optools/gpg/kant/kant.1.adoc

kant(1) Manual Page

NAME

kant - Sign GnuPG/OpenPGP/PGP keys and notify the key owner(s)

SYNOPSIS

kant [OPTION] -k/--key <KEY_IDS|BATCHFILE>

OPTIONS

Keysigning (and keysigning parties) can be a lot of fun, and can offer someone with new keys a way into the WoT (Web-of-Trust). Unfortunately, they can be intimidating to those new to the experience. This tool offers a simple and easy-to-use interface to sign public keys (normal, local-only, and/or non-exportable), set owner trust, specify level of checking done, and push the signatures to a keyserver. It even supports batch operation via a CSV file.

-h, --help

Display brief help/usage and exit.

-k KEY_IDS|BATCHFILE, --key KEY_IDS|BATCHFILE

A single or comma-separated list of key IDs (see KEY ID FORMAT) to sign, trust, and notify. Can also be an email address. If -b/--batch is specified, this should instead be a path to the batch file (see BATCHFILE).

-K KEY_ID, --sigkey KEY_ID

The key to use when signing other keys (see KEY ID FORMAT). The default key is automatically determined at runtime (it will be displayed in -h/--help output).

-t TRUSTLEVEL, --trustlevel TRUSTLEVEL

The trust level to automatically apply to all keys (if not specified, kant will prompt for each key). See BATCHFILE for trust level notations.

-c CHECKLEVEL, --checklevel CHECKLEVEL

The level of checking that was done to confirm the validity of ownership for all keys being signed. If not specified, the default is for kant to prompt for each key we sign. See BATCHFILE for check level notations.

-e EXPORT, --export EXPORT

Whether the signature(s) should be made exportable or not. See BATCHFILE for more information on exportability. The default is True (signatures will be exportable).

-l LOCAL, --local LOCAL

Make the signature(s) local-only (i.e. don’t push to a keyserver).

-s KEYSERVER(S), --keyservers KEYSERVER(S)

The comma-separated keyserver(s) to push to. The default keyserver list is automatically generated at runtime.

-b, --batch

If specified, operate in batch mode. See BATCHFILE for more information.

-d GPGDIR, --gpgdir GPGDIR

The GnuPG configuration directory to use (containing your keys, etc.). The default is automatically generated at runtime, but will probably be /home/<yourusername>/.gnupg or similar.

-T, --testkeyservers

If specified, initiate a basic test connection with each set keyserver before anything else. Disabled by default.

KEY ID FORMAT

Key IDs can be specified in one of two ways. The first (and preferred) way is to use the full 160-bit (40-character, hexadecimal) key ID. A little known fact is the fingerprint of a key:

DEAD BEEF DEAD BEEF DEAD BEEF DEAD BEEF DEAD BEEF

is actually the full key ID of the primary key; i.e.:

DEADBEEFDEADBEEFDEADBEEFDEADBEEFDEADBEEF

The second way to specify a key, as far as KANT is concerned, is to use an email address. Do note that if more than one key is found that matches the email address given, you will be prompted to select the specific correct key ID anyways so it’s usually a better idea to have the owner present their full key ID/fingerprint right from the get-go.

BATCHFILE

Format

The batch file is a CSV-formatted (comma-delimited) file containing keys to sign and other information about them. It keeps the following format:

KEY_ID,TRUSTLEVEL,PUSH,CHECKLEVEL,EXPORT

KEY_ID

See KEY ID FORMAT.

TRUSTLEVEL

The TRUSTLEVEL is specified by the following levels:

*THIS IS A TEST*

SEE ALSO

gpg(1), gpgcong(1)

RESOURCES

• Author’s web site:* https://square-r00t.net/

COPYING

Copyright (C) 2017 Brent Saner.

Free use of this software is granted under the terms of the GPLv3 License.