Generate Random String/Password

Posted by Pete | Posted in PHP Functions | Posted on 16-07-2009-05-2008

2

Having a secure password is important while surfing the internet. So generating a completly random password is a good way to stay secure. So with this fully commented function it will be simple to implement.

// Generate Random String (Default: 8 Characters)
function generaterand($length = 8)
{
    // start with a blank password
    $password = "";
    // define possible characters
    $possible = "0123456789bcdfghjkmnpqrstvwxyz";
    // set up a counter
    $i = 0;
    // add random characters to $password until $length is reached
    while ($i < $length)
    {
        // pick a random character from the possible ones
        $char = substr($possible, mt_rand(0, strlen($possible) - 1), 1);
        // we don't want this character if it's already in the password
        if (!strstr($password, $char))
        {
            $return .= $char;
            $i++;
        }
    }
    // done!
    return $return;
}

To execute the function is simple

<?php
$pass = generaterand();
echo "Password" . $pass;
?>

If you need any help with this function or like my tutorials/scripts please leave a comment.

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Comments posted (2)

Elvinas says... on 03-08-2009

Thanks for great tutorial :) . But i want to ask, if function is “generaterand” why $pw and $pw2 variables values is “generate” not “generaterand”.
Pete says... on 08-08-2009

Ooops thats a spelling mistake. Had been a long day when i was writing this :P

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Tutorials Written By Peter Kelly