Random Password Generator

GENPW(1)		      GENPW			 GENPW(1)



NAME
       genpw - create random (password) strings

SYNOPSIS
       genpw [-e exclude_list] [-f format_string] [-n amount] [-s
       ] [length]

DESCRIPTION
       genpw creates and prints a string  of  randomly	generated
       characters  which  can  be used as all sorts of user pass
       words without having to mastermind a  diversified  consis
       tency  yourself.   The generated data may be considered as
       aus random as the underlying operating system  is  capable
       to  feed random data to genpw.  Moreover, genpw tries hard
       to apply means to make  the  passwords  appear  even  more
       casual. To achieve this goal the internal character gener
       ator ignores repeating characters and repeating	character
       classes,  if  not  explicitely  specified otherwise. Thus,
       generated passwords should  appear  quite  diversified  at
       last.

       genpw  subdivides characters into four distinctive charac
       ter classes -  digits,  lower-case,  upper-case	and  spe
       cial characters .

       digits comprehend all characters from 0 through 9.

       lower-case characters
	      comprehend all lower case characters, that is, from
	      a through z.

       upper-case characters
	      comprehend all upper case characters, that is, from
	      A through Z.

       special characters
	      comprehend   characters  from  the  following  set:
	      !"#$%&'()*+,-./:;<=>?@.

       Without further specifications genpw creates a string with
       each of these classes being equally likely for each gener
       ated character. Once, a character classes has been  deter
       mined,  each character of this particular class is equally
       likely to be generated, too. Yet, given a  uniformly  dis
       tributed  probability for the random input provided by the
       operating system, the letter  K	as  not  as  probable  to
       appear  in  the	password as the digit 7, since the former
       shares its probability with 25 other siblings,  while  the
       latter is chosen with a chance of just 1 of 10.

       Per  default,  the  generated  string  is eight characters
       long, but may be specified accordingly using  the  length-
       argument.

OPTIONS
       -e exclude_list
	      If  specified,  this  string consists of characters
	      which should not be included in the generated pass
	      word. For instance, 1 (digit one) and l (lower-case
	      letter L) look very much	alike,	as  do	0  (digit
	      zero) and O (upper-case o). These and other charac
	      ters  which  do  not  fulfill  certain   cosmetical
	      requirements  may  be excluded from being generated
	      altogether.

       -f format_string
	      If specified, this string contains  the  format  of
	      the  character  classes  to  be used to make up the
	      password.  Each class (see above) is abbreviated by
	      a  single  character:  d	stands	for digits, l for
	      lower-case characters, u for upper-case characters,
	      s for special characters, a for alpha numeric char
	      acters,  that  is,  either  digits,  lower-case  or
	      upper-case  and  .   stands  for any character. The
	      length of format_string also determines the  length
	      of  the  password  to be generated, the position of
	      each class specifier within this string  the  class
	      to be used at its position (see EXAMPLES below). If
	      format_string is specified, length must be omitted,
	      since  the  length of the password is determined by
	      the length of format_string.

       -h     Print a short help text.

       -n amount
	      Generate amount passwords instead of only one using
	      the specified command line options.

       -s     Prevents	genpw from generating any special charac
	      ters. This switch is mutually exclusive with -b.

       -v     Print version information.

EXAMPLES
       genpw 6
	      creates a random password consisting of six charac
	      ters.

       genpw -e 1l0O
	      prevents	the  characters  1, l, 0 and O from being
	      included in the password.

       genpw -f ulla.
	      creates a password of five characters, specifically
	      being three letters and two other characters of any
	      kind.

       genpw -f uuuddd
	      generates a Swedish  number  plate.  However,  make
	      sure that not more than one car with the same plate
	      leaves the admission office.

       genpw -s
	      creates a standard  password  consisting	of  eight
	      characters, but no special characters.

FILES
       /dev/random



GENPW			    July 1997			 GENPW(1)