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GENPASS(1) User Contributed Perl Documentation GENPASS(1)
NAME
genpass - Quickly and easily create secure passwords
VERSION
version 2.34
SYNOPSIS
genpass [-rlnsv] [long options...]
Options:
--configfile configuration file to read (YAML, JSON, INI, etc.)
-r --readable create readable passwords
-l --length password length
-n --number how many passwords to create
-s --special use special characters (clashes with readable opt)
-v --verify verify types of characters
--lowercase what lowercase characters to use
--uppercase what uppercase characters to use
--numerical what numerical characters to use
--specials what characters are considered special
--unreadable what characters are considered unreadable
--usage brief usage output
--help what you're currently reading
DESCRIPTION
genpass creates passwords in a fast and comfortable maner. The idea is
to be able to do plenty without necessarily needing to.
The way genpass works is by compiling a list of known characters by
types (numerical, lowercase, uppercase, etc.) and a list of unreadable
characters - which are basically characters that can be confused with
each other (0, O, I, l, 1 and so on). It generates a random by possible
characters, excluding the non-readable ones, if any exist.
genpass allows you to pick which characters it will use to create the
passwords via the longer options for lowercase, uppercase, numerical,
specials and unreadable.
Also, any boolean option (readable, special) can be negated using "no",
such as genpass --nospecial which negates genpass --special.
genpass also supports configuration files, so you don't have to
remember all your favorite options and insert them each time. First it
tries to read a ".genpass.yaml" in your home folder (works with Linux,
BSD, MacOS, Windows and anything File::HomeDir supports) and if that
doesn't exist (or is simply unreadable), it looks for a global Unix-
style conf named "/etc/genpass.yaml".
You will read below how you can specifically ask to read a completely
different file instead of the default ones mentioned above.
Read below for more options and examples.
OPTIONS
--configfile
genpass can work with most configuration formats, such as YAML,
JSON, INI (Apache) and so on. You can configure any part of genpass
and ask genpass to read a configuration file as such:
genpass --configfile ~/.genpass.yaml
Or a global one as such:
genpass --configfile /etc/genpass.json
Default: YourHomeFolder/.genpass.yaml, then /etc/genpass.yaml.
-r | --readable
A flag to decide whether passwords should be readable. The purpose
of readability is to create passwords you can give to users or read
to someone - both of which aren't necessarily good practices, but
commonly used.
Readable passwords do not contain the additional type of special
characters, which is something to consider. Sometimes it doesn't
matter as much (such as a Windows user on a local LAN machine that
has no critical data or access anywhere.
genpass --readable
Since readable is on by default, you can negate this if you want by
using the noreadable option:
genpass --noreadable
This will turn on the special and possibly unreadable characters
option.
Please view unreadable below for more details.
Default: on.
-l | --length
The length of the password.
# create a 50 character long password
genpass --length 50
# create a 7 character long password
genpass -l 7
If your configuration requires a certain variety of characters but
you've asked for a shorter password (one which cannot contain that
variety), genpass will complain and try to explain what the problem
is.
$ genpass -l 2
You wanted a longer password that the variety of characters you've selected.
You requested 3 types of characters but only have 2 length.
Default: 10.
-n | --number
How many passwords to create.
# generate 30 passwords
genpass -n 30
Default: 1.
-s | --special
Indicates whether to use special characters or not. This basically
means symbols such as period, exclamation mark, percentage sign,
etc.
genpass --special
You can negate this flag by doing:
genpass --nospecial
Default: no.
-v | --verify
Whether to verify that the variety of characters you requested is
included.
Disabling this gains you speed if you create a rather large number
of passwords that have a rather large number of characters. Then
you don't need to worry as much about having that variety since
probability says you probably will.
You can negate this using:
genpass --noverify
Best to keep it on though.
Default: yes.
--lowercase
Which characters are considered lowercase?
--uppercase
Which characters are considered uppercase?
--numerical
Which characters are considered numerical?
--specials
Which characters are considered special ones?
--unreadable
Which characters are considered unreadable?
This includes a short list of characters that are easily confused
and the above sequences are stripped of such characters.
EXAMPLES
# create a 10 character length password
genpass -l 10
# create 30 passwords using all possible characters
genpass -n 30 --noreadable
# create 5 new passwords of length of 30, long options
genpass --number 5 --length 30
AUTHOR
Sawyer X <xsawyerx@cpan.org>
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
This software is copyright (c) 2011 by Sawyer X.
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.
perl v5.20.2 2015-08-31 GENPASS(1)