1MAKEPASSWD(1)               makepasswd User Manual               MAKEPASSWD(1)
2
3
4

NAME

6       makepasswd - Generates (pseudo-)random passwords and hashes
7

SYNOPSIS

9       makepasswd [-c string] [-e algorithm] [-i iterations] [-l length]
10                  [-M maximum length] [-m minimum length] [-n count]
11                  [-p password] [-S] [-s salt]
12
13       makepasswd [-E] [-c string] [-e algorithm] [-i iterations] [-l length]
14                  [-M maximum length] [-m minimum length] [-n count] [-S]
15                  [-s salt]
16

DESCRIPTION

18       makepasswd is a program that generates pseudo-random passwords of a
19       desired length and, if so desired, along with their corresponding
20       hashes for a given encryption algorithm.
21

OPTIONS

23       The following options are available:
24
25       -E
26           In this operation mode, makepasswd enumerates through all possible
27           values for a password, given the list of characters allowed and the
28           length specified.
29
30       -c string
31           Sets the string of characters allowed within passwords, when
32           generating them randomly.
33
34       -e
35           Apply a specific hashing algorithm to the password generated. The
36           list of passwords currently supported is:
37
38           •   base64 (always supported)
39
40           •   blowfish (Blowfish)
41
42           •   des (single DES)
43
44           •   md5 (MD5, always supported)
45
46           •   sha1 (SHA-1)
47
48           •   sha256 (SHA-256)
49
50           •   shmd5 (shadow MD5)
51
52           •   none (always supported)
53
54           For the algorithms not explicitly mentioned as always supported,
55           their availability depends on the implementation of the crypt(3)
56           library on the system where makepasswd was compiled.
57
58       -i
59           Force a number of iterations to be performed when hashing
60           passwords, for algorithms effectively supporting it. It otherwise
61           defaults to a random value, in a range considered reasonable for
62           the hashing algorithm selected.
63
64       -l
65           Force the passwords generated to be of a fixed length.
66
67       -M
68           Maximum length for the passwords generated.
69
70       -m
71           Minimum length for the passwords generated.
72
73       -n
74           Total number of passwords to generate. When not set, it defaults to
75           only one, except in enumeration mode where it processes the
76           complete range of possibilities until exhaustion.
77
78       -p
79           Force a given value for the password generated. This is useful when
80           generating hashes for pre-determined passwords.
81
82       -S
83           Do not seed the PRNG (pseudo-random number generator) ourselves.
84           With this option set, the entropy pool is often not initialized,
85           and the passwords generated predictable as a result.
86
87           Use this option carefully, when you know that either the system
88           does provide better entropy than makepasswd, or that it hurts
89           performance in a situation where entropy is not required.
90
91       -s
92           Force a given value when salting the resulting password hash. This
93           is only useful when selecting a hashing algorithm that effectively
94           uses salt.
95

BUGS

97       Issues can be listed and reported at
98       http://www.defora.org/os/project/bug_list/117/makepasswd.
99

SEE ALSO

101       login(1), passwd(1)
102

AUTHORS

104       Pierre Pronchery <khorben@defora.org>
105           Code and documentation.
106
107       Gabor Z. papp <gzp@papp.hu>
108           Testing.
109

111       Copyright © 2012, 2013 Pierre Pronchery <khorben@defora.org>
112
113       This manual page was written for the DeforaOS project (and may be used
114       by others).
115
116       Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
117       under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 3 as
118       published by the Free Software Foundation.
119
120
121
122
123makepasswd                        07/20/2023                     MAKEPASSWD(1)
Impressum