How to Verify a GPG Signature

This how-to explains a clear and step-by-step, 1-minute process to verify that a file in your possession was digitally signed by a particular GPG Secret Key and has been unmodified since the time of signing. To verify your belief that...

Table of Contents

Downloading What You Need
Using GPG to Verify that someone's Secret Key Signed the File in Question

Part 1 of 2:

Downloading What You Need

To verify your belief that someone has signed a file, you will need a copy of that person's Public Key, a copy of the file, and a copy of the signature-file that was allegedly created through the interaction of the person's Secret Key and the file.

Acquire the Public Key.
1. Import the Public Key into GPG.
Acquire a copy of the file in question.
1. Save it in a Folder.
Acquire a copy of the signature-file in question.
1. Save it in the same Folder.

Part 2 of 2:

Using GPG to Verify that someone's Secret Key Signed the File in Question

GPG will help you verify the relationship between your three files.

Open a command-line interface.
1. Change the working directory to the Folder where your file and signature-file are saved.
Verify the signature.
1. Type the following command into a command-line interface:
2. gpg --verify [signature-file] [file]
3. E.g., if you have acquired
4. (1) the Public Key 0x416F061063FEE659,
5. (2) the Tor Browser Bundle file (tor-browser.tar.gz), and
6. (3) the signature-file posted alongside the Tor Browser Bundle file (tor-browser.tar.gz.asc),
7. You would type the following:
8. gpg --verify tor-browser.tar.gz.asc tor-browser.tar.gz

Samuel Daniel

Update 05 March 2020

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