---
name: "authvar"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "pesign"
version: "117-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/authvar"
---

# authvar(1)

handles authenticated variables for pesign

## NAME

**authvar** – handles authenticated variables for pesign

## SYNOPSIS

**authvar**⟨ **-a** \| **-c** \| **-s**⟩ **-N** *{guid}* **-n** *name*⟨ **-v** *value* \| **-f** *file*⟩ \[**-t** *time*\] \[**-d** *directory*\] \[**-S** *nickname*\] \[**-i** *file*\] \[**-e** *file*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**authvar** is a command line utility for handling authenticated UEFI variables.

## OPTIONS

- **-a** \| **-****-append**

  Append to variable

- **-c** \| **-****-clear**

  Clear variable

- **-s** \| **-****-set**

  set variable

- **-N** ⟨{guid} \| namespace⟩ \| **-****-namespace** ⟨{guid} \| namespace⟩

  Variable is in *namespace* or *{guid}*( default: *global*)

  Use **-N** *help* to list namespaces.

- **-n** *name* \| **-****-name** *name*

  Variable *name*

- **-v** *value* \| **-****-value** *value*

  Set or append *value* to variable

- **-f** *file* \| **-****-valuefile** *file*

  Read value from *file*

- **-t** *time* \| **-****-timestamp** *time*

  Timestamp for the variable( default: *now*)

- **-d** *directory* \| **-****-certdir** *directory*

  Specify nss certificate database *directory*( default: */etc/pki/pesign*)

- **-S** *nickname* \| **-****-sign** *nickname*

  Sign variable with certificate *nickname* from the NSS database

- **-i** *file* \| **-****-import** *file*

  Import variable from *file*

- **-e** *file* \| **-****-export** *file*

  Export variable to *file* instead of setting it in firmware

## STANDARDS

B. Kaliski, *PKCS #7: Cryptographic Message Syntax v1.5*, RFC 2315, Internet Engineering Task Force, March 1998, https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2315 .

K. Moriarty, M. Nyström, S. Parkinson, A. Rusch, and M. Scott, *PKCS #12: Personal Information Exchange Syntax v1.1*, RFC 7292, Internet Engineering Task Force, July 2014, https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7292 .

PKCS11 Technical Committee, *PKCS#11: Cryptographic Token Interface Standard*, OASIS, https://www.cryptsoft.com/pkcs11doc/ .

UEFI Specification Working Group, *Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Specification Version 2.8*, Unified Extensible Firmware Interface Forum, March 2019, https://uefi.org/specifications .

## SEE ALSO

[pesign(1)](/pesign/1.md), [certutil(1)](/certutil/1.md)

## AUTHORS

Peter Jones