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] [-q] [-h] [-v]

DESCRIPTION

       apg generates several random passwords. It uses several password generation 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 password. 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 algorithm 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
       dictionary  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 mini-
	      mum 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 maxi-
	      mum 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 generation.

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

	      n      generator should use numeral symbol set for password generation.

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

	      c      generator should use capital symbol set for password generation.

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

	      l      generator should use small letters symbol set for password 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, M, 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
       -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 generated password for appearance in filter_file. If any of such substrings
	      would  be  found	in the filter_file then generated password 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 genetated passwords. Useful when you want to read generated 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

       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)