How to delete a subkey on Linux in GnuPG?
I would like to delete an OpenPGP subkey of mine on Linux (L)Ubuntu 16.04 in GnuPG. It's a kind of "blank" useless key (see below key 33333333
). I have not uploaded it to key servers, so I think it's ok to delete without revoking it.
gpg2 --edit-key [email protected]
sec rsa4096/11111111
created: 2016-12-12 expires: 2017-12-12 usage: SC
confiance : ultime validity: ultimate
ssb rsa4096/22222222
created: 2016-12-12 expires: 2017-12-12 usage: E
ssb rsa4096/33333333
created: 2016-12-12 expires: never usage:
ssb rsa4096/44444444
créé : 2016-12-12 expires: 2017-12-12 usage: S
[ ultimate ] (1). me <[email protected]>
I tried "gpg> delkey 33333333", but I had this message :
You must select at least one key.
(Use the 'key' command.)
then gpg> key 33333333
, and I had this result (same result as list
command):
sec rsa4096/11111111
created: 2016-12-12 expires: 2017-12-12 usage: SC
confiance : ultime validity: ultimate
ssb rsa4096/22222222
created: 2016-12-12 expires: 2017-12-12 usage: E
ssb rsa4096/33333333
created: 2016-12-12 expires: never usage:
ssb rsa4096/44444444
créé : 2016-12-12 expires: 2017-12-12 usage: S
[ ultimate ] (1). me <[email protected]>
What should I do next?
GnuPG's interactive --edit-key
menu works differently. You do not select a subkey by key [subkey-id]
, but by key [key-index]
, in your case this would be key 2
(the second subkey from the top, the primary key doesn't count).
After doing so, the line
ssb rsa4096/33333333
will change to
ssb* rsa4096/33333333
with an asterisk indicating the key being selected. After selecting one or more keys, run delkey
to delete the selected subkeys. Don't forget to save
!