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APG(1)				  User Manual				APG(1)

NAME
       apg - generates several random passwords

SYNOPSIS
       apg  [-a	 algorithm]  [-M  mode]	 [-E char_string] [-n num_of_pass] [-m
       min_pass_len] [-x max_pass_len]	[-r  dictfile]	[-b  filter_file]  [-p
       min_substr_len]	[-s]  [-c  cl_seed] [-d] [-y] [-l] [-t] [-k] [-q] [-h]
       [-v]

DESCRIPTION
       apg generates several random passwords. It uses several password gener‐
       ation  algorithms  (currently  two) and a built-in pseudo random number
       generator.

       Default	algorithm  is  pronounceable  password	generation   algorithm
       designed	 by Morrie Gasser and described in A Random Word Generator For
       Pronounceable Passwords National Technical Information  Service	(NTIS)
       AD-A-017676.   The  original  paper  is very old and had never been put
       online, so I have to use NIST implementation described in FIPS-181.

       Another algorithm is simple random character generation algorithm,  but
       it  uses	 four  user-defined symbol sets to produce random password. It
       means that user can choose type of symbols that should appear in	 pass‐
       word.  Symbol  sets are: numeric symbol set (0,...,9) , capital letters
       symbol set (A,...,Z) , small letters symbol set (a,...,z)  and  special
       symbols symbol set (#,@,!,...).

       Built-in	 pseudo	 random number generator is an implementation of algo‐
       rithm described in Appendix C of ANSI X9.17 or RFC1750  with  exception
       that  it	 uses CAST or SHA-1 instead of Triple DES.  It uses local time
       with precision of microseconds (see  gettimeofday(2))  and  /dev/random
       (if available) to produce initial random seed.

       apg  also  have	the  ability to check generated password quality using
       dictionary. You can  use	 this  ability	if  you	 specify  command-line
       options	-r  dictfile or -b filtername where dictfile is the dictionary
       file name and filtername is the name of Bloom filter file. In that dic‐
       tionary	you  may  place words (one per line) that should not appear as
       generated passwords. For example: user names, common  words,  etc.  You
       even can use one of the dictionaries that come with dictionary password
       crackers.  Bloom filter file should be created with  apgbfm(1)  utility
       included	 in  apg  distribution. In future releases I plan to implement
       some other techniques to check passwords (like pattern check)  just  to
       make life easier.

OPTIONS
   Password generation modes options
       -a algorithm
	      use algorithm for password generation.
	      0 - (default) pronounceable password generation
	      1 - random character password generation

       -n num_of_pass
	      generate num_of_pass number of passwords. Default is 6.

       -m min_pass_len
	      generate	 password   with   minimum  length  min_pass_len.   If
	      min_pass_len > max_pass_len then	max_pass_len  =	 min_pass_len.
	      Default minimum password length is 8.

       -x max_pass_len
	      generate	 password   with   maximum  length  max_pass_len.   If
	      min_pass_len > max_pass_len then	max_pass_len  =	 min_pass_len.
	      Default maximum password length is 10.

       -M mode
	      Use  symbolsets  specified  with	mode  for password generation.
	      mode is a text string consisting of characters S, s, N, n, C, c,
	      L, l. Where:

	      S	     generator must use special symbol set for every generated
		     password.

	      s	     generator should use special symbol set for password gen‐
		     eration.

	      N	     generator must use numeral symbol set for every generated
		     password.

	      n	     generator should use numeral symbol set for password gen‐
		     eration.

	      C	     generator must use capital symbol set for every generated
		     password.

	      c	     generator should use capital symbol set for password gen‐
		     eration.

	      L	     generator	must  use  small  letters symbol set for every
		     generated password (always present if pronounceable pass‐
		     word generation algorithm is used).

	      l	     generator	should	use small letters symbol set for pass‐
		     word generation.

	      R,r    not  supported  any  more.	 Use  -E  char_string	option
		     instead.
	      mode can not be more than 4 characters in length.

	      Note:
	      Usage of L, S, N, C will slow down password generation process.

	      Examples:
	      -M sncl or -M SNCL or -M Cn

       -E char_string
	      exclude  characters  in  char_string  from  password  generation
	      process (in pronounceable password generation mode you  can  not
	      exclude  small  letters). To include special symbols that can be
	      recognized by shell (apostrophe, quotes, dollar sign,  etc.)  in
	      char_string use the backslashed versions.

	      Examples:

	      Command  apg -a 1 -M n -n 3 -m 8 -E 23456789 will generate a set
	      of passwords that will look like this
	      10100110
	      01111000
	      11011101

	      Command apg -a 1 -M nc -n 3 -m 26 -E  GHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ  will
	      generate a set of passwords that will look like this
	      16A1653CD4DE5E7BD9584A3476
	      C8F78E06944AFD57FB9CB882BC
	      8C8DF37CD792D36D056BBD5002

   Password quality control options
       -k     check every generated password using cracklib. To use this abil‐
	      ity you must enable cracklib support during programm building.

       -r dictfile
	      check generated passwords for their appearance in dictfile

       -b filter_file
	      check generated passwords for their appearance  in  filter_file.
	      filter_file should be created with apgbfm(1) utility.

       -p min_substr_len
	      this  option tells apg(1) to check every substring of the gener‐
	      ated password for appearance in filter_file. If any of such sub‐
	      strings  would  be found in the filter_file then generated pass‐
	      word would be rejected and apg(1)	 will  generate	 another  one.
	      min_substr_len  specifies	 minimum  substring  length  to check.
	      This option is active only if -b option is defined.

   Pseudo random number generator options
       -s     ask user for random sequence for password generation

       -c cl_seed
	      use cl_seed as a random seed for password generation. I  use  it
	      when i have to generate passwords in a shell script.

   Password output options
       -d     do  NOT use any delimiters between generated passwords. I use it
	      when i have to generate passwords in a shell script.

       -y     print  generated	passwords  and	crypted	 passwords  (see   man
	      crypt(3))

       -q     quiet mode (do not print warnings)

       -l     spell  generated	passwords. Useful when you want to read gener‐
	      ated password by telephone.
	      WARNING: Think twice before read your password by phone.

       -t     print pronunciation for generated pronounceable password

       -h     print help information and exit

       -v     print version information and exit

DEFAULT OPTIONS
       apg -a 0 -M sncl -n 6 -x 10 -m 8 (new style)

       If you want to generate really secure passwords, you should use	option
       -s.  To	simplify  apg  usage,  you can write a small shell script. For
       example:
       [begin]----> pwgen.sh
       #!/bin/sh
       /usr/local/bin/apg -m 8 -x 12 -s
       [ end ]----> pwgen.sh

EXIT CODE
       On successful completion of its task, apg will complete with exit  code
       0.  An exit code of -1 indicates an error occurred.  Textual errors are
       written to the standard error stream.

DIAGNOSTICS
       If /dev/random is not available, apg will display a message about it.

FILES
       None.

BUGS
       None.  If you've found one, please send bug description to the author.

SEE ALSO
       apgd(8), apgbfm(1)

AUTHOR
       Adel I. Mirzazhanov, <a-del@iname.com>
       Project home page: http://www.adel.nursat.kz/apg/

Automated Password Generator	  2003 Aug 04				APG(1)
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