Password Arguments
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Several commands accept password arguments, typically using the passin and the passout options, respectively, for input and output passwords. These arguments allow the password to be obtained from a variety of sources. Both options take a single argument in the following format. If no password argument is given and a password is required, then the user is prompted to enter a password. The password is read from the current terminal with echoing turned off.
| pass:password | The actual password is password. Since the password is visible to utilities (such as the ps utility in UNIX), use this form only when security is not important. | |
| env:var | Obtains the password from the environment variable var. Because the environment of other processes is visible on certain platforms (such as ps in certain UNIX operating systems), use this option with caution. | |
| file:pathname | The first line of pathname is the password. If the same pathname argument is supplied to the passin and passout arguments, then the first line is used for the input password and the next line is used for the output password. The pathname need not refer to a regular file; for example, it could refer to a device or named pipe. | |
| fd:number | Reads the password from the file descriptor number. This can be used, for example, to send the data via a pipe. | |
| stdin | Reads the password from standard input. |