8

I run gpg --list-keys and it shows me the keys present in the keyring:

/home/kshitiz/.gnupg/pubring.gpg
--------------------------------
pub   4096R/8F64D7E0 2015-02-18
uid                  Kshitiz Sharma (http://ksharma.in) <ksharma.android@gmail.com>
sub   4096R/C87EAA9F 2015-02-18
sub   4096R/B63EFB4D 2015-02-18

I delete my secret key:

$ gpg --delete-secret-key ksharma.android@gmail.com
sec  4096R/8F64D7E0 2015-02-18 Kshitiz Sharma (http://ksharma.in) <ksharma.android@gmail.com>

Delete this key from the keyring? (y/N) y
This is a secret key! - really delete? (y/N) y

And then list keys again gpg --list-keys. Same output:

/home/kshitiz/.gnupg/pubring.gpg
--------------------------------
pub   4096R/8F64D7E0 2015-02-18
uid                  Kshitiz Sharma (http://ksharma.in) <ksharma.android@gmail.com>
sub   4096R/C87EAA9F 2015-02-18
sub   4096R/B63EFB4D 2015-02-18

Why didn't the secret key 8F64D7E0 get deleted?

Weirdly, running gpg --delete-secret-key again says key not found:

gpg: key "ksharma.android@gmail.com" not found: eof
gpg: ksharma.android@gmail.com: delete key failed: eof
Todd Walton
  • 147
  • 1
  • 9
Kshitiz Sharma
  • 649

1 Answers1

5

GPG stores public and private keys in different places.

You output mentions : /home/kshitiz/.gnupg/pubring.gpg which holds the "public" key (pubring)

If you want to list private keys you have to use the --list-secret-keys switch.

As per why the key 8F64D7E0 does not get deleted, it's because you asked to destroy the private key only. Since deleting a private key does not impact the public key, there is no need for it to be cascade deleted.

M'vy
  • 3,910
  • 1
  • 21
  • 20