path: root/tools/README.gpgconf

============
  GPG Conf
============

CONCEPT
=======

gpgconf provides access to the configuration of one or more components
of the GnuPG system.  These components correspond more or less to the
programs that exist in the GnuPG framework, like GnuPG, GPGSM,
DirMngr, etc.  But this is not a strict one-to-one relationship.  Not
all configuration options are available through GPGConf.  GPGConf
provides a generic and abstract method to access the most important
configuration options that can feasibly be controlled via such a
mechanism.

GPGConf can be used to gather and change the options available in each
component, and can also provide their default values.  GPGConf will
give detailed type information that can be used to restrict the user's
input without making an attempt to commit the changes.

GPGConf provides the backend of a configuration editor.  The
configuration editor would usually be a graphical user interface
program, that allows to display the current options, their default
values, and allows the user to make changes to the options.  These
changes can then be made active with GPGConf again.  Such a program
that uses GPGConf in this way will be called 'GUI' throughout this
document.


Format Conventions
==================

Some lines in the output of GPGConf contain a list of colon-separated
fields.  The following conventions apply:

The GUI program is required to strip off trailing newline and/or carriage
return characters from the output.

GPGConf will never leave out fields.  If a certain version documents a
certain field, this field will always be present in all GPGConf
versions from that time on.

Future versions of GPGConf might append fields to the list.  New
fields will always be separated from the previously last field by a
colon separator.  The GUI should be prepared to parse the last field
it knows about up until a colon or end of line.

Not all fields are defined under all conditions.  You are required to
ignore the content of undefined fields.

Some fields contain strings that are not escaped in any way.  Such
fields are described to be used "verbatim".  These fields will never
contain a colon character (for obvious reasons).  No de-escaping or
other formatting is required to use the field content.  This is for
easy parsing of the output, when it is known that the content can
never contain any special characters.

Some fields contain strings that are described to be
"percent-escaped".  Such strings need to be de-escaped before their
content can be presented to the user.  A percent-escaped string is
de-escaped by replacing all occurences of %XY by the byte that has the
hexadecimal value XY.  X and Y are from the set { '0'..'9', 'a'..'f' }.

Some fields contain strings that are described to be "localised".  Such
strings are translated to the active language and formatted in the
active character set.

Some fields contain an unsigned number.  This number will always fit
into a 32-bit unsigned integer variable.  The number may be followed
by a space, followed by a human readable description of that value.
You should ignore everything in the field that follows the number.

Some fields contain a signed number.  This number will always fit into
a 32-bit signed integer variable.  The number may be followed by a
space, followed by a human readable description of that value.  You
should ignore everything in the field that follows the number.

Some fields contain an option argument.  The format of an option
argument depends on the type of the option and on some flags:

The simplest case is that the option does not take an argument at all
(TYPE is 0).  Then the option argument is an unsigned number that
specifies how often the option occurs.  If the LIST flag is not set,
then the only valid number is 1.  Options that don't take an argument
never have the "default" or "optional arg" flag set.

If the option takes a number argument (ALT-TYPE is 2 or 3), and it can
only occur once (LIST flag is not set), then the option argument is
either empty (only allowed if the argument is optional), or it is a
number.  A number is a string that begins with an optional minus
character, followed by one or more digits.  The number must fit into
an integer variable (unsigned or signed, depending on ALT-TYPE).

If the option takes a number argument and it can occur more than once,
then the option argument is either empty, or it is a comma-separated
list of numbers as described above.

If the option takes a string argument (ALT-TYPE is 1), and it can only
occur once (LIST flag is not set) then the option argument is either
empty (only allowed if the argument is optional), or it starts with a
double quote character (") followed by a percent-escaped string that
is the argument value.  Note that there is only a leading double quote
character, no trailing one.  The double quote character is only needed
to be able to differentiate between no value and the empty string as
value.

If the option takes a number argument and it can occur more than once,
then the option argument is either empty, or it is a comma-separated
list of string arguments as described above.

FIXME: Document the active language and active character set.  Allow
to change it via the command line?


Components
==========

A component is a set of configuration options that semantically belong
together.  Furthermore, several changes to a component can be made in
an atomic way with a single operation.  The GUI could for example
provide a menu with one entry for each component, or a window with one
tabulator sheet per component.

The following interface is provided to list the available components:

Command --list-components
-------------------------

Outputs a list of all components available, one per line.  The format
of each line is:

NAME:DESCRIPTION

NAME

This field contains a name tag of the component.  The name tag is used
to specify the component in all communication with GPGConf.  The name
tag is to be used verbatim.  It is not in any escaped format.

DESCRIPTION

The string in this field contains a human-readable description of the
component.  It can be displayed to the user of the GUI for
informational purposes.  It is percent-escaped and localized.

Example:
$ gpgconf --list-components
gpg-agent:GPG Agent
dirmngr:CRL Manager


OPTIONS
=======

Every component contains one or more options.  Options may belong to a
group.  The following command lists all options and the groups they
belong to:

Command --list-options COMPONENT
--------------------------------

Lists all options (and the groups they belong to) in the component
COMPONENT.  COMPONENT is the string in the field NAME in the
output of the --list-components command.

There is one line for each option and each group.  First come all
options that are not in any group.  Then comes a line describing a
group.  Then come all options that belong into each group.  Then comes
the next group and so on.

The format of each line is:

NAME:FLAGS:LEVEL:DESCRIPTION:TYPE:ALT-TYPE:ARGNAME:DEFAULT:ARGDEF:VALUE

NAME

This field contains a name tag for the group or option.  The name tag
is used to specify the group or option in all communication with
GPGConf.  The name tag is to be used verbatim.  It is not in any
escaped format.

FLAGS

The flags field contains an unsigned number.  Its value is the
OR-wise combination of the following flag values:

	 1 group	If this flag is set, this is a line describing
			a group and not an option.
  O	 2 optional arg	If this flag is set, the argument is optional.
			This is never set for arg type 0 (none) options.
  O	 4 list		If this flag is set, the option can be given
			multiple times.
  O	 8 runtime	If this flag is set, the option can be changed
			at runtime.
  O	16 default	If this flag is set, a default value is available.
  O	32 default desc If this flag is set, a (runtime) default is available.
                        This and the 'default' flag are mutually exclusive.
  O     64 no arg desc	If this flag is set, and the 'optional arg' flag
			is set, then the option has a special meaning if no
			argument is given.

Flags marked with a 'O' are only defined for options (ie, if the GROUP
flag is not set).

LEVEL

This field is defined for options and for groups.  It contains an
unsigned number that specifies the expert level under which this group
or option should be displayed.  The following expert levels are
defined for options (they have analogous meaning for groups):

	0 basic		This option should always be offered to the user.
	1 advanced	This option may be offered to advanced users.
	2 expert	This option should only be offered to expert users.
	3 invisible	This option should normally never be displayed,
			not even to expert users.
	4 internal	This option is for internal use only.  Ignore it.

The level of a group will always be the lowest level of all options it
contains.

DESCRIPTION

This field is defined for options and groups.  The string in this
field contains a human-readable description of the option or group.
It can be displayed to the user of the GUI for informational purposes.
It is percent-escaped and localized.

TYPE

This field is only defined for options.  It contains an unsigned
number that specifies the type of the option's argument, if any.
The following types are defined:

	Basic types
	 0 none		No argument allowed.
	 1 string	An unformatted string.
	 2 int32	A signed integer number.
	 3 uint32	An unsigned integer number.

	Complex types
	32 pathname	A string that describes the pathname of a file.
			The file does not necessarily need to exist.
	33 ldap server	A string that describes an LDAP server in the format
			HOSTNAME:PORT:USERNAME:PASSWORD:BASE_DN.

More types will be added in the future.  Please see the ALT-TYPE field
for information on how to cope with unknown types.

ALT-TYPE

This field is identical to TYPE, except that only the types 0 to 31
are allowed.  The GUI is expected to present the user the option in
the format specified by TYPE.  But if the argument type TYPE is not
supported by the GUI, it can still display the option in the more
generic basic type ALT-TYPE.  The GUI must support all the defined
basic types to be able to display all options.  More basic types may
be added in future versions.  If the GUI encounters a basic type it
doesn't support, it should report an error and abort the operation.

ARGNAME

This field is only defined for options with an argument type TYPE that
is not 0.  In this case it may contain a percent-escaped and localised
string that gives a short name for the argument.  The field may also
be empty, though, in which case a short name is not known.

DEFAULT

This field is defined only for options.  Its format is that of an
option argument (see section Format Conventions for details).  If the
default value is empty, then no default is known.  Otherwise, the
value specifies the default value for this option.  Note that this
field is also meaningful if the option itself does not take a real
argument.

ARGDEF

This field is defined only for options for which the "optional arg"
flag is set.  If the "no arg desc" flag is not set, its format is that
of an option argument (see section Format Conventions for details).
If the default value is empty, then no default is known.  Otherwise,
the value specifies the default value for this option.  If the "no arg
desc" flag is set, the field is either empty or contains a description
of the effect of this option if no argument is given.  Note that this
field is also meaningful if the option itself does not take a real
argument.

VALUE

This field is defined only for options.  Its format is that of an
option argument.  If it is empty, then the option is not explicitely
set in the current configuration, and the default applies (if any).
Otherwise, it contains the current value of the option.  Note that
this field is also meaningful if the option itself does not take a
real argument.


CHANGING OPTIONS
================

To change the options for a component, you must provide them in the
following format:

NAME:FLAGS:NEW-VALUE

NAME

This is the name of the option to change.

FLAGS

The flags field contains an unsigned number.  Its value is the
OR-wise combination of the following flag values:

	16 default	If this flag is set, the option is deleted and the
			default value is used instead (if applicable).

NEW-VALUE

The new value for the option.  This field is only defined if the
"default" flag is not set.  The format is that of an option argument.
If it is empty (or the field is omitted), the default argument is used
(only allowed if the argument is optional for this option).
Otherwise, the option will be set to the specified value.


Example:
To set the option force, which is of basic type 0 (none).
$ echo 'force:0:1' | gpgconf --change-options dirmngr
To delete the option force:
$ echo 'force:16:0' | gpgconf --change-options dirmngr


Option --runtime
----------------

If this option is set, the changes will take effect at run-time, as
far as this is possible.  Otherwise, they will take effect at the next
start of the respective backend programs.


BACKENDS
========

Backends should support the following commands:

Command --gpgconf-list
----------------------

List the location of the configuration file, and all default values of
all options.  The location of the configuration file must be an
absolute pathname.

The format of each line is:

NAME:FLAGS:DEFAULT:ARGDEF

NAME

This field contains a name tag for the group or option.  The name tag
is used to specify the group or option in all communication with
GPGConf.  The name tag is to be used verbatim.  It is not in any
escaped format.

FLAGS

The flags field contains an unsigned number.  Its value is the
OR-wise combination of the following flag values:

	16 default	If this flag is set, a default value is available.
	32 default desc If this flag is set, a (runtime) default is available.
			This and the "default" flag are mutually exclusive.
	64 no arg desc	If this flag is set, and the "optional arg" flag
			is set, then the option has a special meaning if no
			argument is given.

DEFAULT

This field is defined only for options.  Its format is that of an
option argument (see section Format Conventions for details).  If the
default value is empty, then no default is known.  Otherwise, the
value specifies the default value for this option.  Note that this
field is also meaningful if the option itself does not take a real
argument.

ARGDEF

This field is defined only for options for which the "optional arg"
flag is set.  If the "no arg desc" flag is not set, its format is that
of an option argument (see section Format Conventions for details).
If the default value is empty, then no default is known.  Otherwise,
the value specifies the default value for this option.  If the "no arg
desc" flag is set, the field is either empty or contains a description
of the effect of this option if no argument is given.  Note that this
field is also meaningful if the option itself does not take a real
argument.


Example:
$ dirmngr --gpgconf-list
gpgconf-config-file:/mnt/marcus/.gnupg/dirmngr.conf
ldapservers-file:/mnt/marcus/.gnupg/dirmngr_ldapservers.conf
add-servers:0
max-replies:10


TODO
----

* Extend the backend interface to include gettext domain and
description, if available, to avoid repeating this information in
gpgconf.

* Left out string arguments (optional) are written out exactly as
empty string arguments.  Should we do quoting?

* More string argument trouble: Special characters like newlines etc
cause trouble.  Again, should we do quoting?