Creating a detached Signature File

Problem

You want to sign a file digitally, but have the signature reside in a separate file

Solution:-

To create a binary format detached signature, myfile.sig :-
gpg --detach-sign myfile

To create an ASCII format detached signature, myfile.asc:-
gpg --detach-sign -a myfile

Discussion:-

A detached signature is placed into a file by itself, not inside the file it represents. Detached signatures are commonly used to validate sw distributed in compressed tar files , ex., myprogram.tar.gz. You can't sign such a file internally without altering its contents, so the signature is created in a separate file such as myprogram.tar.gz.sig