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 "Exploring 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 number of digits that must be in the password. The default is 2. The following example creates a password with 3 digits.

mkpasswd -d 3

The -c flag defines the minimum number of lowercase alphabetic characters that must be in the password. The default is 2.

The -C flag defines the number of uppercase alphabetic characters that must be in the password. The default is 2.

The -s flag defines the 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/yppasswd is used if present, otherwise /bin/passwd is used.

The -2 flag causes characters to be chosen so that they alternate between 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 3 digits and 5 uppercase characters.

mkpasswd -l 15 -d 3 -C 5

SEE ALSO¶

"Exploring Expect: A Tcl-Based Toolkit for Automating Interactive Programs" 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.