Traditionally, I've relied on online JavaScript password generators to create my passwords. I prefer extremely complicated ones, like sPtBf4CDuul9Wlol and H0SD9BHz4xHIah0h (at least 16-characters are preferred). However, when I'm setting up a new system for myself, or configuring user accounts on a shared box at work, JavaScript password generators are slightly inconvenient if I don't have a web-browser handy. Plus, if I need to generate multiple passwords for many users, it's unrealistic to use to a JavaScript password generator embedded in a web-browser.
Luckily, a colleague at work pointed out an easy way of generating good passwords using /dev/urandom on Linux:
On HP-UX, run:
Note you can change the "16" in the final call to head to get a different password length of your choice.
FOLLOWUP 2/7/09:
If you'd like to generate several random passwords using a shell/Bash script, see my post on HOWTO: Generating Many Good Random Passwords 'Automagically'.
FOLLOWUP 6/8/09:
David Douthitt at UNIX Administratosphere recently covered a great way to generate passwords using Perl. His method is especially useful on HP-UX and OpenVMS boxes. Thanks, David!
Luckily, a colleague at work pointed out an easy way of generating good passwords using /dev/urandom on Linux:
head -c 500 /dev/urandom | tr -dc a-z0-9A-Z | head -c 16; echo
On HP-UX, run:
head -n 500 -c /dev/urandom | tr -dc a-z0-9A-Z | head -n 16 -c
Note you can change the "16" in the final call to head to get a different password length of your choice.
FOLLOWUP 2/7/09:
If you'd like to generate several random passwords using a shell/Bash script, see my post on HOWTO: Generating Many Good Random Passwords 'Automagically'.
FOLLOWUP 6/8/09:
David Douthitt at UNIX Administratosphere recently covered a great way to generate passwords using Perl. His method is especially useful on HP-UX and OpenVMS boxes. Thanks, David!
Wikipedia has a lot of good information on selecting a good password. Password strength is an interesting problem, and different folks have different opinions with regards to what constitutes a "good" password. Regardless, I suggest following a few key rules when creating a password:
- Include numbers, symbols, upper and lowercase letters in passwords.
- Password length should be around 12 to 14 characters.
- Avoid any password based on repetition, dictionary words, letter or number sequences, usernames, relative or pet names, or biographical information (eg, dates, ID numbers, ancestors names or dates, ...).
Did you find this post helpful, or at least, interesting?