SQ(1)

🎀 NAME 🎀

okay bestie, welcome to sq-key-subkey-password — it's the SQ(1) girlie whose whole job is changing the password that protects your secret key material. that's it. that's the gig. 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

sq key subkey password [OPTIONS]

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so, plot twist: secret key material can be protected by a password. iconic. this subcommand changes or clears the password of one or more keys. lowkey powerful.

wanna strip the password entirely? you got two options, queen:

• use --clear, or
• just supply a zero-length password when it prompts you for the new one. yes, empty. give it nothing. it'll understand. 💀

if a key is password protected and the correct password wasn't handed over using the --password-file argument, the user gets prompted for the password. same energy if the new password isn't provided — you get prompted for that too. no cap. 🫶

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🌸 OPTIONS 🌸

🦋 Subcommand options 🦋

• --cert=FINGERPRINT|KEYID — change the password for the secret key material of the specified (sub)keys from the key with the specified fingerprint or key ID. iykyk 🔑
• --cert-email=EMAIL — change the password for the secret key material of the specified (sub)keys from the key where a user ID includes the specified email address 📧
• --cert-file=PATH — change the password for the secret key material of the specified (sub)keys from the key read from PATH 📂
• --cert-userid=USERID — change the password for the secret key material of the specified (sub)keys from the key with the specified user ID 🪪
• --clear-password — clear the password protecting the secret key material. bye bye protection, we hardly knew ye ✨
• --key=FINGERPRINT|KEYID — change the password protecting the specified key's secret key material 🔐
• --new-password-file=PASSWORD_FILE — file containing password to encrypt the secret key material 💌

heads up bestie: the entire key file gets used as the password, and that includes any surrounding whitespace, like a trailing newline. so don't get caught lacking by a sneaky \n at the end. 😭

• --output=FILE — write to FILE, or to stdout if you just... don't. periodt 👑

🌈 Global options 🌈

• go peek at sq(1) for a description of the global options, bestie. they live over there. 🫶

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🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

okay so, changing the password for Alice's signing key to the password sitting in the specified file:

sq key subkey password --new-password-file=password-file.txt \
       --cert=EB28F26E2739A4870ECC47726F0073F60FD0CBF0 \
       --key=42020B87D51877E5AF8D272124F3955B0B8DECC8

and clearing the password protection for Alice's signing key:

sq key subkey password --password-file=password-file.txt \
       --clear-password \
       --cert=EB28F26E2739A4870ECC47726F0073F60FD0CBF0 \
       --key=42020B87D51877E5AF8D272124F3955B0B8DECC8

ate that. no crumbs. 💅

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💜 SEE ALSO 💜

• sq(1)
• sq-key(1)
• sq-key-subkey(1)

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

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👑 VERSION 👑

1.5.0

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and that's a wrap on our little SQ(1) moment ✨ this was Sequoia PGP, version 1.5.0, and yes it really is all about that sq-key-subkey-password life. go protect your keys, bestie, you're the main character 🎀💖🦋🌸🫶