MKPASSWD(1) General Commands Manual MKPASSWD(1)
NAME
mkpasswd - generate new password, optionally apply it to a user
SYNOPSIS
mkpasswd [ args ] [ user ]
INTRODUCTION
mkpasswd generates passwords and can apply them automatically to users.
mkpasswd is based on the code from Chapter 23 of the O'Reilly book "Ex-
ploring Expect".
USAGE
With no arguments, mkpasswd returns a new password.
mkpasswd
With a user name, mkpasswd assigns a new password to the user.
mkpasswd don
The passwords are randomly generated according to the flags below.
FLAGS
The -l flag defines the length of the password. The default is 9. The
following example creates a 20 character password.
mkpasswd -l 20
The -d flag defines the minimum number of digits that must be in the
password. The default is 2. The following example creates a password
with at least 3 digits.
mkpasswd -d 3
The -c flag defines the minimum number of lowercase alphabetic charac-
ters that must be in the password. The default is 2.
The -C flag defines the minimum number of uppercase alphabetic charac-
ters that must be in the password. The default is 2.
The -s flag defines the minimum number of special characters that must
be in the password. The default is 1.
The -p flag names a program to set the password. By default, /etc/yp-
passwd is used if present, otherwise /bin/passwd is used.
The -2 flag causes characters to be chosen so that they alternate be-
tween right and left hands (qwerty-style), making it harder for anyone
watching passwords being entered. This can also make it easier for a
password-guessing program.
The -v flag causes the password-setting interaction to be visible. By
default, it is suppressed.
EXAMPLE
The following example creates a 15-character password that contains at
least 3 digits and 5 uppercase characters.
mkpasswd -l 15 -d 3 -C 5
SEE ALSO
"Exploring Expect: A Tcl-Based Toolkit for Automating Interactive Pro-
grams" by Don Libes, O'Reilly and Associates, January 1995.
AUTHOR
Don Libes, National Institute of Standards and Technology
mkpasswd is in the public domain. NIST and I would appreciate credit
if this program or parts of it are used.
22 August 1994 MKPASSWD(1)
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