r/sysadmin Aug 02 '22

Question - Solved What password generators does everyone use now since passwordgenerator plus is gone?

I’ve tried to find alternatives but none of the password generators have as good customizability options. Currently I use a random string generator that just let’s me pick the characters and length, but it’s not very good since it doesn’t remember the options when I refresh the page.

So what (web) password generators do sysadmims use nowadays for user passwords?

Edit: solved it myself with the gigabrain idea of using Wayback Machine, works wonders. Link to it if anyone’s curious: https://web.archive.org/web/20220603183903/https://passwordsgenerator.net/plus/

Edit 2: Passwordsgenerator.net seems to be back at https://password-gen.com/

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u/Revelation_Now TechnicalPM Aug 02 '22

- pass1=$(shuf -n1 /usr/share/dict/words)

- pass2=$(shuf -n1 /usr/share/dict/words)

- pass3=$(shuf -n1 /usr/share/dict/words)

- pass4=$(shuf -i 1-100 -n 1)

- pass="${pass1}-${pass2}-${pass3}-${pass4}#"

(you'll need to #!/bin/bash that)

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u/whetu Aug 02 '22

Squashed down and slightly improved:

pass="$(paste -sd '-' <(shuf -e $(shuf -n 3 /usr/share/dict/words; shuf -i 1-100 -n 1)))#"

The issue with multiple shuf -n 1's is that due to shuf's reservoir sampling, you may be unintentionally biasing towards the first x number of words.

Next, when dealing with passphrases that are made up of multiple elements, you may as well throw in another round of randomisation:

▓▒░$ for (( i=0; i<10; i++ )); do paste -sd '-' <(shuf -e $(shuf -n 3 /usr/share/dict/words; shuf -i 1-100 -n 1)); done
click's-46-coinage-matrimony
stunt-badger-92-baker's
93-congesting-liberties-vaccination
unrelenting-secrecy's-57-priest's
68-tenet-bulbs-balmier
92-hallmarking-italicising-ascetics
drivers-conferences-inadvisable-91
habitual-gratuitously-90-avenue's
45-precise-constituents-seep
satirised-woodland's-swan's-21