IntroductionTable of Contents
KWatchGnuPG is simple GnuPG log viewer for the
GnuPG versions 1.4, 2.0 and 2.1. It works as a GUI
wrapper around the command line tool WatchGnuPG, which listens on a
socket for log lines from the GnuPG backend applications. See
info watchgnupg for more information about
WatchGnuPG.
KWatchGnuPG can be started from the
→ menu of both
Kleopatra and KMail, as well as from the command
line. The KWatchGnuPG executable is named
kwatchgnupg.
KWatchGnuPG's main function is of course to present the GnuPG debugging and logging information to the user. The main window is divided into a large text viewing area, where GnuPG messages will appear as they are generated, a toolbar giving quick access to the most often needed functions, as well as the obligatory menu bar.
Each line in the text view is normally prefixed with a FD identifier and a time stamp in ISO format. The FD identifier can be used to distinguish between output from different GnuPG instances running in parallel. Following the timestamp is the name of the component that is the source of the log line, together with some internal information in sqare brackets, followed by the original debugging or log output as printed by the component.
By default, the number of log lines that are kept in the history is limited to 10000 lines. You can configure the history size in the configuration dialog.
Sometimes it might be convenient to save the current log window contents to a file, e.g. to mail it to the developers as part of a bug report. There are two ways to achieve this in KWatchGnuPG:
First, you can choose File → (or the corresponding toolbar icon) to save the complete log window contents to a file. You will be prompted to specify a save file location.
Second, you can select the interesting lines with normal left-mouse selection and paste them into a word processor or mail user agent, just like any other text. You should make sure, though, that lines are not broken, since this reduces the readability of the log.
For convenience, you can instruct KWatchGnuPG to clear the log window using → (or the corresponding toolbar icon).
Use this prior to starting the crypto operation that you want to monitor to get only the output from that operation. You can then save the log using → as described above.
Clearing the log discards any previous log window contents. If you are unsure about whether you'll need the current contents afterwards, you should save them to a file (see above) before clearing.