HOWTO: Creating Passwords Using Default Linux Commands

Overview

I wanted a simple way to generate passwords that are easy to use, while only relying on tools that already exist on most Linux systems. That rules out non-default helpers such as mkpasswd and pwgen.

Method 1: OpenSSL

This is straightforward. Base64 is useful because some raw bytes are not printable.

openssl rand 16 | base64
zJhh9QmSHL95x6VRYqwm/g==

Method 2: Date + Checksum

This is one of the quickest methods in practice. Use the current date output and hash it with md5sum (or sha256sum).

date | md5sum
687cc841260fae6cfc50ff5dc6e1c7a9  -

Note: the trailing - comes from stdin input. If you only want the hash:

date | md5sum | awk '{print $1}'

Method 3: fold + /dev/urandom

This generates stronger random passwords, but they are usually harder to remember. The command reads printable characters from /dev/urandom, wraps at 16 chars, then prints 5 candidates.

tr -cd '[:print:]' < /dev/urandom | fold -w16 | head -5
r9\mlY-e@I?CqO+Z
7.Kcsa3n,r&^uv{b
WyR@CmPz[ff:efRx
6x2A;9)0"O>h^G/)
z\%U!n%fgbD2G)e,

If you want exactly one password:

tr -cd '[:print:]' < /dev/urandom | head -c 16
RI'C9.CoX.E5E^ED

Alphanumeric-only variant:

tr -cd '[:alnum:]' < /dev/urandom | fold -w16 | head -5
XcnAbrAZUJYI03dl
CLgQcsKNfzv5xYlE
TME1XKXCG2ZH0L26
FeD024ZIGFQBnDw0
9L1DQeM5LNgT2JTC

Final Notes

• Use a password manager whenever possible.
• Prefer longer random passwords over short complex ones.
• For automation, avoid exposing generated passwords in shell history or logs.