mkpasswd(1)

1MKPASSWD(1)                 General Commands Manual                MKPASSWD(1)
2
3
4

NAME

6       mkpasswd - generate new password, optionally apply it to a user
7

SYNOPSIS

9       mkpasswd [ args ] [ user ]
10

INTRODUCTION

12       mkpasswd generates passwords and can apply them automatically to users.
13       mkpasswd is based on the code from Chapter  23  of  the  O'Reilly  book
14       "Exploring Expect".
15

USAGE

17       With no arguments, mkpasswd returns a new password.
18
19            mkpasswd
20
21       With a user name, mkpasswd assigns a new password to the user.
22
23            mkpasswd don
24
25       The passwords are randomly generated according to the flags below.
26
27

FLAGS

29       The -l flag defines the length of the password.  The default is 9.  The
30       following example creates a 20 character password.
31
32            mkpasswd -l 20
33
34       The -d flag defines the number of digits that must be in the  password.
35       The default is 2.  The following example creates a password with 3 dig‐
36       its.
37
38            mkpasswd -d 3
39
40       The -c flag defines the minimum number of lowercase alphabetic  charac‐
41       ters that must be in the password.  The default is 2.
42
43       The  -C flag defines the number of uppercase alphabetic characters that
44       must be in the password.  The default is 2.
45
46       The -s flag defines the number of special characters that  must  be  in
47       the password.  The default is 1.
48
49       The  -p  flag  names  a  program  to  set  the  password.   By default,
50       /etc/yppasswd is used if present, otherwise /bin/passwd is used.
51
52       The -2 flag causes characters to  be  chosen  so  that  they  alternate
53       between  right and left hands (qwerty-style), making it harder for any‐
54       one watching passwords being entered.  This can also make it easier for
55       a password-guessing program.
56
57       The  -v flag causes the password-setting interaction to be visible.  By
58       default, it is suppressed.
59
60

EXAMPLE

62       The following example creates a 15-character password that  contains  3
63       digits and 5 uppercase characters.
64
65            mkpasswd -l 15 -d 3 -C 5
66
67

AUTHOR

73       Don Libes, National Institute of Standards and Technology
74
75       mkpasswd is in the public domain.  NIST and I would  appreciate  credit
76       if this program or parts of it are used.
77
78
79
80
81
82                                22 August 1994                     MKPASSWD(1)