SQ(1)

NAME
sq decrypt - Decrypts a message

SYNOPSIS
sq decrypt [OPTIONS] FILE

DESCRIPTION
Decrypts a message.

Decrypts a message using either supplied keys, or by prompting for a password. If message tampering is detected, an error is returned. See below for details.

If certificates are supplied using the `--signer-cert` option, any signatures that are found are checked using these certificates. Verification is only successful if there is no bad signature, and the number of successfully verified signatures reaches the threshold configured with the `--signatures` parameter.

If the signature verification fails, or if message tampering is detected, the program terminates with an exit status indicating failure. In addition to that, the last 25 MiB of the message are withheld, i.e. if the message is smaller than 25 MiB, no output is produced, and if it is larger, then the output will be truncated.

The converse operation is `sq encrypt`.

OPTIONS

  Subcommand options

--dump
    Prints a packet dump to stderr

--dump-session-key
    Prints the session key to stderr

-n, --signatures=N
    Sets the threshold of valid signatures to N. The message will only be considered verified if this threshold is reached. [default: 1 if at least one signer cert file is given, 0 otherwise]

-o, --output=FILE
    Writes to FILE or stdout if omitted

--private-key-store=KEY_STORE
    Provides parameters for private key store

--recipient-file=KEY_FILE
    Decrypts the message using the key in KEY_FILE

--session-key=SESSION-KEY
    Decrypts an encrypted message using SESSION-KEY

--signer-file=CERT_FILE
    Verifies signatures using the certificates in CERT_FILE

-x, --hex
    Prints a hexdump (implies `--dump`)

FILE
    Reads from FILE or stdin if omitted

  Global options

--cert-store=PATH
    Specifies the location of the certificate store. By default, sq uses the OpenPGP certificate directory at `$HOME/.local/share/pgp.cert.d`, and creates it if it does not exist.

-f, --force
    Overwrites existing files

-h, --help
    Print help (see a summary with '-h')

--keyring=PATH
    Specifies the location of a keyring to use. Keyrings are used in addition to any certificate store. The content of the keyring is not imported into the certificate store. When a certificate is looked up, it is looked up in all keyrings and any certificate store, and the results are merged together.

--known-notation=NOTATION
    Adds NOTATION to the list of known notations. This is used when validating signatures. Signatures that have unknown notations with the critical bit set are considered invalid.

--no-cert-store
    Disables the use of a certificate store. Normally sq uses the user's standard cert-d, which is located in `$HOME/.local/share/pgp.cert.d`.

--output-format=FORMAT
    Produces output in FORMAT, if possible

--output-version=VERSION
    Produces output variant VERSION, such as 0.0.0. The default is the newest version. The output version is separate from the version of the sq program. To see the current supported versions, use output-versions subcommand.

--pep-cert-store=PATH
    Specifies the location of a pEp certificate store. sq does not use a pEp certificate store by default; it must be explicitly enabled using this argument or the corresponding environment variable, PEP_CERT_STORE. The pEp Engine's default certificate store is at `$HOME/.pEp/keys.db`.

--time=TIME
    Sets the reference time as an ISO 8601 formatted timestamp. Normally, commands use the current time as the reference time. This argument allows the user to use a difference reference time. For instance, when creating a key using `sq key generate`, the creation time is normally set to the current time, but can be overridden using this option. Similarly, when verifying a message, the message is verified with respect to the current time. This option allows the user to use a different time.

    TIME is interpreted as an ISO 8601 timestamp. To set the certification time to July 21, 2013 at midnight UTC, you can do:

    $ sq --time 20130721 verify msg.pgp

    To include a time, say 5:50 AM, add a T, the time and optionally the timezone (the default timezone is UTC):

    $ sq --time 20130721T0550+0200 verify msg.pgp

--trust-root=FINGERPRINT|KEYID
    Considers the specified certificate to be a trust root. Trust roots are used by trust models, e.g., the Web of Trust, to authenticate certificates and User IDs.

-v, --verbose
    Be more verbose.

EXAMPLES

Decrypt a file using a secret key

    sq decrypt --recipient-file juliet.pgp ciphertext.pgp

Decrypt a file verifying signatures

    sq decrypt --recipient-file juliet.pgp --signer-file romeo.pgp \
        ciphertext.pgp

Decrypt a file using a password

    sq decrypt ciphertext.pgp

SEE ALSO
sq(1).

For the full documentation see <https://book.sequoia-pgp.org>.

VERSION
0.33.0 (sequoia-openpgp 1.17.0)