gpg-wks-client(1) GNU Privacy Guard 2.6 gpg-wks-client(1)
NAME
gpg-wks-client - Client for the Web Key Service
SYNOPSIS
gpg-wks-client [options] --supported user-id
gpg-wks-client [options] --check user-id
gpg-wks-client [options] --create fingerprint user-id
gpg-wks-client [options] --receive
gpg-wks-client [options] --read
gpg-wks-client [options] --mirror
gpg-wks-client [options] --install-key
gpg-wks-client [options] --remove-key
gpg-wks-client [options] --print-wkd-hash
gpg-wks-client [options] --print-wkd-url
DESCRIPTION
The gpg-wks-client is used to send requests to a Web Key Service
provider. This is usually done to upload a key into a Web Key
Directory.
With the --supported command the caller can test whether a site
supports the Web Key Service. The argument is an arbitrary address in
the to be tested domain. For example `foo@example.net'. The command
returns success if the Web Key Service is supported. The operation is
silent; to get diagnostic output use the option --verbose. See option
--with-colons for a variant of this command.
With the --check command the caller can test whether a key exists for a
supplied mail address. The command returns success if a key is
available.
The --create command is used to send a request for publication in the
Web Key Directory. The arguments are the fingerprint of the key and
the user id to publish. The output from the command is a properly
formatted mail with all standard headers. This mail can be fed to
sendmail(8) or any other tool to actually send that mail. If
sendmail(8) is installed the option --send can be used to directly send
the created request. If the provider request a 'mailbox-only' user id
and no such user id is found, gpg-wks-client will try an additional
user id.
The --receive and --read commands are used to process confirmation
mails as send from the service provider. The former expects an
encrypted MIME messages, the latter an already decrypted MIME message.
The result of these commands are another mail which can be send in the
same way as the mail created with --create.
The command --install-key manually installs a key into a local
directory (see option -C) reflecting the structure of a WKD. The
arguments are a file with the keyblock and the user-id to install. If
the first argument resembles a fingerprint the key is taken from the
current keyring; to force the use of a file, prefix the first argument
with "./". If no arguments are given the parameters are read from
stdin; the expected format are lines with the fingerprint and the
mailbox separated by a space. The command --remove-key removes a key
from that directory, its only argument is a user-id.
The command --mirror is similar to --install-key but takes the keys
from the the LDAP server configured for Dirmngr. If no arguments are
given all keys and user ids are installed. If arguments are given they
are taken as domain names to limit the to be installed keys. The
option --blacklist may be used to further limit the to be installed
keys.
The command --print-wkd-hash prints the WKD user-id identifiers and the
corresponding mailboxes from the user-ids given on the command line or
via stdin (one user-id per line).
The command --print-wkd-url prints the URLs used to fetch the key for
the given user-ids from WKD. The meanwhile preferred format with sub-
domains is used here.
All commands may also be given without the two leading dashes.
OPTIONS
gpg-wks-client understands these options:
--send Directly send created mails using the sendmail command.
Requires installation of that command.
--with-colons
This option has currently only an effect on the --supported
command. If it is used all arguments on the command line are
taken as domain names and tested for WKD support. The output
format is one line per domain with colon delimited fields. The
currently specified fields are (future versions may specify
additional fields):
1 - domain
This is the domain name. Although quoting is not
required for valid domain names this field is specified
to be quoted in standard C manner.
2 - WKD
If the value is true the domain supports the Web Key
Directory.
3 - WKS
If the value is true the domain supports the Web Key
Service protocol to upload keys to the directory.
4 - error-code
This may contain an gpg-error code to describe certain
failures. Use `gpg-error CODE' to explain the code.
5 - protocol-version
The minimum protocol version supported by the server.
6 - auth-submit
The auth-submit flag from the policy file of the server.
7 - mailbox-only
The mailbox-only flag from the policy file of the server.
--output file
-o Write the created mail to file instead of stdout. Note that the
value - for file is the same as writing to stdout. If this
option is used with the --check command and a key was found it
is written to the given file.
--status-fd n
Write special status strings to the file descriptor n. This
program returns only 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.
-C dir
--directory dir
Use dir as top level directory for the commands --mirror,
--install-key and --remove-key. The default is `openpgpkey'.
--blacklist file
This option is used to exclude certain mail addresses from a
mirror operation. The format of file is one mail address (just
the addrspec, e.g., "postel@isi.edu") per line. Empty lines and
lines starting with a '#' are ignored.
--add-revocs
--no-add-revocs
If enabled append revocation certificates for the same addrspec
as used in the WKD to the key. Modern gpg version are able to
import and apply them for existing keys. Note that when used
with the --mirror command the revocation are searched in the
local keyring and not in an LDAP directory. The default is
--add-revocs.
--verbose
Enable extra informational output.
--quiet
Disable almost all informational output.
--version
Print version of the program and exit.
--help Display a brief help page and exit.
EXAMPLES
To use the services with clients lacking integrated support, the
mailcap mechanism can be used. Simply put:
application/vnd.gnupg.wks; \
/opt/local/bin/gpg-wks-client -v --read --send; \
needsterminal; \
description=WKS message
into the `/etc/mailcap'. This assumes that a /usr/lib/sendmail is
installed. With this configuration any real mail programs will run
gpg-wks-client for messages received from a Web Key Service.
SEE ALSO
gpg-wks-server(1)
GnuPG 2.5.16 2025-12-29 gpg-wks-client(1)
gnupg 2.5.16 - Generated Sun Jan 18 06:09:17 CST 2026