Linux Secure Password Generation: 4 Easy Methods
Oct 26, 2026
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by John Britto
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1 min read
Quick Linux Tip #107 :
Question: I need to generate secure passwords without using a website.
Try: openssl rand -base64 32 | tr -d '/+=' | cut -c1-20
Info: Generates cryptographically secure random bytes from OpenSSL.
Examples:
$ pwgen -s 20 # Generate fully random 20-character passwords
$ head /dev/urandom | tr -dc A-Za-z0-9 | head -c 20 # Pure bash random string generation
$ openssl rand -hex 16 # Generate a 32-character hex string
Note: Modern Linux kernel entropy (/dev/urandom) is cryptographically secure. Avoid using $RANDOM for passwords as pseudo-random generators are predictable.
LinuxTeck.com
linuxteck:~$ openssl rand -base64 32 | tr -d '/+=' | cut -c1-20
7Kj9mLqN3Vxp2Rt8sAyW
linuxteck:~$ openssl rand -base64 48 | head -c 32; echo
4Rn7Xp2Lq9mK3jVt8wA5bYz6NsHcF1gD
linuxteck:~$ pwgen -s 20 5
K7jN9mLq3VxN2Rt8sAyW
4Rn7Xp2Lq9mK3jVt8wA5
8bYz6NsHcF1gD5tP9rJm
M3kL7qN2VxP4Rt8sAy9W
6Rn9Xp3Lq4mK7jVt2wA8
linuxteck:~$ head -c 16 /dev/urandom | base64
L+r2V8NxQmP5kA7F9Rbw/A==
linuxteck:~$
About John Britto
John Britto Founder & Chief-Editor @LinuxTeck. A Computer Geek and Linux Intellectual having more than 20+ years of experience in Linux and Open Source technologies.
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