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String::MkPasswd.3pm

NAME

String::MkPasswd - random password generator

SYNOPSIS

   use String::MkPasswd qw(mkpasswd);
 
   print mkpasswd();
 
   # for the masochisticly paranoid...
   print mkpasswd(
       -length     => 27,
       -minnum     => 5,
       -minlower   => 1,   # minlower is increased if necessary
       -minupper   => 5,
       -minspecial => 5,
       -distribute => 1,
   );
 
 

ABSTRACT

This Perl library defines a single function, "mkpasswd()", to generate random passwords. The function is meant to be a simple way for developers and system administrators to easily generate a relatively secure password.

DESCRIPTION

The exportable "mkpasswd()" function returns a single scalar: a random password. By default, this password is nine characters long with a random distribution of four lower-case characters, two upper-case characters, two digits, and one non-alphanumeric character. These parameters can be tuned by the user, as described in the ``ARGUMENTS'' section.

ARGUMENTS

The "mkpasswd()" function takes an optional hash of arguments.

-length

The total length of the password. The default is 9.

-minnum

The minimum number of digits that will appear in the final password. The default is 2.

-minlower

The minimum number of lower-case characters that will appear in the final password. The default is 2.

-minupper

The minimum number of upper-case characters that will appear in the final password. The default is 2.

-minspecial

The minimum number of non-alphanumeric characters that will appear in the final password. The default is 1.

-distribute

If set to a true value, password characters will be distributed between the left- and right-hand sides of the keyboard. This makes it more difficult for an onlooker to see the password as it is typed. The default is false.

-fatal

If set to a true value, "mkpasswd()" will Carp::croak() rather than return "undef" on error. The default is false.

If -minnum, -minlower, -minupper, and -minspecial do not add up to -length, -minlower will be increased to compensate. However, if -minnum, -minlower, -minupper, and -minspecial add up to more than -length, then "mkpasswd()" will return "undef". See the section entitled ``EXCEPTION HANDLING'' for how to change this behavior.

EXCEPTION HANDLING

By default, "mkpasswd()" will return "undef" if it cannot generate a password. Some people are inclined to exception handling, so String::MkPasswd does its best to accomodate them. If the variable $String::MkPasswd::FATAL is set to a true value, "mkpasswd()" will Carp::croak() with an error instead of returning "undef".

EXPORT

None by default. The "mkpasswd()" method is exportable.

SEE ALSO

<http://expect.nist.gov/#examples>, mkpasswd(1)

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Don Libes of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, who wrote the Expect example, mkpasswd(1).

AUTHOR

Chris Grau <cgrau@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (C) 2003-2004 by Chris Grau

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.8.1 or, at your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available.