How to Remove the AEAD Flag in GPG and Verify Changes

GPG (GNU Privacy Guard) is a powerful encryption tool that provides secure communication and file encryption. If you want to remove the AEAD (Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data) flag from your GPG key preferences, follow the steps below. We will also include commands to save your changes and verify the updated preferences.

Step 1: Access Key Preferences

To begin, you need to edit the specific GPG keys where you want to update the preferences.

Use the following command to open the key in expert editing mode:

gpg --expert --edit-key <key_id>

Replace <key_id> with the actual key ID of your GPG key. For example:

gpg --expert --edit-key ******************************

Step 2: View Current Preferences

Once inside the GPG key editing interface, you can view the current preferences by typing:

showpref

This will display the algorithms and preferences currently set for the key. Review them to confirm the presence of the AEAD flag or any settings you want to change.

Step 3: Update Key Preferences

To update the preferences and remove the AEAD flag, use the setpref command with your desired configuration. For example:

setpref AES256 AES192 AES SHA512 SHA384 SHA256 SHA224 ZLIB BZIP2 ZIP

This command updates the preferences to include specific encryption algorithms, hashing algorithms, and compression methods. Ensure you list only the options you wish to use.

Step 4: Save Changes

After updating the preferences, save the changes by typing:

save

This will exit the key editing interface and apply the updates to the GPG key.

Step 5: Verify Changes

To verify that the preferences have been updated correctly, use the following command to list your keys:

gpg --list-keys

Locate the relevant key in the output and confirm that the preferences match your updated configuration. You can also re-enter the key editing interface and use the showpref command to confirm:

gpg --expert --edit-key <key_id>
showpref

This ensures that the AEAD flag has been successfully removed and your desired preferences are in place.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can effectively remove the AEAD flag from your GPG key preferences and verify that the changes have been applied. Properly managing your encryption settings ensures that your communications and data remain secure and compatible with your requirements.