
sions. If the GUI encounters a basic type it doesn'tsupport, it should report an error and abort the opera-
tion. argname This field is only defined for options with an argument type type that is not 0. In this case it may contain apercent-escaped and localised string that gives a short
name for the argument. The field may also be empty, though, in which case a short name is not known. default This field is defined only for options for which the default or default desc flag is set. If the default flag is set, its format is that of an option argument (see: [Format conventions], for details). If thedefault value is empty, then no default is known. Oth-
erwise, the value specifies the default value for this option. If the default desc flag is set, the field is either empty or contains a description of the effect if the option is not given. argdef This field is defined only for options for which the optional arg flag is set. If the no arg desc flag is not set, its format is that of an option argument (see: [Format conventions], for details). If the default value is empty, then no default is known. Otherwise, the value specifies the default argument for this option. If the no arg desc flag is set, the field is either empty or contains a description of the effect of this option if no argument is given. value This field is defined only for options. Its format is that of an option argument. If it is empty, then theoption is not explicitly set in the current configura-
tion, and the default applies (if any). Otherwise, it contains the current value of the option. Note that this field is also meaningful if the option itself does not take a real argument (in this case, it contains the number of times the option appears).GnuPG 2.0.13 Last change: 2010-10-12 10
GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1) Changing options The command to change the options of the component component to the specified values. component must be the string inthe field name in the output of the --list-components com-
mand. You have to provide the options that shall be changed in the following format on standard input:name:flags:new-value
name This is the name of the option to change. name must bethe string in the field name in the output of the --
list-options command.
flags The flags field contains an unsigned number. Its valueis the OR-wise combination of the following flag
values: default (16) If this flag is set, the option is deleted and the default value is used instead (if applicable).new-value
The new value for the option. This field is only defined if the default flag is not set. The format is that of an option argument. If it is empty (or the field is omitted), the default argument is used (only allowed if the argument is optional for this option). Otherwise, the option will be set to the specified value.The output of the command is the same as that of --
check-options for the modified configuration file.
Examples: To set the force option, which is of basic type none (0):$ echo 'force:0:1' | gpgconf --change-options dirmngr
To delete the force option:$ echo 'force:16:' | gpgconf --change-options dirmngr
GnuPG 2.0.13 Last change: 2010-10-12 11
GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1)The --runtime option can influence when the changes take
effect. Listing global optionsSometimes it is useful for applications to look at the glo-
bal options file gpgconf.conf. The colon separated listing
format is record oriented and uses the first field to iden-
tify the record type: k This describes a key record to start the definition of a new ruleset for a user/group. The format of a key record is: k:user:group: user This is the user field of the key. It is percentescaped. See the definition of the gpgconf.conf
format for details. group This is the group field of the key. It is percent escaped. r This describes a rule record. All rule records up to the next key record make up a rule set for that key. The format of a rule record is: r:::component:option:flags:value: component This is the component part of a rule. It is a plain string. option This is the option part of a rule. It is a plain string. flag This is the flags part of a rule. There may beonly one flag per rule but by using the same com-
ponent and option, several flags may be assignedGnuPG 2.0.13 Last change: 2010-10-12 12
GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1) to an option. It is a plain string. value This is the optional value for the option. It is a percent escaped string with a single quotation mark to indicate a string. The quotation mark is only required to distinguish between no value specified and an empty string. Unknown record types should be ignored. Note that there is intentionally no feature to change the global option filethrough gpgconf.
FILES/etc/gnupg/gpgconf.conf
If this file exists, it is processed as a global con-
figuration file. A commented example can be found in the examples directory of the distribution.SEE ALSO
gpg(1), gpgsm(1), gpg-agent(1), scdaemon(1), dirmngr(1)
The full documentation for this tool is maintained as a Tex-
info manual. If GnuPG and the info program are properly installed at your site, the command info gnupg should give you access to the complete manual including a menu structure and an index.ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri-
butes:GnuPG 2.0.13 Last change: 2010-10-12 13
GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1)_______________________________________
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE|
|____________________|__________________|_
| Availability | crypto/gnupg ||____________________|__________________|_
| Interface Stability| Uncommitted ||____________________|_________________|
NOTES Source for GnuPG is available at http://opensolaris.org and at http://www.gnupg.org. Documentation is available at file:///usr/share/man, and http://www.gnupg.org.GnuPG 2.0.13 Last change: 2010-10-12 14