randomword, randomchars, randomletters - Generate random
passwords (Enhanced Security)
int randomchars(
char *string,
unsigned short int minlen,
unsigned short int maxlen,
boolean restrict,
long seed ); int randomletters(
char *string,
unsigned short int minlen,
unsigned short int maxlen,
boolean restrict,
long seed ); int randomword(
char *word,
char *hyphenated_word,
unsigned short int minlen,
unsigned short int maxlen,
boolean restrict,
long seed );
Enhanced Security Library (libsecurity)
Points at a user-supplied space to contain a null-terminated
password. Specifies the minimum length that a generated
word can have. Specifies the maximum length that a
generated word can have. Specifies whether restrictions
are to be imposed on the generated word. This is a boolean
integer, where a non-zero integer indications restrictions
and a 0 (zero) indicates no restrictions. Specifies an
initial seed for the random number generator. Points at a
user-supplied space to contain a null-terminated random
pronounceable password. Contains the hyphenated version
of the generated word.
These functions generate random passwords for use in password
selection. All of them are generated by the system,
based on seeds and set in the function. Such seeds can be
created with the drand48(), rand(), or random() functions.
The randomchars() function places a null-terminated password
composed of random printable ASCII characters into
the string parameter and returns the length of the generated
string. The minlen and maxlen parameters denote the
minimum and maximum lengths allowed for string. The
minlen parameter can equal maxlen, but cannot be greater
than maxlen, and cannot be negative. The user space preallocated
is at least maxlen for string. The smaller
minlen and maxlen are, the smaller the selection space of
random words.
The restrict parameter is 0 (zero) when no restrictions
are placed on the generated word. It is nonzero when the
words generated pass the tests of the acceptable_password()
function. The seed argument specifies an initial
seed for the random number generator used by randomchars().
The seed parameter is used by the function only on the
first time it is called; the parameter is ignored on subsequent
calls.
The randomletters() function places a null-terminated
password composed of random lower-case letters into the
string parameter and returns the length of the generated
word. The minlen, maxlen, restrict, and seed parameters
are the same as for the randomchars() function.
The randomword() function places a null-terminated random
pronounceable password into the word parameter and returns
the length of the generated word. The hyphenated version
of the word is placed in hyphenated_word. The minlen,
maxlen, restrict, and seed parameters are the same as for
the randomchars() and randomletters() functions. The user
space preallocated is at least 2*max - 1 for hyphenated_word.
The password generator relies on a random number generator
that produces uniformly distributed integers. Because the
password generator invokes the random number generator
many times even for one word, the random number generator
has to produce a uniform distribution. The period (distinct
numbers produced given a particular seed) and number
space (range of possible numbers) must both be large. The
drand48() functions are used for this purpose.
Programs using these functions must be compiled with -lsecurity.
System password file. System group file.
Commands: login(1), passwd(1)
Functions: acceptable_password(3), drand48(3), rand(3),
random(3)
randomword(3)
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