SQ(1)

NAME
sq verify - Verifies signed messages or detached signatures

SYNOPSIS
sq [GLOBAL OPTIONS] verify [OPTIONS] FILE

DESCRIPTION
Verifies signed messages or detached signatures.

When verifying signed messages, the message is written to stdout or the file given to --output.

When a detached message is verified, no output is produced. Detached signatures are often used to sign software packages.

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 verification fails, 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 sign".

If you are looking for a standalone program to verify detached signatures, consider using sequoia-sqv.

OPTIONS

  Global options

-f, --force
    Overwrites existing files

--help
    Print help information

--known-notation=NOTATION
    Adds NOTATION to the list of known notations

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

--output-version=VERSION
    Produces output variant VERSION.

--version
    Print version information

  Subcommand options

--detached=SIG
    Verifies a detached signature

--help
    Print help information

-n, --signatures=N
    Sets the threshold of valid signatures to N

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

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

--version
    Print version information

EXAMPLES

Verify a signed message

    sq verify --signer-file juliet.pgp signed-message.pgp

Verify a detached message

    sq verify --signer-file juliet.pgp --detached message.sig message.txt

SEE ALSO
sq(1).

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

VERSION
0.28.0 (sequoia-openpgp 1.13.0, using Nettle)