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I have a GPG key which has an ElGamal subkey (elg2048). Frankly, I don't remember why that is or whether I actually need it - I just have it. Now, I've just changed the expiry date of the key overall, using gpg2 --edit-key; however, the subkey expiration date seems not to have changed.

Questions:

  • Can I change that subkey's expiration date?
  • If so, how?
  • If not - should I care? Should I just remove it?
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1 Answer 1

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5

When you edit the key, you get a list of keys. Example::

sec  dsa2048/DEADBEAF
     created: 2014-10-10  expires: 2020-09-28  usage: SC  
     trust: ultimate      validity: ultimate
ssb  elg2048/DEADBEAF
     created: 2014-10-10  expires: 2017-10-10  usage: E

If you enter expire, this will affect the "main" key, or perhaps the first key, not the subkey. For the subkey, type in key 1. You should now see * next to the ssb:

sec  dsa2048/DEADBEAF
     created: 2014-10-10  expires: 2020-09-28  usage: SC  
     trust: ultimate      validity: ultimate
ssb* elg2048/DEADBEAF
     created: 2014-10-10  expires: 2017-10-10  usage: E

now, an expire command will affect the subkey.

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