Ok last time I made a password generator, it was fun. Really it was.
No REALLY! I’m not lying!
Then a buddy Joel "Jaykul” Bennett showed me really cool Password generator in Powershell on Poshcode.org . It would generate semi pronouncable passwords using a series of Arrays contains the sets of characters and the ‘Switch’ Statement
It was incredible, but I looked at it and thought “I’d like to improve upon it”
So I tried
Then end result Has all of the arrays combined into one Dynamic Array, a more universal function to eliminate much of the code, and the ability to pop the new password to the Clipboard, Straight text and SecureString.
I think it could still be improved upon. I’d like to go the next level sometime and have a giant source dictionary, having the system optionally generate quasi “l33t sp34k” passwords.
But for now? I’m happy.
Here’s the function and you’re happy to take IT to the next level.
--------------------------- Script --------------------------------
Function global:GET-NEWpassword( $Length, $Complexity) {
# $Length variable serves a dual Purpose
# It assumes nobody wants a tiny password less than
# 8 characters so anything less than than it used
# to pull up one of 8 predined password templates
If ($Length -eq $NULL) { $Length = 0 }
# If you're going "100%" random you can provide a second
# value which is complexity.
#
# 1 - just random lowercase letter3
# 3 - is pretty decent (upper/lower/numbers)
# 9 - is "Muah hahaahahahahah!!!"
If ($Complexity -eq $NULL) { $Complexity = 3 }
# If password Length provided is less than eight
# Function will use one of 8 predefined templates
# Default Settings 8 Character SemiPronouncable Password from a previous
# password generator on Poshcode.org
#
# These are predinable password sets, as long as you like, max *8*
# C = Upper Case Consanant
# c = Lower Case Consanant
# L = Upper Case Alphabet
# l = Lower Case Alphabet
# D = Decimal numbers
# h = Hexidecimal series with Lowercase a-f
# H = Hexidecimal series with Uppercase A-F
# * = Any defined character in the sets
$passwordTemplateList=,"Cvcvcdd."
$passwordTemplateList+=,"CvCddvVc"
$passwordTemplateList+=,"********"
$passwordTemplateList+=,"CccddVvv"
$passwordTemplateList+=,"HHHHHHHH"
$passwordTemplateList+=,"d.d.d.d."
$passwordTemplateList+=,"dddddddd"
$passwordTemplateList+=,"0V0cC.0C"
$PasswordTemplate=$NULL
# All character sets are part of a single Dynamic Array which you
# can easily add to
#Lowercase
$AsciiArray=,("l","abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz")
#Uppercase
$AsciiArray+=,("L","ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ")
#Decimal Numbers
$AsciiArray+=,("d","0123456789")
#Punctuation
$AsciiArray+=,(".","!#$%'()*+,-./:;=>?@[]^_")
#Lowercase Vowels
$AsciiArray+=,("v","aeiou")
#Uppercase Vowels
$AsciiArray+=,("V","AEIOU")
#HexadecimalNumbers (lowercase on the a-f)
$AsciiArray+=,("h","0123456789abcdef")
#HexadecimalNumbers (UPPERCASE on the A-F)
$AsciiArray+=,("H","0123456789ABCDEF")
#Lowercase Consonants
$AsciiArray+=,("c","abcdfghjklmnpqrstvwxyz")
#Uppercase Consonants
$AsciiArray+=,("C","ABCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVWXYZ")
# This variable is important. If you ADD to the Array
# It checks the size for all of the calculations below
# First Character in the Array such as l,L,d,v etc
# identifies the contents of that row of the array
# such as lowercaseletter, UPPERCASELETTER, Decimalnumber
# vowel
$Arraysize=($AsciiArray.Length)-1
# Here is part of the magic
#
# If we have a password length less than 8 supplied
# from the parameter, we will call up one of 8
# predefined templates and use THAT format for
# the password.
#
If ($Length -lt 8)
{
$PasswordTemplate = $PasswordTemplateList[$Length];
$Complexity = $Arraysize
}
#
# Otherwise it is a large password and we will build
# A Pseudo template where each character is our "*"
# wildcard
Else
{
Foreach ($count in 1..$Length)
{ $PasswordTemplate+="*" }
}
# Blank out the new Password for good measure, JUST CUZ!
$NewPassword=$NULL
# First loop. Look at and ACT upon each character in the template
# to produce the appropriate content for that position in the
# password
Foreach ( $item in 0..(($passwordTemplate.Length)-1) ) {
$Asciiset = $passwordtemplate[$item]
# Here is our second loop. We're going to match the Type of
# Character being used against the master list in the array
# When found, we use that set
# Special scenario. If we're doing a "Wildcard" "*" then we have to pick
# a random set from the Array to be able to pick a random character
If ($AsciiSet -eq "*"){ $Asciiset=$AsciiArray[(GET-RANDOM $Complexity)][0]}
$Arraypos=0
# While the two don't match, keep checking the sets.
while ([byte][char]$AsciiSet -ne [byte][char]($AsciiArray[$Arraypos][0])){$Arraypos++}
# $Arraypos holds the correct set. Pull out the String of Characters
# Get the length of the array, and use GET-RANDOM to pick a byte
$String=$AsciiArray[$ArrayPos][1]
$StringLength=$String.Length
# Now add that to the password
$NewPassword+=$String.substring((GET-RANDOM $StringLength),1)
# End of loop - this goes on until the password is built
}
# this line doesn't work in Windows XP natively, but you can download a utility
# called "ToClip" that does the same thing. REplace "Clip" with "ToClip"
# http://www.fullspan.com/proj/toclip/index.html
#
# Send the password to the Clipboard
$NewPassword | clip
# Return the password in Plaintext and as Secure-String
Return $NewPassword, (CONVERTTO-Securestring $NewPassword -asplaintext -force)
}
--------------------------- Script --------------------------------
