MKPASSWD(1)                                           MKPASSWD(1)

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

SYNOPSIS
       mkpasswd [ args ] [ user ]

INTRODUCTION
       mkpasswd generates passwords and can apply them  automati-
       cally  to users.  mkpasswd is based on the code from Chap-
       ter 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 charac-
       ter password.

            mkpasswd -l 20

       The -d flag defines the minimum number of digits that must
       be  in  the  password.   The  default is 2.  The following
       example creates a password with at least 3 digits.

            mkpasswd -d 3

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

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

       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 at least 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 Associ-
       ates, January 1995.

AUTHOR
       Don Libes, National Institute of Standards and Technology

       mkpasswd is in the public domain.  NIST and I would appre-
       ciate credit if this program or parts of it are used.

                          22 August 1994                        1