Provided by: gnupg-agent_2.1.11-6ubuntu2.1_amd64 bug

NAME

       gpg-connect-agent - Communicate with a running agent

SYNOPSIS

       gpg-connect-agent [options][commands]

DESCRIPTION

       The  gpg-connect-agent is a utility to communicate with a running gpg-agent.  It is useful
       to check out the commands gpg-agent provides using the Assuan interface.  It might also be
       useful  for  scripting  simple  applications.  Input is expected at stdin and out put gets
       printed to stdout.

       It is very similar to running gpg-agent in server mode; but here we connect to  a  running
       instance.

       The following options may be used:

       -v

       --verbose
              Output additional information while running.

       -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 name
              ‘gpgconf.ctl’ in the same directory as the tool ‘gpgconf.exe’.   The  root  of  the
              installation  is  than  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/gnupg2’ for internal cache files.

       --agent-program file
              Specify the agent program to be started if none is running.  The default  value  is
              determined  by  running  gpgconf  with  the option --list-dirs.  Note that the pipe
              symbol (|) is used for a regression test suite hack and may thus not be used in the
              file name.

       --dirmngr-program file
              Specify  the  directory manager (keyserver client) program to be started if none is
              running.  This has only an effect if used together with the option --dirmngr.

       --dirmngr
              Connect to a running directory manager (keyserver client) instead of  to  the  gpg-
              agent.  If a dirmngr is not running, start it.

       -S

       --raw-socket name
              Connect  to  socket  name  assuming this is an Assuan style server.  Do not run any
              special initializations or environment  checks.   This  may  be  used  to  directly
              connect to any Assuan style socket server.

       -E

       --exec Take the rest of the command line as a program and it's arguments and execute it as
              an assuan server. Here is how you would run gpgsm:
          gpg-connect-agent --exec gpgsm --server
       Note that you may not use options on the command line in this case.

       --no-ext-connect
              When using -S or  --exec,  gpg-connect-agent  connects  to  the  assuan  server  in
              extended mode to allow descriptor passing.  This option makes it use the old mode.

       --no-autostart
              Do not start the gpg-agent or the dirmngr if it has not yet been started.

       -r file

       --run file
              Run  the  commands  from  file  at startup and then continue with the regular input
              method.  Note, that commands given on the command  line  are  executed  after  this
              file.

       -s

       --subst
              Run the command /subst at startup.

       --hex  Print  data  lines  in  a  hex  format  and the ASCII representation of non-control
              characters.

       --decode
              Decode data lines.  That is to remove percent escapes but make sure that a new line
              always starts with a D and a space.

CONTROL COMMANDS

       While reading Assuan commands, gpg-agent also allows a few special commands to control its
       operation.  These control commands all start with a slash (/).

       /echo args
              Just print args.

       /let name value
              Set the variable name to value.  Variables are only substituted on the input if the
              /subst has been used.  Variables are referenced by prefixing the name with a dollar
              sign and optionally include the name in curly braces.  The rules for a  valid  name
              are  identically  to  those of the standard bourne shell.  This is not yet enforced
              but may be in the future.  When used with curly braces no leading or trailing white
              space is allowed.

              If  a  variable is not found, it is searched in the environment and if found copied
              to the table of variables.

              Variable functions are available: The name of the function must be followed  by  at
              least  one  space  and  the  at  least  one  argument.  The following functions are
              available:

              get    Return a value described by the argument.  Available arguments are:

                     cwd    The current working directory.

                     homedir
                            The gnupg homedir.

                     sysconfdir
                            GnuPG's system configuration directory.

                     bindir GnuPG's binary directory.

                     libdir GnuPG's library directory.

                     libexecdir
                            GnuPG's library directory for executable files.

                     datadir
                            GnuPG's data directory.

                     serverpid
                            The PID of the current server.  Command  /serverpid  must  have  been
                            given to return a useful value.

              unescape args
                     Remove  C-style  escapes  from  args.   Note  that \0 and \x00 terminate the
                     returned string implicitly.  The string  to  be  converted  are  the  entire
                     arguments right behind the delimiting space of the function name.

              unpercent args

              unpercent+ args
                     Remove  percent  style  escaping  from  args.   Note that %00 terminates the
                     string implicitly.  The string to be  converted  are  the  entire  arguments
                     right behind the delimiting space of the function name. unpercent+ also maps
                     plus signs to a spaces.

              percent args

              percent+ args
                     Escape the args using percent style escaping.  Tabs,  formfeeds,  linefeeds,
                     carriage  returns  and colons are escaped. percent+ also maps spaces to plus
                     signs.

              errcode arg

              errsource arg

              errstring arg
                     Assume arg is an integer and evaluate it using strtol.  Return the gpg-error
                     error code, error source or a formatted string with the error code and error
                     source.

              +

              -

              *

              /

              %      Evaluate all  arguments  as  long  integers  using  strtol  and  apply  this
                     operator.  A division by zero yields an empty string.

              !

              |

              &      Evaluate  all  arguments as long integers using strtol and apply the logical
                     operators NOT, OR or AND.  The NOT operator works on the last argument only.

       /definq name var
              Use content of the variable var for inquiries with name.  name may be  an  asterisk
              (*) to match any inquiry.

       /definqfile name file
              Use  content of file for inquiries with name.  name may be an asterisk (*) to match
              any inquiry.

       /definqprog name prog
              Run prog for inquiries matching name and pass the entire line to it as command line
              arguments.

       /datafile name
              Write  all  data  lines  from  the server to the file name.  The file is opened for
              writing and created if it does not exists.  An existing file is first truncated  to
              0.   The  data  written  to  the  file fully decoded.  Using a single dash for name
              writes to stdout.  The file is kept open until a new file is set using this command
              or this command is used without an argument.

       /showdef
              Print all definitions

       /cleardef
              Delete all definitions

       /sendfd file mode
              Open  file  in mode (which needs to be a valid fopen mode string) and send the file
              descriptor to the server.  This is usually followed by a command like INPUT  FD  to
              set the input source for other commands.

       /recvfd
              Not yet implemented.

       /open var file [mode]
              Open  file  and  assign  the  file  descriptor  to  var.   Warning: This command is
              experimental and might change in future versions.

       /close fd
              Close the file descriptor fd.  Warning: This  command  is  experimental  and  might
              change in future versions.

       /showopen
              Show a list of open files.

       /serverpid
              Send  the  Assuan  command GETINFO pid to the server and store the returned PID for
              internal purposes.

       /sleep Sleep for a second.

       /hex

       /nohex Same as the command line option --hex.

       /decode

       /nodecode
              Same as the command line option --decode.

       /subst

       /nosubst
              Enable and disable variable substitution.   It  defaults  to  disabled  unless  the
              command line option --subst has been used.  If /subst as been enabled once, leading
              whitespace is removed from input lines which makes scripts easier to read.

       /while condition

       /end   These commands provide a way for executing loops.  All lines between the while  and
              the  corresponding end are executed as long as the evaluation of condition yields a
              non-zero value or is the string true or yes.  The evaluation  is  done  by  passing
              condition to the strtol function.  Example:

           /subst
           /let i 3
           /while $i
             /echo loop couter is $i
             /let i ${- $i 1}
           /end

       /if condition

       /end   These  commands  provide a way for conditional execution.  All lines between the if
              and the corresponding end are executed only if the evaluation of condition yields a
              non-zero  value  or  is  the string true or yes.  The evaluation is done by passing
              condition to the strtol function.

       /run file
              Run commands from file.

       /bye   Terminate the connection and the program

       /help  Print a list of available control commands.

SEE ALSO

       gpg-agent(1), scdaemon(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.