Arch Linux

speaksthegeek

Member

Registered: 2019-03-17

Posts: 8

gpg: keyserver receive failed: General error [solved]

as of last night I've been unable to import any gpg keys
this is error I've been getting

➜  ~ yay spotify -Syu
:: Synchronising package databases...
 core is up to date
 extra is up to date
 community is up to date
 multilib is up to date
:: Starting full system upgrade...
 there is nothing to do
:: Searching databases for updates...
:: Searching AUR for updates...
:: There are 5 providers available for spotify::: Repository AUR
    1) spotify 2) spotify-dev 3) spotify-legacy 4) spotify094 5) spotio

Enter a number (default=1):
:: Checking for conflicts...
:: Checking for inner conflicts...
[Repo:1]  libcurl-gnutls-7.71.1-1
[Aur:1]  spotify-1:1.1.10.546-4

  1 spotify                          (Build Files Exist)
==> Packages to cleanBuild?
==> [N]one [A]ll [Ab]ort [I]nstalled [No]tInstalled or (1 2 3, 1-3, ^4)
==>
:: PKGBUILD up to date, Skipping (1/1): spotify
  1 spotify                          (Build Files Exist)
==> Diffs to show?
==> [N]one [A]ll [Ab]ort [I]nstalled [No]tInstalled or (1 2 3, 1-3, ^4)
==>
:: (1/1) Parsing SRCINFO: spotify

:: PGP keys need importing:
 -> 931FF8E79F0876134EDDBDCCA87FF9DF48BF1C90, required by: spotify
==> Import? [Y/n]
:: Importing keys with gpg...
gpg: keyserver receive failed: General error
problem importing keys

➜  ~ gpg --receive-keys 931FF8E79F0876134EDDBDCCA87FF9DF48BF1C90
gpg: keyserver receive failed: General error

after reading other posts on the forums and generally online
I've tried
* restoring my /home to a know working backup.
* reinstalling the ArchLinux installation.
* changed DNS to 1.1.1.1, 1.0.0.1 from ISPs preferred ones.

any help would be fantastic.

Last edited by speaksthegeek (2020-07-21 16:43:03)

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 12,048

Re: gpg: keyserver receive failed: General error [solved]

Use a different keyserver. The ubuntu one (keyserver.ubuntu.com) seems to be the most reliable right now.

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 18,001

Re: gpg: keyserver receive failed: General error [solved]

The hkps://hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net pool seems to currently be down.  Try a different keyserver GnuPG#Use_a_keyserver.

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 12,048

Re: gpg: keyserver receive failed: General error [solved]

the sks hkps "pool" is down to a single server. sks-keyservers in general is a complete disaster at this point.

speaksthegeek

Member

Registered: 2019-03-17

Posts: 8

Re: gpg: keyserver receive failed: General error [solved]

thank you for you reply

I guess i was trying to use different servers that are down.
I was starting to think my ISP were blocking something again.

also I just didn't think use ubuntu's one.
Thank you again

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 18,001

Re: gpg: keyserver receive failed: General error [solved]

the sks hkps "pool" is down to a single server. sks-keyservers in general is a complete disaster at this point.

Big enough disaster for Arch to consider switching the default keyserver?

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 12,048

Re: gpg: keyserver receive failed: General error [solved]

It's been getting bad for a while, but it's only become critical in the last couple of days. I don't think it's been brought up to the rest of the team (those not doing support).

Brain

Member

Registered: 2020-07-29

Posts: 58

Re: gpg: keyserver receive failed: General error [solved]

How does one actually switch keyservers?

(I am new to this topic because I never had to do that...)

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 18,001

Re: gpg: keyserver receive failed: General error [solved]

How does one actually switch keyservers?

(I am new to this topic because I never had to do that...)

That was already answered in your own thread https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 0#p1918080

NuSkool

Member

Registered: 2015-03-23

Posts: 168

Re: gpg: keyserver receive failed: General error [solved]

This worked for me...

gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-key <key number>

mianka

Member

From: BE LEUVEN

Registered: 2006-05-30

Posts: 230

Re: gpg: keyserver receive failed: General error [solved]

Thank you NuSkool, worked indeed

2ManyDogs

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2012-01-15

Posts: 4,645

Re: gpg: keyserver receive failed: General error [solved]

Closing this old solved thread.