python - random string generator _help_

Question

this is a stupid question ... honestly i don't really have a clue at the moment and am pretty novice to python...

I'm currently wrecking my head on a python script to generate a random password. I found a good start from here example by 'Omid Raha'

edit: on revist, this example is far to complex for something that appears to have much simpler ways of performing the same task...

import random
import hashlib
import time

"""
This script is adapted from an example found here:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18319101/whats-the-best-way-to-generate-random-strings-of-a-specific-length-in-python ; originally provided by user 'Omid Raha'
"""
SECRET_KEY = 'ffdsat9asdf5o5u9HKHvurtiasdf1tg1V36jyasdfSv8Ppin9O'

    try:
    random = random.SystemRandom()
    using_sysrandom = True
except NotImplementedError:
    import warnings
    warnings.warn('A secure pseudo-random number generator is not available '
                  'on your system. Falling back to Mersenne Twister.')
using_sysrandom = False


def get_random_string(length=12,
                      allowed_chars='abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'
                                'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789'
                                '%*/-_@'):
    """
    Returns a securely generated random string.

    The default length of 12 with the a-z, A-Z, 0-9 character set returns
    a 71-bit value. log_2((26+26+10)^12) =~ 71 bits
    """
    if not using_sysrandom:
        # This is ugly, and a hack, but it makes things better than
        # the alternative of predictability. This re-seeds the PRNG
        # using a value that is hard for an attacker to predict, every
        # time a random string is required. This may change the
        # properties of the chosen random sequence slightly, but this
        # is better than absolute predictability.
        random.seed(
            hashlib.sha256(
                ("%s%s%s" % (
                    random.getstate(),
                    time.time(),
                    SECRET_KEY)).encode('utf-8')
            ).digest())
    return ''.join(random.choice(allowed_chars) for i in range(length))
print (get_random_string)

simply returns:

<function get_random_string at 0x1034f7848>

I have no clue what this means... or if I'm even properly executing the script.

edit:

thank you, for reading

Put plainly, you are printing the definition of the function, when you want to call the function and print the value. Try `print (get_random_string())` - the parentheses after the function name signal that you want to actually RUN the function, and get the value it has produced. — Kyle Pittman, Oct 08 '15 at 14:25
@monkey thank you :) this is very helpful for future endeavors — knope, Oct 08 '15 at 15:47

knope · Answer 1 · 2015-10-08T15:46:27.330

stumbling along... found this:

from OpenSSL import rand

p = rand.seed("lolNOmoreBADpasswds12")
print(p)

that:

import os, random, string
length = 12
chars = string.ascii_letters + string.digits + '!@#$%^&*()'
random.seed = (os.urandom(1024))

print ''.join(random.choice(chars) for i in range(length))

and the other:

from OpenSSL import rand

p = rand.bytes("12")
print(p)

playing with things like this, that, and the other now... :) edit: all the above methods suck

given: xkcd rocks

lets consider this as a best path forward (for random password generator thats memorable) given you have a file containing all the word strings you'd like to include:

import random, string, os
word_file = "./wordlist"
words = open(word_file).read().splitlines()
part1 = random.choice(words)
part2 = random.choice(words)
part3 = random.choice(words)
part4 = random.choice(words)

phrase = part1.capitalize()+part2+part3.capitalize()+part4
print phrase

Tobi696 · Answer 2 · 2018-11-05T19:29:23.813

The simplest random string Generator i know:

import random, string;
all_chars = string.ascii_lowercase
def randstr(length):
    result = str()
    for i in range(length):
        result += random.choice(all_chars)
    return(result)
print(randstr(15))

if you want to change the amount of possible characters just change the all_chars variable:
For example:

If you want digits and characters:

all_chars = string.ascii_lowercase + string.digits

For digits and uppercase and lowercase characters:

all_chars = string.ascii_letters + string.digits

Documentation

python - random string generator _help_

2 Answers2