GPG-CONNECT-AGENT(1) GNU Privacy Guard 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 applica‐
tions. Input is expected at stdin and out put 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 direc‐
tory stated through the environment variable ‘GNUPGHOME’ or (on W32 systems) by means of the Registry
entry HKCU\Software\GNU\GnuPG:HomeDir.
--agent-program file
Specify the agent program to be started if none is running.
-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:
-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 vari‐
ables.
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.
unescape args
Remove C-style escapes from args. Note that \0 and \x00 terminate the returned string implic‐
itly. 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 func‐
tion 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 oeprators NOT, OR or
AND. The NOT operator works on the last argument only.
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 com‐
mands.
/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 ver‐
sions.
/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.
/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 couter 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 2.0.22 2016-11-05 GPG-CONNECT-AGENT(1)
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