Sequoia PGP Manual Pages

1.3.1

NAME

sq-key-generate - Generate a new key

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

Generate a new key.

Generating a key is the prerequisite to receiving encrypted messages and creating signatures. There are a few parameters to this process, but we provide reasonable defaults for most users.

When generating a key, we also generate an emergency revocation certificate. This can be used in case the key is lost or compromised. It is saved alongside the key. This can be changed using the --rev-cert argument.

By default a key expires after 3 years. This can be changed using the --expiration argument.

sq key generate respects the reference time set by the top-level --time argument. It sets the creation time of the primary key, any subkeys, and the binding signatures to the reference time.

OPTIONS

Subcommand options

--allow-non-canonical-userids

Don't reject user IDs that are not in canonical form

Canonical user IDs are of the form Name (Comment) <localpart@example.org>.

--can-authenticate

Add an authentication-capable subkey (default)

--can-encrypt=PURPOSE

Add an encryption-capable subkey [default: universal]

Encryption-capable subkeys can be marked as suitable for transport encryption, storage encryption, or both, i.e., universal.

[possible values: transport, storage, universal]

--can-sign

Add a signing-capable subkey (default)

--cannot-authenticate

Don't add an authentication-capable subkey

--cannot-encrypt

Don't add an encryption-capable subkey

--cannot-sign

Don't add a signing-capable subkey

--cipher-suite=CIPHER-SUITE

Select the cryptographic algorithms for the key

The default can be changed in the configuration file using the setting key.generate.cipher-suite.

[default: cv25519]

[possible values: rsa2k, rsa3k, rsa4k, cv25519]

--email=ADDRESS

Add an email address as user ID to the key

--expiration=EXPIRATION

Sets the expiration time

EXPIRATION is either an ISO 8601 formatted date with an optional time or a custom duration. A duration takes the form N[ymwds], where the letters stand for years, months, weeks, days, and seconds, respectively. Alternatively, the keyword never does not set an expiration time.

[default: 3y]

--name=NAME

Add a name as user ID to the key

--new-password-file=PASSWORD_FILE

File containing password to encrypt the secret key material

Note that the entire key file will be used as the password including any surrounding whitespace like a trailing newline.

--no-userids

Create a key without any user IDs

--output=FILE

Write the key to the specified file

When not specified, the key is saved on the key store.

--own-key

Mark the key as one's own key

The newly generated key with all of its user IDs will be marked as authenticated and as a fully trusted introducer.

--profile=PROFILE

Select the OpenPGP standard for the key

As OpenPGP evolves, new versions will become available. This option selects the version of OpenPGP to use for the newly generated key.

Currently, sq supports two profiles: RFC9580 and RFC4880. Currently, the default is RFC4880. However, once support for RFC9580 is rolled out further, the default will change in a future version of sq.

The default can be changed in the configuration file using the setting key.generate.profile.

[default: rfc4880]

[possible values: rfc9580, rfc4880]

--rev-cert=FILE

Write the emergency revocation certificate to FILE

When the key is stored on the key store, the revocation certificate is stored in $HOME/.local/share/sequoia/revocation-certificates by default.

When --output is specified, the revocation certificate is written to the file specified by --rev-cert.

If --output is -, then this option must not also be -.

--shared-key

Mark the key as a shared key

The newly generated key with all of its user IDs will be marked as authenticated, but not as a trusted introducer. Further, the key metadata will indicate that this is a shared key.

Use this option if you plan to share this key with other people. Normally, you shouldn't share keys material. An example of where you might want to do this is a shared mailbox.

--userid=USERID

Add a user ID to the key

This user ID can combine name and email address, can optionally contain a comment, or even be free-form if --allow-non-canonical-userids is given. However, user IDs that include different information such as name and email address are more difficult to reason about, so using distinct user IDs for name and email address is preferred nowadays.

In doubt, prefer --name and --email.

--without-password: Don't protect the secret key material with a password

Global options

See sq(1) for a description of the global options.

EXAMPLES

Generate a key, and save it on the key store.

sq key generate --own-key --name Alice --email \
alice@example.org

Generate a key, and save it in a file instead of in the key store.

sq key generate --own-key --name Alice --email \
alice@example.org --output alice-priv.pgp --rev-cert \
alice-priv.rev

VERSION