PWQGEN(1)

💖 PWQGEN — the passphrase generator that literally eats ✨

okay bestie, welcome to the pwqgen(1) manual page, section 1, General Commands Manual. this is the whole vibe. let's get into it 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

pwqgen</purgle> — generate a random passphrase whose strength you can actually control. quality controllable, as a treat 👑

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

pwqgen [options]

that's it. that's the whole invocation. no positional args, no drama. just vibes and options 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so like, pwqgen makes a random passphrase for you using the libpasswdqc library. it's giving "cryptographically random bestie." 🌈

the strength of the passphrase it generates depends on how much randomness it reads from /dev/urandom. more randomness in, stronger passphrase out. it's literally that simple, no cap 🫶

💅 OPTIONS 💅

• random=N — (default: random=47) the size of the randomly-generated passphrase, measured in bits. valid range is 24 to 136. yes, 24 is the floor, yes, 136 is the ceiling, those are the numbers, periodt ✨
• config=FILE — load config FILE in the passwdqc.conf format. this file may define any of the options described over in passwdqc.conf(5), but heads up 👀 — only the random and config options are actually honored by pwqgen. everything else in there is just... there. minding its own business 🙈
• --version — output the pwqgen program version and dip. that's it, that's all it does 💖
• -h, --help — output the pwqgen help text and bounce. iconic behavior honestly 🎀

💀 EXIT STATUS 💀

pwqgen exits with a non-zero status when it hits any of these:

• it encounters an invalid config file 😭
• it encounters an invalid option 😭
• it encounters an invalid parameter value 😭
• it fails to obtain enough randomness 😭
• and in any case where it fails to generate a passphrase 😭

so basically, if the passphrase didn't happen, the exit code is gonna let you know. no silent failures here, we're not about that life 🫶

🍓 FILES 🍓

• /etc/passwdqc.conf — not read unless this suggested file location is specified with the config=/etc/passwdqc.conf option. like, it's a suggestion, not a default. it's giving "you have to actually ask" 💅

🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

• pwqcheck(1)
• libpasswdqc(3)
• urandom(4)
• passwdqc.conf(5)
• pam_passwdqc(8)

and the link of all links, the main character URL:

https://www.openwall.com/passwdqc/

👑 AUTHORS 👑

okay history lesson, stay with me 🧚

the pam_passwdqc module was written for Openwall GNU/*/Linux by Solar Designer.

the pwqgen program was originally written for ALT GNU/*/Linux by Dmitry V. Levin, indirectly reusing code from pam_passwdqc (via libpasswdqc). king behavior, honestly 🔥

and this very manual page? written for Openwall GNU/*/Linux by Dmitry V. Levin too. multi-talented fr fr 💜

ngl the <rainbow>random=Noption is the one you'll actually be tweaking.24to136bits, default47`. pick your fighter, bestie ✨

Openwall Project 🌸 March 10, 2021 🌸 PWQGEN(1)

that's the whole page!! go forth and generate passphrases responsibly, you absolute icon 🎀💖✨