Openssl

Generate secure random strings, passwords, and cryptographic tokens using OpenSSL. Use when creating passwords, API keys, secrets, or any secure random data.

OpenSSL Secure Generation

Generate cryptographically secure random data using openssl rand.

Password/Secret Generation

# 32 random bytes as base64 (43 chars, URL-safe with tr)
openssl rand -base64 32 | tr '+/' '-_' | tr -d '='

# 24 random bytes as hex (48 chars)
openssl rand -hex 24

# alphanumeric password (32 chars)
openssl rand -base64 48 | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9' | head -c 32

Common Lengths

| Use Case | Command | |----------|---------| | Password (strong) | openssl rand -base64 24 | | API key | openssl rand -hex 32 | | Session token | openssl rand -base64 48 | | Short PIN (8 digits) | openssl rand -hex 4 | xxd -r -p | od -An -tu4 | tr -d ' ' | head -c 8 |

Notes

-base64 outputs ~1.33x the byte count in characters
-hex outputs 2x the byte count in characters
Pipe through tr -dc to filter character sets
Always use at least 16 bytes (128 bits) for secrets