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874 lines
37 KiB
Plaintext
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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GNUPG - WHAT’S NEW IN 2.1
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Werner Koch
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━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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2017-08-28
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Table of Contents
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─────────────────
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1 What’s new in GnuPG 2.1
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.. 1.1 Removal of the secret keyring
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.. 1.2 Removal of PGP-2 support
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.. 1.3 Leaner key generation interface
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.. 1.4 Support for ECC
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.. 1.5 Quick generate and sign commands
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.. 1.6 Improved Pinentry support
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.. 1.7 Auto-start of the gpg-agent
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.. 1.8 Duplicate long key id fixes
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.. 1.9 Enhanced Dirmngr
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.. 1.10 Better keyserver pool support
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.. 1.11 Faster keyring format
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.. 1.12 Auto-generated revocation certificates
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.. 1.13 Improved card support
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.. 1.14 New format for key listings
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.. 1.15 Recipient key from file
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.. 1.16 Using gpg as a filter
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.. 1.17 Support for Putty
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.. 1.18 Export of SSH public keys
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.. 1.19 Improved X.509 certificate creation
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.. 1.20 Scripts to create a Windows installer
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A possibly revised version of this article can be found at:
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https://gnupg.org/faq/whats-new-in-2.1.html
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1 What’s new in GnuPG 2.1
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═════════════════════════
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GnuPG version 2.1 (now known as 2.2) comes with a bag of new features
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which changes some things old-timers are used to. This page explains
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the more important ones. It expects that the reader is familiar with
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GnuPG version 2.0 and aware that GnuPG consists of /gpg/, /gpgsm/, and
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/gpg-agent/ as its main components.
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• The file /secring.gpg/ is not anymore used to store the secret keys.
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Merging of secret keys is now supported.
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• All support for /PGP-2 keys/ has been removed for security reasons.
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• The standard key generation interface is now much leaner. This will
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help a new user to quickly generate a suitable key.
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• Support for /Elliptic Curve Cryptography/ (ECC) is now available.
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• Commands to create and sign keys from the command line without any
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extra prompts are now available.
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• The Pinentry may now show the new passphrase entry and the
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passphrase confirmation entry in one dialog.
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• There is no more need to manually start the gpg-agent. It is now
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started by any part of GnuPG as needed.
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• Problems with importing keys with the same long key id have been
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addressed.
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• The /dirmngr/ is now part of GnuPG proper and also takes care of
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accessing keyserver.
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• Keyserver pools are now handled in a smarter way.
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• A new format for locally storing the public keys is now used. This
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considerable speeds up operations on large keyrings.
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• /Revocation certificates/ are now created by default.
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• Card support has been updated, new readers and token types are
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supported.
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• The format of the key listing has been changed to better identify
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the properties of a key.
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• A file with the recipient’s key may now be used directly.
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• Gpg can be used to filter out parts of a key.
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• The gpg-agent may now be used on Windows as /pageant/ replacement
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for /putty/ in the same way it is used for years on Unix as
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/ssh-agent/ replacement.
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• Creation of X.509 certificates has been improved. It is now also
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possible to export them directly in PKCS#8 and PEM format for use on
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TLS servers.
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• Export of /ssh/ keys has been integrated.
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• The scripts to create a Windows installer are now part of GnuPG.
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Now for the detailed description of these new features. Note that the
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examples assume that /gpg/ is installed as /gpg/. Your installation
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may have it installed under the name /gpg2/.
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1.1 Removal of the secret keyring
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─────────────────────────────────
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gpg used to keep the public key pairs in two files: `pubring.gpg' and
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`secring.gpg'. The only difference is that secring stored in addition
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to the public part also the private part of the key pair. The secret
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keyring thus contained only the keys for which a private key is
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available, that is the user’s key. It required a lot of code to keep
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both versions of the key in sync and led to sometimes surprising
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inconsistencies.
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The design of GnuPG-2 demands that only the gpg-agent has control over
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the private parts of the keys and the actual encryption engine (gpg or
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gpgsm) does not know about the private key but care only about session
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keys and keys for symmetric encryption. This has been implemented
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about 10 years ago for /gpgsm/ (the S/MIME part of GnuPG). However,
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/gpg/ (the OpenPGP part) used the gpg-agent only as passphrase entry
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and cache device but handles the private key itself.
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With GnuPG 2.1 this changed and /gpg/ now also delegates all private
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key operations to the gpg-agent. Thus there is no more code in the
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/gpg/ binary for handling private keys. En passant this allows the
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long time requested “merging of secret keys” and several other
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advanced key management techniques.
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To ease the migration to the no-secring method, /gpg/ detects the
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presence of a `secring.gpg' and converts the keys on-the-fly to the
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the key store of /gpg-agent/ (this is the `private-keys-v1.d'
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directory below the GnuPG home directory (`~/.gnupg')). This is done
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only once and an existing `secring.gpg' is then not anymore touched by
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/gpg/. This allows co-existence of older GnuPG versions with GnuPG
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2.1. However, any change to the private keys using the new /gpg/ will
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not show up when using pre-2.1 versions of GnuPG and vice versa.
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Note that the command `--export-secret-keys' still creates an OpenPGP
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compliant file with the secret keys. This is achieved by asking
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/gpg-agent/ to convert a key and return it in the OpenPGP protected
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format. The export operation requires that the passphrase for the key
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is entered so that /gpg-agent/ is able to change the protection from
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its internal format to the OpenPGP required format.
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1.2 Removal of PGP-2 support
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────────────────────────────
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Some algorithms and parts of the protocols as used by the 20 years old
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[PGP-2] software are meanwhile considered unsafe. In particular the
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baked in use of the [MD5] hash algorithm limits the security of PGP-2
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keys to non-acceptable rate. Technically those PGP-2 keys are called
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version 3 keys (v3) and are easily identified by a shorter fingerprint
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which is commonly presented as 16 separate double hex digits.
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With GnuPG 2.1 all support for those keys has gone. If they are in an
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existing keyring they will eventually be removed. If GnuPG encounters
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such a key on import it will not be imported due to the not anymore
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implemented v3 key format. Removing the v3 key support also reduces
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complexity of the code and is thus better than to keep on handling
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them with a specific error message.
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There is one use case where PGP-2 keys may still be required: For
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existing encrypted data. We suggest to keep a version of GnuPG 1.4
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around which still has support for these keys (it might be required to
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use the `--allow-weak-digest-algos' option). A better solution is to
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re-encrypt the data using a modern key.
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[PGP-2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy
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[MD5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MD5
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1.3 Leaner key generation interface
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───────────────────────────────────
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This is best shown with an example:
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┌────
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│ $ gpg --gen-key
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│ gpg (GnuPG) 2.1.0; Copyright (C) 2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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│ This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
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│ There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
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│
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│ gpg: keybox '/home/foo/.gnupg/pubring.kbx' created
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│ Note: Use "gpg --full-gen-key" for a full featured key generation dialog.
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│
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│ GnuPG needs to construct a user ID to identify your key.
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│
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│ Real name: Glenn Greenwald
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│ Email address: glenn@example.org
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│ You selected this USER-ID:
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│ "Glenn Greenwald <glenn@example.org>"
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│
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│ Change (N)ame, (E)mail, or (O)kay/(Q)uit? o
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│ [...]
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│ pub rsa2048/68FD0088 2014-11-03
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│ Key fingerprint = 0290 5ABF 17C7 81FB C390 9B00 636A 1BBD 68FD 0088
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│ uid [ultimate] Glenn Greenwald <glenn@example.org>
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│ sub rsa2048/84439DCD 2014-11-03
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└────
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Thus only the name and the mail address are required. For all other
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parameters the default values are used. Many graphical frontends
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works in the same way. Note that /gpg/ prints a hint for the old time
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gpg users on how to get the full option menu.
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1.4 Support for ECC
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───────────────────
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GnuPG now support Elliptic Curve keys for public key encryption. This
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is defined in [RFC-6637]. Because there is no other mainstream
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OpenPGP implementation yet available which supports ECC, the use of
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such keys is still very limited. Thus GnuPG 2.1 currently hides the
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options to create an ECC key.
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For those who want to experiment with ECC or already want to prepare a
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key for future use, the command `--full-gen-key' along with the option
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`--expert' is the enabler:
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┌────
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│ $ gpg --expert --full-gen-key
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│ gpg (GnuPG) 2.1.0; Copyright (C) 2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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│ This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
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│ There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
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│
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│ Please select what kind of key you want:
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│ (1) RSA and RSA (default)
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│ (2) DSA and Elgamal
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│ (3) DSA (sign only)
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│ (4) RSA (sign only)
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│ (7) DSA (set your own capabilities)
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│ (8) RSA (set your own capabilities)
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│ (9) ECC and ECC
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│ (10) ECC (sign only)
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│ (11) ECC (set your own capabilities)
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│ Your selection? 9
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│ Please select which elliptic curve you want:
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│ (2) NIST P-256
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│ (3) NIST P-384
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│ (4) NIST P-521
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│ (5) Brainpool P-256
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│ (6) Brainpool P-384
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│ (7) Brainpool P-512
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│ Your selection? 2
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│ Please specify how long the key should be valid.
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│ 0 = key does not expire
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│ <n> = key expires in n days
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│ <n>w = key expires in n weeks
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│ <n>m = key expires in n months
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│ <n>y = key expires in n years
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│ Key is valid for? (0)
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│ Key does not expire at all
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│ Is this correct? (y/N) y
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│
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│ GnuPG needs to construct a user ID to identify your key.
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│
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│ Real name: Edward Snowden
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│ Email address: edward@example.org
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│ Comment:
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│ You selected this USER-ID:
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│ "Edward Snowden <edward@example.org>"
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│
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│ Change (N)ame, (C)omment, (E)mail or (O)kay/(Q)uit? o
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│ [...]
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│ pub nistp256/382660E3 2014-11-03
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│ Key fingerprint = E630 27CF 3D68 22A7 6FF2 093E D179 9E72 3826 60E3
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│ uid [ultimate] Edward Snowden <edward@example.org>
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│ sub nistp256/48C9A997 2014-11-03 nistp256
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└────
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In this example we created a primary ECC key for signing and an subkey
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for encryption. For both we use the NIST P-256 curve. The key may
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now be used in the same way as any other key. It is possible to add
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an RSA subkey or one can create an RSA or DSA main key and add an ECC
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subkey for signing or encryption. Note that the list of offered
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curves depends on the installed Libgcrypt version.
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For many people the NIST and also the Brainpool curves have an
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doubtful origin and thus the plan for GnuPG is to use Bernstein’s
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[Curve 25519] as default. GnuPG 2.1.0 already comes with support for
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signing keys using the [Ed25519] variant of this curve. This has not
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yet been standardized by the IETF (i.e. there is no RFC) but we won’t
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wait any longer and go ahead using the proposed format for this
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signing algorithm. The format for an encryption key has not yet been
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finalized and will be added to GnuPG in one of the next point
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releases. Recall that an encryption subkey can be added to a key at
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any time. If you want to create a signing key you may do it this way:
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┌────
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│ $ gpg --expert --full-gen-key
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│ gpg (GnuPG) 2.1.0; Copyright (C) 2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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│ This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
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│ There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
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│
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│ Please select what kind of key you want:
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│ (1) RSA and RSA (default)
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│ (2) DSA and Elgamal
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│ (3) DSA (sign only)
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│ (4) RSA (sign only)
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│ (7) DSA (set your own capabilities)
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│ (8) RSA (set your own capabilities)
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│ (9) ECC and ECC
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│ (10) ECC (sign only)
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│ (11) ECC (set your own capabilities)
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│ Your selection? 10
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│ Please select which elliptic curve you want:
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│ (1) Curve 25519
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│ (2) NIST P-256
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│ (3) NIST P-384
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│ (4) NIST P-521
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│ (5) Brainpool P-256
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│ (6) Brainpool P-384
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│ (7) Brainpool P-512
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│ Your selection? 1
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│ gpg: WARNING: Curve25519 is not yet part of the OpenPGP standard.
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│ Use this curve anyway? (y/N) y
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│ Please specify how long the key should be valid.
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│ 0 = key does not expire
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│ <n> = key expires in n days
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│ <n>w = key expires in n weeks
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│ <n>m = key expires in n months
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│ <n>y = key expires in n years
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│ Key is valid for? (0)
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│ Key does not expire at all
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│ Is this correct? (y/N) y
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│
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│ GnuPG needs to construct a user ID to identify your key.
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│
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│ Real name: Laura Poitras
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│ Email address: laura@example.org
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│ Comment:
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│ You selected this USER-ID:
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│ "Laura Poitras <laura@example.org>"
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│
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│ Change (N)ame, (C)omment, (E)mail or (O)kay/(Q)uit? o
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│ [...]
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│ pub ed25519/5C1AFC2A 2014-11-03
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│ Key fingerprint = ED85 4D98 5D8F 502F C6C5 FFB2 AA81 319E 5C1A FC2A
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│ uid [ultimate] Laura Poitras <laura@example.org>
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└────
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Support for ECC keys is available only on some keyservers but it is
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expected that this will be fixed over the next few months.
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[RFC-6637] https://rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6637
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[Curve 25519] http://cr.yp.to/ecdh/curve25519-20060209.pdf
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[Ed25519] http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13389-012-0027-1
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1.5 Quick generate and sign commands
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────────────────────────────────────
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Sometimes it is useful to use only command line options without any
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parameter file or interactive prompts for generating a key or to sign
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a key. This can now be accomplished with a few new commands:
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┌────
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│ $ gpg --batch --quick-gen-key 'Daniel Ellsberg <ellsberg@example.org>'
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│ gpg: key 911B90A9 marked as ultimately trusted
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└────
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If a key with that user id already exists, gpg bails out with an error
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message. You can force creation using the option `--yes'. If you
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want some more control, you may not use `--batch' and gpg will ask for
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confirmation and show the resulting key:
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┌────
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│ $ gpg --quick-gen-key 'Daniel Ellsberg <ellsberg@example.org>'
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│ About to create a key for:
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│ "Daniel Ellsberg <ellsberg@example.org>"
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│
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│ Continue? (Y/n) y
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│ gpg: A key for "Daniel Ellsberg <ellsberg@example.org>" already exists
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│ Create anyway? (y/N) y
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│ gpg: creating anyway
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│ [...]
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│ pub rsa2048/BD19AC1C 2014-11-04
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│ Key fingerprint = 15CB 723E 2000 A1A8 2505 F3B7 CC00 B501 BD19 AC1C
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│ uid [ultimate] Daniel Ellsberg <ellsberg@example.org>
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│ sub rsa2048/72A4D018 2014-11-04
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└────
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Another common operation is to sign a key. /gpg/ can do this directly
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from the command line by giving the fingerprint of the to-be-signed
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key:
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┌────
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│ $ gpg --quick-sign-key '15CB 723E 2000 A1A8 2505 F3B7 CC00 B501 BD19 AC1C'
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│
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│ pub rsa2048/BD19AC1C
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│ created: 2014-11-04 expires: never usage: SC
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│ trust: ultimate validity: ultimate
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│ Primary key fingerprint: 15CB 723E 2000 A1A8 2505 F3B7 CC00 B501 BD19 AC1C
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│
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│ Daniel Ellsberg <ellsberg@example.org>
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└────
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In case the key has already been signed, the command prints a note and
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exits with success. In case you want to check that it really worked,
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use `--check-sigs' as usual:
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┌────
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│ $ gpg --check-sigs '15CB 723E 2000 A1A8 2505 F3B7 CC00 B501 BD19 AC1C'
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│ gpg: checking the trustdb
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│ gpg: 3 marginal(s) needed, 1 complete(s) needed, PGP trust model
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│ gpg: depth: 0 valid: 6 signed: 1 trust: 0-, 0q, 0n, 0m, 0f, 6u
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│ pub rsa2048/BD19AC1C 2014-11-04
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│ uid [ full ] Daniel Ellsberg <ellsberg@example.org>
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│ sig!3 BD19AC1C 2014-11-04 Daniel Ellsberg <ellsberg@example.org>
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│ sig! 68FD0088 2014-11-04 Glenn Greenwald <glenn@example.org>
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│ sub rsa2048/72A4D018 2014-11-04
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│ sig! BD19AC1C 2014-11-04 Daniel Ellsberg <ellsberg@example.org>
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└────
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The fingerprint may also be given without the spaces in which case
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there is no need for the quotes. If you want to sign only certain
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user ids of a key, list those user id verbatim after the fingerprint.
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To create a non-exportable key signature, use the command
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`--quick-lsign-key' instead.
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Since version 2.1.4 it possible to directly add another user id to an
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existing key:
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┌────
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│ $ gpg -k 8CFDE12197965A9A
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│ pub ed25519/8CFDE12197965A9A 2014-08-19
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│ uid [ unknown] EdDSA sample key 1
|
||
│ $ gpg --quick-adduid 8CFDE12197965A9A 'Sample 2 <me@example.org>'
|
||
│ $ gpg -k 8CFDE12197965A9A
|
||
│ pub ed25519/8CFDE12197965A9A 2014-08-19
|
||
│ uid [ unknown] Sample 2 <me@example.org>
|
||
│ uid [ unknown] EdDSA sample key 1
|
||
└────
|
||
|
||
Since version 2.1.13 another subkey can directly be added to an
|
||
existing key:
|
||
|
||
┌────
|
||
│ $ gpg --quick-addkey 15CB723E2000A1A82505F3B7CC00B501BD19AC1C - - 2016-12-31
|
||
│ $ gpg -k 15CB723E2000A1A82505F3B7CC00B501BD19AC1C
|
||
│ pub rsa2048 2014-11-04 [SC]
|
||
│ 15CB723E2000A1A82505F3B7CC00B501BD19AC1C
|
||
│ uid [ unknown] Daniel Ellsberg <ellsberg@example.org>
|
||
│ sub rsa2048 2014-11-04 [E]
|
||
│ sub rsa2048 2016-06-06 [E] [expires: 2016-12-31]
|
||
└────
|
||
|
||
Here we created another encryption subkey with an expiration date.
|
||
The key listing also shows the default key listing format introduced
|
||
with 2.1.13. There are a lot of other options to the `--quick-addkey'
|
||
command which are described in the manual.
|
||
|
||
Since version 2.1.14 it possible to revoke a user id on an existing
|
||
key:
|
||
|
||
┌────
|
||
│ $ gpg -k 8CFDE12197965A9A
|
||
│ pub ed25519/8CFDE12197965A9A 2014-08-19
|
||
│ uid [ unknown] Sample 2 <me@example.org>
|
||
│ uid [ unknown] EdDSA sample key 1
|
||
│ $ gpg --quick-revuid 8CFDE12197965A9A 'EdDSA sample key 1'
|
||
│ $ gpg -k 8CFDE12197965A9A
|
||
│ pub ed25519/8CFDE12197965A9A 2014-08-19
|
||
│ uid [ unknown] Sample 2 <me@example.org>
|
||
└────
|
||
|
||
Since version 2.1.17 the expiration date of the primary key can be
|
||
changed directly:
|
||
|
||
┌────
|
||
│ $ gpg --quick-set-expire 5B83120DB1E3A65AE5A8DCF6AA43F1DCC7FED1B7 2017-12-31
|
||
│ $ gpg -K 5B83120DB1E3A65AE5A8DCF6AA43F1DCC7FED1B7
|
||
│ sec rsa2048 2016-06-22 [SC] [expires: 2017-12-31]
|
||
│ 5B83120DB1E3A65AE5A8DCF6AA43F1DCC7FED1B7
|
||
│ uid [ultimate] steve.biko@example.net
|
||
│ ssb rsa2048 2016-06-22 [E]
|
||
│
|
||
│ $ gpg --quick-set-expire 5B83120DB1E3A65AE5A8DCF6AA43F1DCC7FED1B7 none
|
||
│ $ gpg -K 5B83120DB1E3A65AE5A8DCF6AA43F1DCC7FED1B7
|
||
│ sec rsa2048 2016-06-22 [SC]
|
||
│ 5B83120DB1E3A65AE5A8DCF6AA43F1DCC7FED1B7
|
||
│ uid [ultimate] steve.biko@example.net
|
||
│ ssb rsa2048 2016-06-22 [E]
|
||
└────
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.6 Improved Pinentry support
|
||
─────────────────────────────
|
||
|
||
When using a recent Pinentry module (0.90, GTK+ variant), the
|
||
gpg-agent will not anymore show two separate Pinentry dialogs to enter
|
||
a new passphrase and later to confirm the new passphrase. Instead the
|
||
first dialog also has the confirm/repeat entry and internally checks
|
||
whether they match.
|
||
|
||
With any Pinentry version the several separate dialogs to inform and
|
||
ask for confirmation about questionable properties of a new passphrase
|
||
(e.g. length, only alpha letters) have been combined into one dialog
|
||
to show all non-asserted constraints at once.
|
||
|
||
The GTK+ Pinentry does now allow pasting of values into the entries.
|
||
Copying them from the entries is still inhibited on purpose.
|
||
Depending on the system, the option `no-grab' may be required for in
|
||
the `gpg-agent.conf' file to actually make use of the paste feature.
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.7 Auto-start of the gpg-agent
|
||
───────────────────────────────
|
||
|
||
The /gpg-agent/ is the central part of the GnuPG system. It takes
|
||
care of all private (secret) keys and if required diverts operations
|
||
to a smartcard or other token. It also provides support for the
|
||
Secure Shell by implementing the ssh-agent protocol.
|
||
|
||
The classic way to run /gpg-agent/ on Unix systems is by launching it
|
||
at login time and use an environment variable (`GPG_AGENT_INFO') to
|
||
tell the other GnuPG modules how to connect to the agent. However,
|
||
correctly managing the start up and this environment variable is
|
||
cumbersome so that an easier method is required. Since GnuPG 2.0.16
|
||
the `--use-standard-socket' option already allowed to start the agent
|
||
on the fly; however the environment variable was still required.
|
||
|
||
With GnuPG 2.1 the need of `GPG_AGENT_INFO' has been completely
|
||
removed and the variable is ignored. Instead a fixed Unix domain
|
||
socket named `S.gpg-agent' in the GnuPG home directory (by default
|
||
`~/.gnupg') is used. The agent is also started on demand by all tools
|
||
requiring services from the agent.
|
||
|
||
If the option `--enable-ssh-support' is used the auto-start mechanism
|
||
does not work because /ssh/ does not know about this mechanism.
|
||
Instead it is required that the environment variable `SSH_AUTH_SOCK'
|
||
is set to the `S.gpg-agent.ssh' socket in the GnuPG home directory.
|
||
Further /gpg-agent/ must be started: Either by using a GnuPG command
|
||
which implicitly starts /gpg-agent/ or by using `gpgconf --launch
|
||
gpg-agent' to explicitly start it if not yet done.
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.8 Duplicate long key id fixes
|
||
───────────────────────────────
|
||
|
||
A deficit of the OpenPGP protocol is that signatures carry only a
|
||
limited indication on which public key has been used to create a
|
||
signature. Thus a verification engine may only use this “long key id”
|
||
to look up the key in its own store or from a public keyserver.
|
||
Unfortunately it has now become possible to create a key with a long
|
||
key id matching the key id of another key. Importing a key with a
|
||
long key id already used by another key in gpg’s local key store was
|
||
not possible due to checks done on import. Now, if the “wrong” key
|
||
has been imported first /gpg/ would not allow later import of the
|
||
second “correct” key. This problem has been fixed in 2.1 by allowing
|
||
the import and by doing trial verification against all matching keys.
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.9 Enhanced Dirmngr
|
||
────────────────────
|
||
|
||
Before version 2.1, /gpg/ used so-called keyserver helpers to access
|
||
the OpenPGP keyservers. A problem with that is that they are short
|
||
living processes which are not able to keep a state. With 2.1, the
|
||
formerly separate package Dirmngr (which was separate due to copyright
|
||
assignment reasons) has been integrated into GnuPG.
|
||
|
||
In the past /dirmngr/ was only used by /gpgsm/ for X.509 (S/MIME) CRL
|
||
and OCSP handling. Being a proper part of GnuPG /dirmngr/ does now
|
||
also care about accessing OpenPGP keyservers. This make its easier to
|
||
debug problems with the keyservers and to exchange additional
|
||
information about the keyserver between /gpg/ and /dirmngr/. It will
|
||
eventually also be possible to run background tasks to refresh keys.
|
||
|
||
Although the ability to start /dirmngr/ as a system service is still
|
||
available, this is not anymore recommended and instead /dirmngr/ is
|
||
now by default started on-demand, very similar to /gpg-agent/.
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.10 Better keyserver pool support
|
||
──────────────────────────────────
|
||
|
||
For load balancing reasons, keyservers are organized in pools to
|
||
enable instant round-robin DNS assignment of random keyservers. A
|
||
problem with that approach is that the DNS resolver is not aware of
|
||
the state of the keyserver. If a keyserver has gone down or a routing
|
||
problems occurs, /gpg/ and its keyserver helpers were not aware of it
|
||
and would try over and over to use the same, dead, keyserver up until
|
||
the DNS information expires and a the DNS resolver assigned a new
|
||
server from the pool.
|
||
|
||
The new /dirmngr/ in GnuPG does not use the implicit round-robin of
|
||
the DNS resolver but uses its own DNS lookup and keeps an internal
|
||
table of all hosts from the pool along with the encountered aliveness
|
||
state. Thus after a failure (timeout) of a request, /dirmngr/ flags a
|
||
host as dead and randomly selects another one from the pool. After a
|
||
few hours the flag is removed so that the host will be tried again.
|
||
It is also possible to mark a specific host from a pool explicitly as
|
||
dead so that it won’t be used in the future. To interact with the
|
||
/dirmngr/ the `gpg-connect-agent' tool is used:
|
||
|
||
┌────
|
||
│ $ gpg-connect-agent --dirmngr 'help keyserver' /bye
|
||
│ $ gpg-connect-agent --dirmngr 'keyserver --hosttable' /bye
|
||
└────
|
||
|
||
The first command prints a help screen for the keyserver command and
|
||
the second command prints the current host table.
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.11 Faster keyring format
|
||
──────────────────────────
|
||
|
||
The format GnuPG has always used for the public keyring is actually a
|
||
slightly extended version of the on-the-wire format for OpenPGP key
|
||
exchange. This format is quite inflexible to work with when random
|
||
access to keys in the keyring is required. In fact /gpg/ always
|
||
parsed all keys in the keyring until it encountered the desired one.
|
||
With a large keyring (more than a few thousand keys) this could be
|
||
quite slow.
|
||
|
||
From its very beginning /gpgsm/ has used a different format to store
|
||
public keys (certificates) which we call a /keybox/. That file format
|
||
carries meta information about the stored keys and thus allows
|
||
searching without actually parsing the key and computing fingerprints
|
||
and such. The /keybox/ format has been designed to be protocol
|
||
independent and with 2.1 support for OpenPGP keys has been added.
|
||
Random access to the keys is now really fast and keyrings with 30000
|
||
keys and more are now easily possible. That change also enables us to
|
||
easily introduce other storage methods
|
||
|
||
If no `pubring.gpg' is found, /gpg/ defaults to the new /keybox/
|
||
format and creates a `pubring.kbx' keybox file. If such a keybox file
|
||
already exists, for example due to the use of /gpgsm/, it will also be
|
||
used for OpenPGP keys. However, if a `pubring.gpg' is found and no
|
||
keybox file with OpenPGP keys exists, the old `pubring.gpg' will be
|
||
used. Take care: GnuPG versions before 2.1 will always use the
|
||
`pubring.gpg' file and not know anything about keys stored in the
|
||
keybox file.
|
||
|
||
To convert an existing `pubring.gpg' file to the keybox format, you
|
||
first backup the ownertrust values, then rename the file to (for
|
||
example) `publickeys', so it won’t be recognized by any GnuPG version,
|
||
then run import, and finally restore the ownertrust values:
|
||
|
||
┌────
|
||
│ $ cd ~/.gnupg
|
||
│ $ gpg --export-ownertrust >otrust.lst
|
||
│ $ mv pubring.gpg publickeys
|
||
│ $ gpg --import-options import-local-sigs --import publickeys
|
||
│ $ gpg --import-ownertrust otrust.lst
|
||
└────
|
||
|
||
You may then rename the `publickeys' file back so that it can be used
|
||
by older GnuPG versions. Remember that in this case you have two
|
||
independent copies of the public keys. The ownertrust values are kept
|
||
by all gpg versions in the file `trustdb.gpg' but the above
|
||
precautions need to be taken to keep them over an import.
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.12 Auto-generated revocation certificates
|
||
───────────────────────────────────────────
|
||
|
||
This version creates an ASCII armored revocation certificate for each
|
||
generated keypair and stores that certificate in a file named after
|
||
the fingerprint of the key in the `openpgp-revocs.d' directory below
|
||
the GnuPG home directory. Brief instructions on how to use this
|
||
revocation certificate are put at the top of the file.
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.13 Improved card support
|
||
──────────────────────────
|
||
|
||
The /scdaemon/, which is responsible for accessing smardcards and
|
||
other tokens, has received many updates. In particular pluggable USB
|
||
readers with a fixed card now work smoothless and similar to standard
|
||
readers. The latest features of the [gnuk] token are supported. Code
|
||
for the SmartCard-HSM has been added. More card readers with a PIN
|
||
pad are supported. The internal CCID driver does now also work with
|
||
certain non-auto-configuration equipped readers.
|
||
|
||
Since version 2.1.19 multiple card readers are support and the format
|
||
of the Pinentry prompts has been changed to show more information on
|
||
the requested card.
|
||
|
||
|
||
[gnuk] http://www.fsij.org/doc-gnuk/
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.14 New format for key listings
|
||
────────────────────────────────
|
||
|
||
Due to the introduction of ECC keys the old format to list keys was
|
||
not anymore suitable. In particular, the length of an ECC key is
|
||
defined but its expressiveness is limited without the other parameters
|
||
of the curve. The common way to describe an ECC key is by using the
|
||
assigned name of its curve. To allow for a common description we now
|
||
either use the algorithm name with appended key length or use the name
|
||
of the curve:
|
||
|
||
┌────
|
||
│ pub 2048D/1E42B367 2007-12-31 [expires: 2018-12-31]
|
||
│
|
||
│ pub dsa2048 2007-12-31 [SC] [expires: 2018-12-31]
|
||
│ 80615870F5BAD690333686D0F2AD85AC1E42B367
|
||
│
|
||
│ pub ed25519 2014-10-18 [SC]
|
||
│ 0B7F0C1D690BC440D5AFF9B56902F00A0AA914C9
|
||
└────
|
||
|
||
The first two "pub"-items show the same key in the old format and in
|
||
the new format. The third "pub"-item shows an example of an ECC key
|
||
using an ed25519 curve. Note that since version 2.1.13 the key id is
|
||
not anymore shown. Instead the full fingerprint is shown in a compact
|
||
format; by using the option `--with-fingerprint' the non-compact
|
||
format is used. The `--keyid-format' option can be used to switch
|
||
back to the discouraged format which prints only the key id.
|
||
|
||
As a further change the validity of a key is now shown by default;
|
||
that is `show-uid-validity' is implicitly used for the
|
||
`--list-options'.
|
||
|
||
The annotated key listing produced by the `--with-colons' options did
|
||
not change. However a couple of new fields have been added, for
|
||
example if the new option `--with-secret' is used the “S/N of a token
|
||
field” indicates the presence of a secret key even in a public key
|
||
listing. This option is supported by recent [GPGME] versions and
|
||
makes writing of key manager software easier.
|
||
|
||
|
||
[GPGME] https://gnupg.org/software/gpgme/
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.15 Recipient key from file
|
||
────────────────────────────
|
||
|
||
Since version 2.1.14 it is possible to specify the recipient’s key by
|
||
providing a file with that key. This done with the new options
|
||
`--recipient-file' (or short `-f') and `--hidden-recipient-file' (or
|
||
short `-F'). The file must containing exactly one key in binary or
|
||
armored format. All keys specified with those options are always
|
||
considered fully valid. These option may be mixed with the regular
|
||
options to specify a key. Along with the new convenience option
|
||
`--no-keyring' it is now possible to encrypt data without maintaining
|
||
a local keyring.
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.16 Using gpg as a filter
|
||
──────────────────────────
|
||
|
||
Since version 2.1.14 the export and import options have been enhanced
|
||
to allow the use of /gpg/ to modify a key without first stroing it in
|
||
the keyring. For example:
|
||
|
||
┌────
|
||
│ $ gpg --import-options import-minimal,import-export \
|
||
│ --output smallkey.gpg --import key.gpg
|
||
└────
|
||
|
||
copies the keys in `keys.gpg' to `smallkey.gpg' while also removing
|
||
all key signatures except for the latest self-signatures. This can
|
||
even be further restricted to copy only a specific user ID to the
|
||
output file:
|
||
|
||
┌────
|
||
│ $ gpg --import-options import-minimal,import-export \
|
||
│ --import-filter keepuid='mbox = foo@example.org' \
|
||
│ --output smallkey.gpg --import key.gpg
|
||
└────
|
||
|
||
Here the new `--import-filter' option is used to remove all user IDs
|
||
except for those which have the mail address “foo@example.org”. The
|
||
same is also possible while exporting a key:
|
||
|
||
┌────
|
||
│ $ gpg --export-filter keepuid='mbox = me@example.org' \
|
||
│ --armor --export 8CFDE12197965A9A >smallkey.asc
|
||
└────
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.17 Support for Putty
|
||
──────────────────────
|
||
|
||
On Windows the new option `--enable-putty-support' allows gpg-agent to
|
||
act as a replacement for [Putty]’s authentication agent /Pageant/. It
|
||
is the Windows counterpart for the `--enable-ssh-support' option as
|
||
used on Unix.
|
||
|
||
|
||
[Putty] http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.18 Export of SSH public keys
|
||
──────────────────────────────
|
||
|
||
The new command `--export-ssh-key' makes it easy to export an /ssh/
|
||
public key in the format used for ssh’s `authorized_keys' file. By
|
||
default the command exports the newest subkey with an authorization
|
||
usage flags. A special syntax can be used to export other subkeys.
|
||
This command is available since 2.1.11 and replaces the former debug
|
||
utility /gpgkey2ssh/.
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.19 Improved X.509 certificate creation
|
||
────────────────────────────────────────
|
||
|
||
In addition to an improved certificate signing request menu, it is now
|
||
possible to create a self-signed certificate using the interactive
|
||
menu of /gpgsm/.
|
||
|
||
In batch mode the certificate creation dialog can now be controlled by
|
||
a parameter file with several new keywords. Such a parameter file
|
||
allows the creation of arbitrary X.509 certificates similar to what
|
||
can be done with /openssl/. It may thus be used as the base for a CA
|
||
software. For details see the “CSR and certificate creation” section
|
||
in the manual.
|
||
|
||
The new commands `--export-secret-key-p8' and –export-secret-key-raw=
|
||
may be used to export a secret key directly in PKCS#8 or PKCS#1
|
||
format. Thus X.509 certificates for TLS use may be managed by /gpgsm/
|
||
and directly exported in a format suitable for OpenSSL based servers.
|
||
|
||
|
||
1.20 Scripts to create a Windows installer
|
||
──────────────────────────────────────────
|
||
|
||
GnuPG now comes with the /speedo/ build system which may be used to
|
||
quickly download and build GnuPG and all its direct dependencies on a
|
||
decent Unix system. See the README file for more instructions.
|
||
|
||
The very same script may also be used to build a complete NSIS based
|
||
installer for Windows using the mingw-w64 cross-compiler toolchain.
|
||
That installer will feature GnuPG proper, GPA as graphical frontend,
|
||
and GpgEX as a Windows Explorer extension. GnuPG needs to be unpacked
|
||
and from the top source directory you run this command
|
||
|
||
┌────
|
||
│ make -f build-aux/speedo.mk w32-installer
|
||
└────
|
||
|
||
This command downloads all direct dependencies, checks the signatures
|
||
using the GnuPG version from the build system (all Linux distros
|
||
feature a suitable GnuPG tool), builds everything from source, and
|
||
uses NSIS to create the installer. Although this sounds easy, some
|
||
experience in setting up a development machine is still required.
|
||
Some versions of the toolchain exhibit bugs and thus your mileage may
|
||
vary. See the [Wiki] for more info.
|
||
|
||
Support for keyserver access over TLS is currently not available but
|
||
will be added with one of the next point releases.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
# Copyright 2014--2017 The GnuPG Project.
|
||
# This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
|
||
# Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of
|
||
# this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
|
||
# or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA
|
||
# 94042, USA.
|
||
#
|
||
# The canonical source for this article can be found in the gnupg-doc
|
||
# git repository as web/faq/whats-new-in-2.1.org.
|
||
|
||
|
||
[Wiki] https://wiki.gnupg.org/Build2.1_Windows
|