pwqcheck
Validate password strength against policy
TLDR
Check password strength
$ echo "[password]" | pwqcheck
Check with old password$ pwqcheck -1 [old_password] [new_password]
Check from stdin$ pwqcheck < [password_file]
Custom config$ pwqcheck config=[/path/to/pwquality.conf]
SYNOPSIS
pwqcheck [options] [checkparams_]
DESCRIPTION
pwqcheck checks password quality according to configurable rules. It's part of passwdqc for enforcing password policies.
Returns OK or an error message describing the weakness.
PARAMETERS
-1
Read old password, new password on stdin.-2
Read new password only.config=file
Use specified config file.min=n
Minimum password length.max=n
Maximum password length.
EXAMPLES
$ # Check single password
echo "mypassword" | pwqcheck
# With old password (change validation)
echo -e "oldpass\nnewpass" | pwqcheck -1
# Custom policy
echo "Test123!" | pwqcheck min=8 max=40
# In script
if echo "$password" | pwqcheck > /dev/null 2>&1; then
echo "Password OK"
fi
echo "mypassword" | pwqcheck
# With old password (change validation)
echo -e "oldpass\nnewpass" | pwqcheck -1
# Custom policy
echo "Test123!" | pwqcheck min=8 max=40
# In script
if echo "$password" | pwqcheck > /dev/null 2>&1; then
echo "Password OK"
fi
ERROR MESSAGES
$ Bad passphrase (too short)
Bad passphrase (not enough classes)
Bad passphrase (based on dictionary word)
Bad passphrase (too similar to old)
Bad passphrase (not enough classes)
Bad passphrase (based on dictionary word)
Bad passphrase (too similar to old)
CAVEATS
Part of passwdqc package. Different from pwquality/pam_pwquality. Check return code for validation.
HISTORY
pwqcheck is part of passwdqc by Solar Designer, providing proactive password quality checking.
SEE ALSO
pwqgen(1), passwd(1), pam_passwdqc(8)