phpman > man > gpg-connect-agent(1)

GPG-CONNECT-AGENT(1)                    GNU Privacy Guard 2.2                   GPG-CONNECT-AGENT(1)



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  use‐
       ful for scripting simple applications.  Input is expected at stdin and output gets printed to
       stdout.

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




       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 direc‐
              tory 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\Soft‐
              ware\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  direc‐
              tory 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  in‐
              stallation  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.


       --agent-program file
              Specify the agent program to be started if none is running.  The default value is  de‐
              termined  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 run‐
              ning.  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 spe‐
              cial 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  charac‐
              ters.


       --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, car‐
                     riage 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  op‐
                     erators 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  std‐
              out.  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  de‐
              scriptor  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  experimen‐
              tal 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  in‐
              ternal 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 counter 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.





GnuPG 2.2.27                                 2020-12-21                         GPG-CONNECT-AGENT(1)