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 useful 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 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 named `gpgconf.ctl' in the same directory
as the tool `gpgconf.exe'. The root of the installation 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/usr/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 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 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 2.2.43 2024-03-04 GPG-CONNECT-AGENT(1)