[pkg-gnupg-maint] Bug#1108406: Bug#1108406: gnupg: On Debian 13, fail to import a secret key exported from a Debian 12 host

[John Scott]

Ahoy Frédéric,

On Fri, 2025-06-27 at 21:40 +0200, Frédéric Boiteux wrote:

> I want to use my GnuPG key on a new laptop with Debian 13. I’ve exported my key from my old computer using :
> 	gpg --export-secret-keys --export-options backup --armor --output cleComplete.gpg.asc fredmob at free.fr
> and copied that file cleComplete.gpg.asc on my new laptop, where I typed :
> gpg --import cleComplete.gpg.asc

> Here, gpg ask me for the key’s passphrase, but it doesn’t recognize it (asking 3 times), and finally fail to import the secret key.
> I’ve tested the same file cleComplete.gpg.asc on another Debian 12 system, and the importation succeeded on the first try.

Thanks for your concise details. I have a couple thoughts.

From this point after, make sure you use '--import-options restore' when you're doing the import on your new computer. That's probably not the cause of your problem here, but it does tell GnuPG it's okay to trust the detailed information that '--export-options backup' included.

You can also use the '--debug-all' flag to make GnuPG print extra detailed information about what it's doing when it tries the import. If the time was not set correctly on your new computer yet that could also be the culprit, especially if it was on its first boot and it hadn't yet done much on the internet yet to sync itself.

Also, would you be able to share your *public* key or say where it can be found? (Sending it as an attachment in a reply here with '--armor --export' would be great—make sure it's the *public* key however.) I haven't been able to find it from a quick search, but it could be an easy way to find clues. It could say a lot if there's any quirk with your key in particular. Speaking of which, I'd like to know if you can import your public key on the new machine.

Thanks and I hope Trixie is otherwise going smoothly!
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 228 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part
URL: <http://alioth-lists.debian.net/pipermail/pkg-gnupg-maint/attachments/20250627/38a43b6f/attachment.sig>