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Two Lines of Powershell = Random Passwords

One of the first things I translated from a previous script language to PowerShell was a random password generator.  The previous script was 57 lines long.

So, when I HAD to create a SQL Authenticated login I could provide a strong password.

I googled (Bing wasn't out yet.) on random password PowerShell and found the TWO lines below in the comments to a post on Dimitry Sotnikov's blog dated July 2007. 

The first line loads the assembly you need to obtain the GeneratePassword method.
The second line actually produces the password.  You can change the length of  the password by modifying the first number inside the parentheses.  Examples below.
1: [Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName(”System.Web” ;)
2:  [System.Web.Security.Membership]::GeneratePassword(8,2)  # 8 bytes long
3:      
4:  [System.Web.Security.Membership]::GeneratePassword(10,2)   #  10 bytes long

For a password, that would make Commander Data proud...
1: [System.Web.Security.Membership]::GeneratePassword(100,2) # 100 bytes long

My education in PowerShell had humble beginnings. I started learning PowerShell by translating previous scripts.  Examples found on the web provided ample guidance.

The only caveat about this method is that is sometimes produces passwords with characters not allowed in SQL Server passwords. So, verify the password is valid before proceeding.  In most cases, it is.

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