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Initial Steps and Problem

I installed Git on my Mac and then tried to set up GPG signature verification by following the steps outlined in Github.

The first time I did a test git commit through the Mac OS Terminal I was requested my passphrase and the commit was properly signed and pushed through. No problems.

Then I tested the signature verification through the Atom editor. This time, however, the git commit signing failed.

Initial attempts at find a Solution and additional Problem

I tried looking for solutions on Stack Overflow and GitHub but was unable to find any that worked although I did try some of the suggestions proposed.

Unfortunately, now when trying to git commit via the Terminal, I get the following error message:

error: cannot run --version: No such file or directory
error: gpg failed to sign the data
fatal: failed to write commit object

I have spent a few days trying to find a solution online but have not been successful.

I do not understand the first line of the error message ( cannot run --version: no such file or directory ) and have not been able to find a similar issue online.

Further attempts and trials at finding a Solution

Over the last couple of days I have tried a lot of things based on suggestions from the following sites:

I have also done the following:

  • Tested GPG signing through GitKraken which works without any issues.
  • Tested with GitHub Desktop and got the following error:

    Error: Commit failed - exit code 128 received, with output:
    'error: gpg failed to sign the data fatal: failed to write commit object'

  • Tested with Atom editor and got the following error:

    Unable to commit. Error: gpg failed to sign the data fatal: failed to write commit object

  • Uninstalled GnuPG and reinstalled through Homebrew.
  • In the end I even tried installing GPGTools' GPGSuite.

Unfortunately the problem persists and I no longer know what to try.

The output that I got for git config -l | grep -E 'gpg|sign is:

user.signingkey=00C23E4C0619F0BD
commit.gpgsign=true
gpg.program=/usr/local/MacGPG2/bin/gpg2

I could do the following: git config --global commit.gpgsign false

But this would not resolve the issue and I would still not be able to sign my git commit.

What confuses and frustrates me is that it worked during my first git commit after setting everything up following the steps outlined in Github's official guidelines. I am not sure what I did since then so that it no longer works. I have tried to back track and erase any changes but so far I have still not been able to resolve this issue.

Any help and guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Update 1

Out of curiosity I tried doing a git commit through Terminal with a different local repo. The commit went through without a glitch and when I checked on Github it was signed and verified. I did further tests to commit and sign via GitHub Desktop and Atom, everything works fine without any issues. This is good news and gives me hope. However, I still have no idea why git commit works on one repo and not on the other repo I was testing with. The original repo I was testing with still cannot git commit and gives the same error message that I detailed above... I wonder what is wrong?

Additional Information

I am running the following:

  • macOS 10.14.4
  • git 2.21.0
  • gpg (GnuPG) 2.2.15
Kusine
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  • Could include the output of `git config -l | grep -E 'gpg|sign'`, please? – bk2204 May 05 '19 at 15:35
  • @bk2204 please find the output below: user.signingkey=00C23E4C0619F0BD commit.gpgsign=true gpg.program=/usr/local/MacGPG2/bin/gpg2 – Kusine May 05 '19 at 15:44
  • ***Update***: @bk2204 out of curiosity I tried doing a `git commit` with another repo. The commit went through and when I checked on Github it was signed and verified. This is good news and gives me hope. However, I still have no idea why `git commit` works on one repo and not on the original repo I was testing with. Also the original repo still cannot `git commit` and gives the same error message explained above... I wonder what is wrong? – Kusine May 06 '19 at 05:23

1 Answers1

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Update 2 and Solution

After testing, since the issue seems to be only on one of my local git repos and not on any other local git repos, I concluded that overall, Git, GitHub Desktop, Atom, and GPG Signing are all working fine and the issue is specific to that one local git repo.

Although I have tried my best and still not found out exactly what is wrong with the buggy git repo and because I don't seem to be getting any additional leads/solutions from Stack Overflow I decided to do the following:

  • Delete my local git repo that had the issue.
  • Reclone from the remote repo.
  • After a successful git clone redo tests with git commit and GPG signing via the Terminal, GitHub Desktop, and Atom.
  • All are now working fine.

I guess I might never know what really happened but I am glad to confirm that at least everything is working again normally. Thank you @bk2204

Kusine
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