PGPKeyManager Component

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The PGPKeyManager component manages individual PGP keys.

Syntax

TsbxPGPKeyManager

Remarks

PGPKeyManager provides means for generating, checking, and editing individual PGP keys.

PGPKeyManager can work with RSA, Elgamal (DH), ECDSA, DSS, and EdDSA keypairs with or without subkeys. Public and private PGP keys of versions 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are supported.

Note: if you are looking to work with multi-key files ('keyrings'), please see the PGPKeyring component instead. PGPKeyManager works with individual PGP key structures ('key trees' - one primary key with subkeys). For that same reason, consider using PGPKeyring for loading keys that are to be used with PGPWriter and PGPReader for signing or encryption. It is often the case that even allegedly single-key files actually contain more than one key tree, which may lead to key material loss if they are loaded into PGPKeyManager.

Or, putting it in a simple way:

• Use PGPKeyManager if you need to alter a key (e.g. generate, add or remove subkeys, revoke, re-sign, change password).
• Where you need to use an existing key (e.g. for signing), use PGPKeyring, even if it is a standalone key.
• To alter a key residing in a keyring, load the keyring files into PGPKeyring first. The assign the key in question to PGPKeyManager, make the necessary changes, return it back to the keyring, and re-save the keyring.

You can load keys into a PGPKeyManager object in one of the following ways:

• By loading it from a file or memory using ImportFromFile or ImportBytes methods.
• By importing it from a PGPKeyring object using ImportPinned method.
• By generating it using GeneratePair or CreateKey methods.

Mgr.ImportFromFile("key.pub"); Once you have the key loaded in your PGPKeyManager object, you can perform a variety of operations on it:

• Iterate over elements of the key tree using Subkeys, Signatures, and Users collections.
• Add new subkeys to it using CreateSubkey method. Note that your new subkey is unlikely to be accepted elsewhere unless you sign it.
• Add new user records to the key with CreateUser method.
• Signing keys, subkeys, and user records (existing or new) with this or another private key using SignKey, SignSubkey, and SignUser methods. The new signatures are added to the key tree.
• Remove or revoke existing subkeys, user records, and signatures.
• Change the key protection level or password.

Note: Use pinning to copy keys between PGPKeyring and PGPKeyManager: Keyring.PinnedKey = Mgr.Key; Keyring.ImportPinned(); Mgr.PinnedKey = Keyring.SelectedKeys[i]; Mgr.ImportPinned(); Once your work with the key tree has completed, save it to a buffer or file using ExportBytes and ExportToFile methods.

Property List

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The following is the full list of the properties of the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Method List

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The following is the full list of the methods of the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Event List

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The following is the full list of the events fired by the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Config Settings

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The following is a list of config settings for the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Key Property (PGPKeyManager Component)

The key to manipulate on.

Syntax

property Key: TsbxPGPKey read get_Key;

Remarks

Use this property to specify the key to perform operations on.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

Please refer to the PGPKey type for a complete list of fields.

PinnedKey Property (PGPKeyManager Component)

A PGP key that is being manipulated on.

Syntax

property PinnedKey: TsbxPGPKey read get_PinnedKey write set_PinnedKey;

Remarks

Use this property to specify a key to perform operations on, such as adding.

This property is not available at design time.

Please refer to the PGPKey type for a complete list of fields.

Signatures Property (PGPKeyManager Component)

Signatures available in the key.

Syntax

property Signatures: TsbxPGPSignatureList read get_Signatures;

Remarks

This property populates a collection of all signatures contained in the key.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

Please refer to the PGPSignature type for a complete list of fields.

SigningKey Property (PGPKeyManager Component)

A PGP key that is to be used for signing other PGP entities while editing the key.

Syntax

property SigningKey: TsbxPGPKey read get_SigningKey write set_SigningKey;

Remarks

Use this property to specify the key that you want to use for signing other PGP entities, such as the key, subkeys, or user IDs. This key will be used by the signing method used, such as SignKey, SignSubkey, or SignUser.

For self-signatures, you can assign the object contained in the Key to this property.

This property is not available at design time.

Please refer to the PGPKey type for a complete list of fields.

Subkeys Property (PGPKeyManager Component)

PGP subkeys available in the key.

Syntax

property Subkeys: TsbxPGPKeyList read get_Subkeys;

Remarks

This property populates a collection of all subkeys contained in the key.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

Please refer to the PGPKey type for a complete list of fields.

Users Property (PGPKeyManager Component)

Users available in the key.

Syntax

property Users: TsbxPGPUserList read get_Users;

Remarks

This property populates a collection of all users contained in the key.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

Please refer to the PGPUser type for a complete list of fields.

ChangePassphrase Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Changes the password of the secret key.

Syntax

procedure ChangePassphrase(OldPassphrase: String; NewPassphrase: String);

Remarks

Call this method to change the password that protects the secret key and all its subkeys.

Note: use SubkeyIndex configuration setting to change the passphrase on a specific key or subkey only (without touching other subkeys).

ChangeProtection Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Changes the protection level of the secret key.

Syntax

procedure ChangeProtection(OldPassphrase: String; NewPassphrase: String; ProtType: Integer; EncAlgorithm: String; HashAlgorithm: String);

Remarks

Use this method to change the protection level of the Key.

OldPassphrase specifies the current password to decrypt the key, NewPassphrase is the new password for the key, ProtType is the new protection type (see Protection for more details), EncAlgorithm is the key encryption algorithm, and

and HashAlgorithm specify the algorithms to be used for key derivation.

Note: use SubkeyIndex configuration setting to change the passphrase on a specific key or subkey only (without touching other subkeys).

CheckPassphrase Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Checks if the password matches the secret key.

Syntax

function CheckPassphrase(Passphrase: String): Boolean;

Remarks

Use this method to check if a password can decrypt the Key.

Config Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

function Config(ConfigurationString: String): String;

Remarks

Config is a generic method available in every component. It is used to set and retrieve configuration settings for the component.

These settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the component, access to these internal properties is provided through the Config method.

To set a configuration setting named PROPERTY, you must call Config("PROPERTY=VALUE"), where VALUE is the value of the setting expressed as a string. For boolean values, use the strings "True", "False", "0", "1", "Yes", or "No" (case does not matter).

To read (query) the value of a configuration setting, you must call Config("PROPERTY"). The value will be returned as a string.

CreateKey Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Generates a new key.

Syntax

procedure CreateKey(Version: Integer; Algorithm: String; Bits: Integer; ValidTo: String; Password: String);

Remarks

Use this method to generate a new key with the provided parameters.

CreateSubkey Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Generates a new subkey.

Syntax

procedure CreateSubkey(Algorithm: String; Bits: Integer; ValidTo: String; Password: String);

Remarks

Use this method to generate a new subkey with the provided parameters.

CreateUser Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Adds a user to an existing key.

Syntax

procedure CreateUser(Username: String);

Remarks

Use this method to add a user to an existing key. A typical format for a PGP key usage is "Name <email>", for example "John Johnson <john@johnson.com>".

DoAction Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Performs an additional action.

Syntax

function DoAction(ActionID: String; ActionParams: String): String;

Remarks

DoAction is a generic method available in every component. It is used to perform an additional action introduced after the product major release. The list of actions is not fixed, and may be flexibly extended over time.

The unique identifier (case insensitive) of the action is provided in the ActionID parameter.

ActionParams contains the value of a single parameter, or a list of multiple parameters for the action in the form of PARAM1=VALUE1;PARAM2=VALUE2;....

Common ActionIDs:

ExportBytes Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Serializes the key to a byte array.

Syntax

function ExportBytes(Secret: Boolean): TBytes;

Remarks

Use this method to save the Key (both the public and secret parts) to a byte array.

ExportToFile Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Exports the key to a file.

Syntax

procedure ExportToFile(FileName: String; Secret: Boolean);

Remarks

Use this method to save the Key (both the public and secret parts) to the file specified in Filename.

ExportToStream Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Exports the key to a stream.

Syntax

procedure ExportToStream(KeyStream: TStream; Secret: Boolean);

Remarks

Use this method to save the Key (both the public and secret parts) to a stream pointed by Stream.

GeneratePair Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Generates a new pair of PGP keys.

Syntax

procedure GeneratePair(Version: Integer; Username: String; Strength: Integer; ValidTo: String; Password: String);

Remarks

Use this method to create a standard key-subkey pair. This is the primary method for generating conformant PGP keys.

Pass the user ID of the new key via the Username property. This typically should be in the format of User Name <user@email>, for example Robert Frost <robert@frost.com>, but generally can be an arbitrary text string.

This method generates a 'standard' keypair based on the Version and Strength parameters. This can range from RSA keys for version 3 to strong Ed25519 keys for version 6.

The following PGP key versions and strengths are supported:

Provide the key encryption password and the validity period in days via the Password and ValidTo parameters.

ImportBytes Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Loads a key from a byte array.

Syntax

procedure ImportBytes(Key: TBytes);

Remarks

Use this method to load a key, either public or secret, from a byte array.

ImportFromFile Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Loads a key from a file.

Syntax

procedure ImportFromFile(FileName: String);

Remarks

Use this method to load a key, either public or secret, from a file.

ImportFromStream Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Loads a key from a stream.

Syntax

procedure ImportFromStream(KeyStream: TStream);

Remarks

Use this method to load a key, either public or secret, from a stream.

ImportPinned Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Loads a key from a pinned key object.

Syntax

procedure ImportPinned();

Remarks

Use this method to load a PGP key from a PinnedKey object. This is an easy way to import a key object from a keyring.

RemoveSignature Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Unbinds the specified signature from the key, subkey or user.

Syntax

procedure RemoveSignature(Index: Integer);

Remarks

Use this method to remove the specified signature from the list of Signatures bound to the key, subkey or user.

RemoveSubkey Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Removes the specified subkey from the key.

Syntax

procedure RemoveSubkey(Index: Integer);

Remarks

Use this method to remove the subkey referred by its Index from the key.

RemoveUser Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Unbinds the specified user from the key.

Syntax

procedure RemoveUser(Index: Integer);

Remarks

Use this method to remove the specified user from the list of UserIDs bound to the key.

Reset Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Creates a new empty keyring.

Syntax

procedure Reset();

Remarks

Use this method to initialize a new empty keyring.

RevokeKey Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Revokes the key.

Syntax

procedure RevokeKey(Reason: Integer; Comment: String);

Remarks

Use this method to revoke the key by adding a revocation signature.

RevokeSubkey Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Revokes the key's subkey.

Syntax

procedure RevokeSubkey(Index: Integer; Reason: Integer; Comment: String);

Remarks

Use this method to revoke the subkey with a given Index by adding a revocation signature.

RevokeUser Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Revokes a user certification.

Syntax

procedure RevokeUser(Index: Integer; Reason: Integer; Comment: String);

Remarks

Use this method to revoke the user with the specified Index by adding a revocation signature to the key.

SignKey Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Sign the key.

Syntax

procedure SignKey(KeyValidTo: String; HashAlgorithm: String; PreferredAlgs: String; KeyFlags: Integer);

Remarks

Use this method to sign the main key, or 'create a key binding signature', in terms of the PGP specification. Provide the signing key in SigningKey.

Use the KeyValidTo parameter to specify the key validity period and HashAlgorithm to provide the signature hash algorithm.

The PreferredAlgs parameter is expected to contain a list of algorithms that the signer of the key prefers the senders to use. This value can contain a comma-separated mix of symmetric, hash, and compression algorithms from the following lists:

Encryption algorithms:

• Plaintext
• IDEA
• 3DES
• Blowfish
• AES128
• AES192
• AES256
• Twofish256
• CAST5
• Camellia128
• Camellia192
• Camellia256

Compression algorithms:

• ZIP
• ZLIB
• BZIP2

Hash algorithms:

• MD5
• SHA
• RIPEMD160
• SHA224
• SHA256
• SHA384
• SHA512
• SHA3-256
• SHA3-384
• SHA3-512

Example: Camellia192,AES192,SHA256,ZIP

If you leave PreferredAlgs, no algorithm preferences information will be saved with the key.

The KeyFlags parameter is a bitmask that can contain the following bit flags:

SignSubkey Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Sign the key's subkey.

Syntax

procedure SignSubkey(Index: Integer; KeyValidTo: String; HashAlgorithm: String; PreferredAlgs: String; KeyFlags: Integer);

Remarks

Use this method to sign the subkey with a given Index (create a 'subkey binding signature'). Provide the signing key in SigningKey.

Use the KeyValidTo parameter to specify the subkey validity period and HashAlgorithm to provide the signature hash algorithm.

The PreferredAlgs parameter is expected to contain a list of algorithms that the signer of the key prefers the senders to use when using the subkey that is being signed. This value can contain a comma-separated mix of symmetric, hash, and compression algorithms from the following lists:

Encryption algorithms:

• Plaintext
• IDEA
• 3DES
• Blowfish
• AES128
• AES192
• AES256
• Twofish256
• CAST5
• Camellia128
• Camellia192
• Camellia256

Compression algorithms:

• ZIP
• ZLIB
• BZIP2

Hash algorithms:

• MD5
• SHA
• RIPEMD160
• SHA224
• SHA256
• SHA384
• SHA512
• SHA3-256
• SHA3-384
• SHA3-512

Example: Camellia256,Twofish256,AES256,ZLIB,SHA512

If you leave PreferredAlgs, no algorithm preferences information will be saved with the key.

The KeyFlags parameter is a bitmask that can contain the following bit flags:

SignUser Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Creates a user certification.

Syntax

procedure SignUser(Index: Integer; KeyValidTo: String; HashAlgorithm: String; Primary: Boolean; CertType: Integer);

Remarks

Use this method to sign the user ID with the specified Index using the SigningKey. This signature creates a binding between the user ID and their main key.

While it is typical to sign user IDs with their own secret keys, occasionally third-party authentication is used where the binding is signed with a third-party key.

The KeyValidTo parameter indicates the expiration date of the binding. It can be different to that of the signing and/or the main key. The Primary parameter indicates whether this should be considered the primary user ID for this key (for example, if the user has more than one email). The CertType parameters indicates the type of binding, and should be set to one of the following values (if unsure, use pctGeneric):

Verify Method (PGPKeyManager Component)

Verifies the integrity of a key signature.

Syntax

function Verify(Index: Integer): Boolean;

Remarks

Use this method to validate a key signature. Provide the index of the signature as a parameter.

Error Event (PGPKeyManager Component)

Information about errors during PGP key management.

Syntax

type TErrorEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ErrorCode: Integer;
  const Description: String
) of Object;

property OnError: TErrorEvent read FOnError write FOnError;

Remarks

The event is fired in case of exceptional conditions during key management.

ErrorCode contains an error code and Description contains a textual description of the error.

KeyPassphraseNeeded Event (PGPKeyManager Component)

Requests a key protection password from the application.

Syntax

type TKeyPassphraseNeededEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  const KeyID: String;
  const UserID: String;
  MainKey: Boolean;
  var Passphrase: String;
  var Skip: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnKeyPassphraseNeeded: TKeyPassphraseNeededEvent read FOnKeyPassphraseNeeded write FOnKeyPassphraseNeeded;

Remarks

The component fires this event to request a secret key passphrase from the application. Note that this event asks for a key protection passphrase rather than a message protection passphrase. The component fires it when it attempts to use a secret key to sign the data.

This event is fired for every protected secret key residing in SigningKeys. KeyID specifies the key for which the password is requested, and UserID identifies its user. MainKey tells whether the key is a master key or a subkey.

The handler should provide password via the Passphrase parameter, or set Skip to True to skip this key.

For each key KeyPassphraseNeeded is called in a loop until the correct password is provided or the maximum number of password attempts reached.

Notification Event (PGPKeyManager Component)

This event notifies the application about an underlying control flow event.

Syntax

type TNotificationEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  const EventID: String;
  const EventParam: String
) of Object;

property OnNotification: TNotificationEvent read FOnNotification write FOnNotification;

Remarks

The component fires this event to let the application know about some event, occurrence, or milestone in the component. For example, it may fire to report completion of the document processing. The list of events being reported is not fixed, and may be flexibly extended over time.

The unique identifier of the event is provided in the EventID parameter. EventParam contains any parameters accompanying the occurrence. Depending on the type of the component, the exact action it is performing, or the document being processed, one or both may be omitted.

PGPKey Type

This container represents a PGP key.

Remarks

OpenPGP standard supports several types of keys. In our days, a typical OpenPGP keypair actually consists of two cryptographic keys: a primary key and a subkey. The primary key is normally used for signing, while the subkey is used for encryption.

While it is typical for PGP environments to use a primary key/subkey bundle, this is not a must. Sometimes you may come across standalone keys (mainly when dealing with older implementations), as well as whole key trees, each of those carrying a bunch of differently-purposed subkeys bound to the same primary key.

Algorithm-wise, OpenPGP keys also differ. Generally speaking, OpenPGP supports the following public key algorithms: RSA, Elgamal (often incorrectly referred to as DH), DSA, ECDH and ECDSA. When it comes to primary key/subkey bundles, DSA/Elgamal, RSA/RSA and ECDSA/ECDH pairs are typically used. Although there's no restriction on algorithm bundles, and, e.g. a ECDSA/Elgamal key bundle is perfectly possible, such combination is rarely used in practice.

A typical OpenPGP key is associated with some kind of user ID (Username). It is normally represented with a user's e-mail address, while in theory can be any piece of text. The secret part of the OpenPGP keypair is protected with a password (Passphrase).

Fields

Constructors

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constructor Create();

PGPSignature Type

A container for PGP signature properties.

Remarks

PGPSignature contains details and validation information for a PGP signature.

Fields

Constructors

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constructor Create();

PGPUser Type

A container for PGP user properties.

Remarks

PGPUser contains details information for a PGP user.

Fields

Constructors

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constructor Create();

Config Settings (PGPKeyManager Component)

The component accepts one or more of the following configuration settings. Configuration settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the component, access to these internal properties is provided through the Config method.

PGPKeyManager Config Settings

Base Config Settings

Trappable Errors (PGPKeyManager Component)

PGPKeyManager Errors