Provided by: gpgconf_2.2.27-3ubuntu2.1_amd64 bug

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, so concurrent access should be avoided.  There are some
       precautions to avoid corruption with concurrent usage, but results may be inconsistent and
       some changes may get lost.  The stateless  design  makes  it  difficult  to  provide  more
       guarantees.])

       gpgconf  provides  access  to  the  configuration  of  one or more components of the GnuPG
       system.  These components correspond more or less to the programs that exist in the  GnuPG
       framework,  like  GPG,  GPGSM,  DirMngr,  etc.   But  this  is  not  a  strict  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 available in each component, and  can
       also  provide  their default values.  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 displays the current options, their
       default values, and allows the user to make changes to the  options.   These  changes  can
       then be made active 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:

       --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-profile file
              Apply the configuration settings listed in file to  the  configuration  files.   If
              file  has  no suffix and no slashes the command first tries to read a file with the
              suffix .prf from the data directory (gpgconf --list-dirs datadir) before  it  reads
              the  file  verbatim.   A  profile  is  divided  into  sections  using the bracketed
              component name.  Each section then  lists  the  option  which  shall  go  into  the
              respective configuration file.

       --apply-defaults
              Update all configuration files with values taken from the global configuration file
              (usually ‘/etc/gnupg/gpgconf.conf’).

       --list-dirs [names]
              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 directory
              type (for example sysconfdir) and the second  field  contains  the  percent-escaped
              directory.   Although  they are not directories, the socket file names used by gpg-
              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.  If names are given only the directories or file names specified  by  the
              list names are printed without any escaping.

       --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.

       --query-swdb package_name [version_string]
              Returns the current version for package_name and if version_string is given also an
              indicator on whether an update is available.  The actual  file  with  the  software
              version  is  automatically  downloaded  and  checked  by  dirmngr.   dirmngr uses a
              thresholds to avoid download the file too often and it does this by default only if
              it can be done via Tor.  To force an update of that file this command can be used:

                gpg-connect-agent --dirmngr 'loadswdb --force' /bye

       --reload [component]
              Reload  all  or the given component. This is basically the same as sending a SIGHUP
              to the component.  Components which don't support reloading are  ignored.   Without
              component  or  by  using  "all"  for component all components which are daemons are
              reloaded.

       --launch [component]
              If the component is not already running, start it.  component  must  be  a  daemon.
              This  is in general not required because the system starts these daemons as needed.
              However, external software making direct use of gpg-agent or dirmngr may  use  this
              command  to  ensure  that they are started.  Using "all" for component launches all
              components which are daemons.

       --kill [component]
              Kill the given component that runs as a daemon, including gpg-agent,  dirmngr,  and
              scdaemon.  A component which does not run as a daemon will be ignored.  Using "all"
              for component kills all components running as daemons.  Note that as of now  reload
              and kill have the same effect for scdaemon.

       --create-socketdir
              Create  a  directory for sockets below /run/user or /var/run/user.  This is command
              is only required if a non default home directory is used and the /run based sockets
              shall  be  used.   For  the default home directory GnUPG creates a directory on the
              fly.

       --remove-socketdir
              Remove a directory created with command --create-socketdir.

OPTIONS

       The following options may be used:

       -o file
       --output file
              Write output to file.  Default is to write to stdout.

       -v
       --verbose
              Outputs additional information while running.  Specifically, this extends numerical
              field values by human-readable descriptions.

       -q
       --quiet
              Try to be as quiet as possible.

       --homedir dir
              Set  the  name  of  the home directory to dir. If this option is not used, the home
              directory defaults to ‘~/.gnupg’.  It is only recognized when given on the  command
              line.  It also overrides any home directory stated through the environment variable
              ‘GNUPGHOME’  or  (on  Windows   systems)   by   means   of   the   Registry   entry
              HKCU\Software\GNU\GnuPG:HomeDir.

              On  Windows  systems it is possible to install GnuPG as a portable application.  In
              this case only this command line option is considered, all other ways to set a home
              directory are ignored.

              To  install  GnuPG  as  a  portable application under Windows, create an empty file
              named ‘gpgconf.ctl’ in the same directory as the tool ‘gpgconf.exe’.  The  root  of
              the  installation  is  then that directory; or, if ‘gpgconf.exe’ has been installed
              directly below a directory named ‘bin’, its parent directory.   You  also  need  to
              make  sure  that  the following directories exist and are writable: ‘ROOT/home’ for
              the GnuPG home and ‘ROOT/var/cache/gnupg’ for internal cache files.

       -n
       --dry-run
              Do not actually change anything.  This is currently only 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.

       --status-fd n
              Write  special  status  strings to the file descriptor n.  This program returns the
              status messages SUCCESS or FAILURE which are helpful when the caller uses a  double
              fork approach and can't easily get the return code of the process.

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  program's  configuration  file that can be modified 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  semantically  belong  together.
       Furthermore,  several  changes  to  a component can be made in an atomic way with a single
       operation.  The GUI could for example provide a menu with one entry for each component, or
       a window with one tabulator sheet per component.

       The command --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.  The name tag is used  to  specify
              the  component  in  all  communication  with  gpgconf.   The name tag is to be used
              verbatim.  It is thus not in any escaped format.

       description
              The 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 is
              percent-escaped and localized.

       pgmname
              The string in this field contains the absolute name of the program's file.  It  can
              be used to unambiguously invoke 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.  It runs each program to test whether it is installed and runnable.
       This also includes a syntax check of all config file options of the program.

       The  command  --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 is identical to the name of the
              component.   The  name  tag  is to be used verbatim.  It is thus not in any escaped
              format.  This field may be empty to indicate a continuation of  error  descriptions
              for the last name.  The description and pgmname fields are then also empty.

       description
              The  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  is
              percent-escaped and localized.

       pgmname
              The  string in this field contains the absolute name of the program's file.  It can
              be used to unambiguously invoke 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  in  the  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.

         $ 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  lists all options (and the groups they belong to) in the component component,
       one per line.  component must be the string in the field name in the output of the --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 the output 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 in all 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 value is the OR-wise combination
              of the following flag values:

              group (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 multiple 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 available.  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):

              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.  The string in this field contains a
              human-readable description of the option or group.  It can be displayed to the user
              of the GUI for informational purposes.  It is percent-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.

              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 format:

                     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 the one used with gpg's group
                     option.  The list consists of a key,  an  equal  sign  and  space  separated
                     values.

       More  types will be added in the future.  Please see the alt-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  more  generic  basic  type alt-type.  The GUI must support all the
              defined basic types to be able to display all options.  More  basic  types  may  be
              added  in  future versions.  If the GUI encounters a basic type it doesn't support,
              it should report an error and abort the operation.

       argname
              This field is only defined for options with an argument type type that  is  not  0.
              In  this  case  it  may contain a percent-escaped and localized 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 the default value is empty, then no default
              is known.  Otherwise, 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 the option is not explicitly set in the current configuration,
              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).

   Changing options

       The  command  to  change  the  options of the component component to the specified values.
       component must be the string in the field name in  the  output  of  the  --list-components
       command.  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 be the  string  in  the  field
              name in the output of the --list-options command.

       flags  The  flags field contains an unsigned number.  Its value is 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

       The --runtime option can influence when the changes take effect.

   Listing global options

       Sometimes it is useful for applications to look at the global options file ‘gpgconf.conf’.
       The colon separated listing format is record oriented and uses the first field to identify
       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  percent  escaped.   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:flag: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 be only one flag per  rule  but
                     by  using the same component and option, several flags may be assigned 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 file through gpgconf.

   Get and compare software versions.

       The  GnuPG  Project  operates  a server to query the current versions of software packages
       related to GnuPG.  gpgconf can be used to access  this  online  database.   To  allow  for
       offline   operations,   this  feature  works  by  having  dirmngr  download  a  file  from
       https://versions.gnupg.org, checking the signature of that file and storing  the  file  in
       the  GnuPG  home directory.  If gpgconf is used and dirmngr is running, it may ask dirmngr
       to refresh that file before itself uses the file.

       The command --query-swdb returns information for the given package in  a  colon  delimited
       format:

       name   This  is the name of the package as requested.  Note that "gnupg" is a special name
              which is replaced by the actual package implementing this version  of  GnuPG.   For
              this  name  it  is also not required to specify a version because gpgconf takes its
              own version in this case.

       iversion
              The currently installed version or an empty string.  The value is  taken  from  the
              command line argument but may be provided by gpg if not given.

       status The status of the software package according to this table:

              -      No  information  available.   This  is either because no current version has
                     been specified or due to an error.

              ?      The given name is not known in the online database.

              u      An update of the software is available.

              c      The installed version of the software is current.

              n      The installed version is already newer than the released version.

       urgency
              If the value (the empty string should be considered as zero) is greater  than  zero
              an important update is available.

       error  This returns an gpg-error error code to distinguish between various failure modes.

       filedate
              This  gives  the  date  of the file with the version numbers in standard ISO format
              (yyyymmddThhmmss).  The date has been extracted by dirmngr from  the  signature  of
              the file.

       verified
              This  gives the date in ISO format the file was downloaded.  This value can be used
              to evaluate the freshness of the information.

       version
              This returns the version string for the requested software from the file.

       reldate
              This returns the release date in ISO format.

       size   This returns the size of the package as decimal number of bytes.

       hash   This returns a hexified SHA-2 hash of the package.

       More fields may be added in future to the output.

FILES

       /etc/gnupg/gpgconf.conf
                If this file exists, it is processed as a global configuration file.
                A commented example can be found in the ‘examples’ directory of
                the distribution.

       GNUPGHOME/swdb.lst
                A file with current software versions.  dirmngr creates
                this file on demand from an online resource.

SEE ALSO

       gpg(1), gpgsm(1), gpg-agent(1), scdaemon(1), dirmngr(1)

       The full documentation for this tool is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If GnuPG and  the
       info program are properly installed at your site, the command

         info gnupg

       should give you access to the complete manual including a menu structure and an index.