DisPass
Passphrase generator for GNU/Linux, *BSD, MacOS X and Windows.

Definitions

Here are some definitions which may help you understand the rest of the documentation better.

Since DisPass asks for a password/passphrase to generate another password/passphrase, things may get a bit confusing. I've dediced to use the words 'password' and 'passphrase' diffently and consistent.

label

A label is a string that you use to identify the passphrase. This can be a domainname of the service the passphrase is used for, e.g. 'google.com'.

password

Use of the word 'password' is dedicated to the input password, i.e. the password you are asked to enter and only you know. Whenever you read password, this is the one I mean. The password needs to be at least 8 characters long and does not have a maximum length.

passphrase

With 'passphrase' I always mean the output passphrase, i.e. the passphrase that is unique and generated from a label, password and sequence number. Generated passphrases are 30 characters long. The length can be optionally changed.

Downloading / Installing

Using pip to download from the Python Package Index

The recommended way is to download and install directly from the PyPI repository using pip:

$ sudo pip install dispass

You must have python's docutils installed in able to do so. This will install the dispass module in python's dist-packages folder. You can now use dispass by executing the dispass, dispass-label and/or gdispass scripts placed under /usr/local/bin/ or /usr/bin/.

The PyPI project page is at http://pypi.python.org/pypi/DisPass/

Latest (development) version

Clone git repo:

$ git clone git://github.com/dispass/dispass.git
$ cd dispass

Then you can either

1. Install via Makefile, this will perform all the steps in option 2 (below):

   $ sudo make install
   

2. Install through pip, and install manpage:

   $ python setup.py sdist
   $ sudo pip install dist/DisPass-<version>.tar.gz
   $ sudo gzip -c dispass.1 > dispass.1.gz
   $ sudo mv dispass.1.gz /usr/share/man/man1/
   

3. Install manually

   $ sudo python setup.py install
   

Upgrade or uninstall

You can easily upgrade to newer versions using pip:

$ sudo pip install --upgrade dispass

If you have installed dispass using pip, you can easily uninstall at any moment:

$ sudo pip uninstall dispass

Using the dispass command line app

When DisPass is executed as gdispass or dispass -g, the graphical version will be started.

You can use dispass by entering your labels after the dispass command and/or you can store your labels in a textfile called a labelfile.

USAGE: dispass [options]
       dispass [options] <label> [<label2>] [label3]  [...]
       gdispass

Options (general):
-c, --create    use if this passphrase is new (check input PW)
-g, --gui       start guided graphical version of DisPass
-h, --help      show this help and exit
-o, --output    output passphrases to stdout
                (instead of the more secure way of displaying via curses)
-V, --version   show full version information and exit
--script        optimize input/output for 'wrapping' dispass

Options (when using labelfile):
-s <string>, --search=<string>      dispass label from file that uniquely
                                    matches <string>
-f <labelfile>, --file=<labelfile>  set location of labelfile

Options (when passing labels as arguments):
-l <length>, --length=<length>      set length of passphrase
                                    (default: 30, max: 171)
-a <algorithm>, --algo=<algorithm>  override algorithm for generating
                                    passphrase(s)
-n <number>, --number=<number>      override sequence number (default = 1)

Using dispass to create one or more passphrases

You can start using dispass for e.g. google.com like this:

$ dispass -c google.com

You can start using dispass for e.g. google.com like this:

$ dispass google.com

The passphrases created are 30 characters long by default, but some website's may not validate such a long passphrase or you might want to make it even longer. You can easily set a desired passphrase length using the -l flag. Hotmail passwords are limited to 16 characters:

$ dispass -l 18 hotmail

Generating passphrases for multiple labels is just as easy:

$ dispass google hotmail YaHo0 "P0551bly*a81t)H4rd2rmbr"

Labels are case-sensitive and digits and special characters can be used. You should try to name labels in a way that you can easily 'dispass' a passphrase on any computer/device that has DisPass at any given moment. You are encouraged to store your labels in a labelfile for convenience though.

Using a labelfile

When dispass is run without arguments it will try to find a labelfile. The location of this file varies and depends on the platform type you use, the file flag and the environment variables that may be set:

You can override the location of the labelfile using the -f flag. This can be a way for you to use different sets of labels/passphrases with a different 'master' password for each set.

1. If the -f flag is given, that value is used.
2. If environment var DISPASS_LABELFILE is set, that value is used.
3. If environment var XDG_DATA_HOME is set, $XDG_DATA_HOME/dispass/labels is used.
4. If none of the above applies, the labelfile will default to the following locations:
   • GNU/Linux and Mac OS X: ~/.dispass/labels
   • *BSD and other Unixen: ~/.dispass/labels
   • Windows: C:\Users\<username>\dispass\labels

You can edit the labelfile(s) by using the dispass-label program.

Creating and searching stored labels

When creating a new label/password combination you can store the label and it's arguments by using the -c flag, this will ask for your password twice so you can be asured to avoid typing errors:

$ dispass -c -l 16 hotmail.com

Now you will be asked to enter a password twice and after that your passphrase will be shown on the screen. It can be re-created everytime you need it by searching for a label using the -s flag:

$ dispass -s hotm

Only part of the label is needed, as long as the (sub)string is unique.

Using the dispass-label command line app

USAGE: dispass-label [-hlV] [-f <labelfile>] [-a|--add <labelspec>]
        [-r|--remove Short options:
-h                  show this help and exit
-l                  print all labels and options found in labelfile
-V                  show full version information and exit
-f <labelfile>      set location of labelfile
-a <labelspec>      add a new label to the labelfile, the
                          labelspec looks like this:
                          label[:size[:algorithm[:sequence_number]]]
-r <labelname>      remove a label from the labelfile

Long options:
--help               show this help and exit
--list               print all labels and options found in labelfile
--version            show full version information and exit
--file=<labelfile>   set location of labelfile
--add=<labelspec>    add a new label to the labelfile, the
                           labelspec looks like this:
                           label[:size[:algorithm[:sequence_number]]]
--remove=<labelname> remove a label from the labelfile
--script             optimize input/output for 'wrapping' dispass-label

Column  1-50 : label

Column  1-50: label     (50 chars wide)
Column 52-54: length    ( 3 chars wide)
Column 56-70: hash algo (15 chars wide)