[pkg-gnupg-maint] Bug#809173: gnupg: occasional error "key ... not found on keyserver"

[Vincent Lefevre]

Package: gnupg
Version: 1.4.20-1
Severity: normal

I got the following error:

cventin:~/software> gpg --verify gmp-6.1.0.tar.xz.sig
gpg: assuming signed data in `gmp-6.1.0.tar.xz'
gpg: Signature made 2015-11-01T17:04:59 CET using DSA key ID 501441DF
gpg: requesting key 501441DF from hkp server keys.gnupg.net
gpgkeys: key DDEF6956501441DF not found on keyserver
gpg: no valid OpenPGP data found.
gpg: Total number processed: 0
gpg: keyserver communications error: key not found
gpg: keyserver communications error: bad public key
gpg: Can't check signature: public key not found
zsh: exit 2     gpg --verify gmp-6.1.0.tar.xz.sig

Then I tried on another machine, where I got:

gpg: requesting key 501441DF from hkp server keys.gnupg.net
gpg: key C1A000B0: public key "Marco Bodrato <bodrato at gulp.linux.it>" imported

showing that the key was really on the server.

I tried again on the first machine: same error.

After several dozens of minutes, I tried again on the first machine,
and the key could be imported.

In case there was some other error, this could be like the following
bug: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=642512
(note that I don't use a proxy).

-- System Information:
Debian Release: stretch/sid
  APT prefers unstable-debug
  APT policy: (500, 'unstable-debug'), (500, 'stable-updates'), (500, 'unstable'), (500, 'testing'), (500, 'stable'), (1, 'experimental')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Foreign Architectures: i386

Kernel: Linux 4.3.0-1-amd64 (SMP w/12 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=POSIX, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)

Versions of packages gnupg depends on:
ii  gpgv          1.4.20-1
ii  libbz2-1.0    1.0.6-8
ii  libc6         2.21-6
ii  libreadline6  6.3-8+b4
ii  libusb-0.1-4  2:0.1.12-27
ii  zlib1g        1:1.2.8.dfsg-2+b1

Versions of packages gnupg recommends:
pn  gnupg-curl     <none>
ii  libldap-2.4-2  2.4.42+dfsg-2+b1

Versions of packages gnupg suggests:
ii  eog           3.18.1-1
ii  gnupg-doc     2003.04.06+dak1-1
ii  imagemagick   8:6.8.9.9-6+b1
ii  libpcsclite1  1.8.15-1
pn  parcimonie    <none>

-- no debconf information