title: Verifying snapshots with signify
date: 2019-01-01
author: Wynn Wolf Arbor

I use the [signify](https://flak.tedunangst.com/post/signify) tool to
cryptographically sign all software downloads you will find on this
site and on [git.oriole.systems](https://git.oriole.systems).

Whilst you technically don't need `signify` to verify the _integrity_ of
downloaded files, I strongly recommend using it to also verify the
_signature_.  A portable version of the tool is available
[here](https://github.com/aperezdc/signify).

**Note**: Firefox is
[bugged](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=610679) when it comes to
downloading content that is already compressed. Tarballs that were downloaded
with Firefox will **fail** verification. Please make sure to use another
browser or a tool like `curl` or `wget` to obtain the tarballs.

### Obtaining the signature and checksum

Whether or not you decide to use `signify` to verify downloaded files, you need
to obtain the detached signature linked on the respective project page or git
repository[^1]. It contains the signature as well as the checksum.

### Obtaining the public key

To fully verify a download with `signify`, first obtain [my public
key](/release.pub).  I keep a copy of the same key on DNS, feel free to
verify it therewith:

	$ drill TXT releasekey.oriole.systems

Another copy of the key exists on the [Libera.Chat](https://libera.chat) IRC
servers, in my taxonomy data:

	/msg NickServ taxonomy wynn

You may want to keep the public key saved on your system for future
verifications.

### Verification with signify

Once you have downloaded my public key, run the following to verify your
download:

	$ signify -C -p release.pub -x <snapshot>.asc
	Signature Verified
	<snapshot>: OK

### Verification with sha256sum

Alternatively, if you don't want to install `signify`, you can use
the `sha256sum` tool to only verify the integrity of the download:

	$ tail -n1 <snapshot>.asc | sha256sum -c
	<snapshot>: OK

[^1]: If you are interested in how this is put together, check out [this](signify-cgit) post.