The getpass Module

The getpass module provides a platform-independent way to enter a password in a command-line program, as Example 2-25 shows.

getpass(prompt) prints the prompt string, switches off keyboard echo, and reads a password. If the prompt argument is omitted, it prints "Password:".

getuser() gets the current username, if possible.

Example 2-25. Using the getpass Module

File: getpass-example-1.py

import getpass

usr = getpass.getuser()

pwd = getpass.getpass("enter password for user %s: " % usr)

print usr, pwd

enter password for user mulder:
mulder trustno1