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1050

answers:

2

Scenario: An interactive CLI Python program, that is in need for a password. That means also, there's no GUI solution possible.

In bash I could get a password read in without re-prompting it on screen via

read -s

Is there something similar for Python? I.e.,

password = raw_input('Password: ', dont_print_statement_back_to_screen)

Alternative: Replace the typed characters with '*' before sending them back to screen (aka browser' style).

+13  A: 
>>> import getpass
>>> pw = getpass.getpass()
mjv
Wow. Batteries included, hm? Thank you for the answer.
Boldewyn
Yeah, them batteries. ;-) One of the cool thing with Python is its ability to bind easily with binaries in other language, in particular C, hence leveraging a lot of existing stuff (such as getpass(), I believe)
mjv
+5  A: 

Yes, getpass: "Prompt the user for a password without echoing."

Edit: I had not played with this module myself yet, so this is what I just cooked up (wouldn't be surprised if you find similar code all over the place, though):

import getpass

def login():
    user = input("Username [%s]: " % getpass.getuser())
    if not user:
        user = getpass.getuser()

    pprompt = lambda: (getpass.getpass(), getpass.getpass('Retype password: '))

    p1, p2 = pprompt()
    while p1 != p2:
        print('Passwords do not match. Try again')
        p1, p2 = pprompt()

    return user, p1

(This is Python 3.x; use raw_input instead of input when using Python 2.x.)

Stephan202
Thanks for the link!
Boldewyn