SYNOPSIS
gpgv [options] signed_files
DESCRIPTION
gpgv is an OpenPGP signature verification tool.This program is actually a stripped-down version of gpg which is only able to check signatures. It is somewhat smaller than the fully-blown gpg and uses a different (and simpler) way to check that the public keys used to make the signature are valid. There are no configuration files and only a few options are implemented.
gpgv assumes that all keys in the keyring are trustworthy. That does also mean that it does not check for expired or revoked keys.
By default a keyring named 'trustedkeys.gpg' is used. This default keyring is assumed to be in the home directory of GnuPG, either the default home directory or the one set by an option or an environment variable. The option --keyring may be used to specify a different keyring or even multiple keyrings.
RETURN VALUE
The program returns 0 if everything is fine, 1 if at least one signature was bad, and other error codes for fatal errors.
OPTIONS
gpgv recognizes these options:
- --verbose
- -v
-
Gives more information during processing. If used
twice, the input data is listed in detail.
- --quiet
- -q
-
Try to be as quiet as possible.
- --keyring file
-
Add file to the list of keyrings.
If file begins with a tilde and a slash, these
are replaced by the HOME directory. If the filename
does not contain a slash, it is assumed to be in the
home-directory ("~/.gnupg" if --homedir is not used).
- --status-fd n
-
Write special status strings to the file descriptor n. See the
file DETAILS in the documentation for a listing of them.
- --logger-fd n
-
Write log output to file descriptor n and not to stderr.
- --ignore-time-conflict
-
GnuPG normally checks that the timestamps associated with keys and
signatures have plausible values. However, sometimes a signature seems to
be older than the key due to clock problems. This option turns these
checks into warnings.
- --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/gnupg' for internal cache files.
- --weak-digest name
-
Treat the specified digest algorithm as weak. Signatures made over
weak digests algorithms are normally rejected. This option can be
supplied multiple times if multiple algorithms should be considered
weak. MD5 is always considered weak, and does not need to be listed
explicitly.
EXAMPLES
- gpgv pgpfile
- gpgv sigfile [datafile]
-
Verify the signature of the file. The second form is used for detached
signatures, where sigfile is the detached signature (either
ASCII-armored or binary) and datafile contains the signed data;
if datafile is "-" the signed data is expected on
stdin; if datafile is not given the name of the file
holding the signed data is constructed by cutting off the extension
(".asc", ".sig" or ".sign") from sigfile.
FILES
- ~/.gnupg/trustedkeys.gpg
-
The default keyring with the allowed keys.
ENVIRONMENT
- HOME
-
Used to locate the default home directory.
- GNUPGHOME
-
If set directory used instead of "~/.gnupg".