Python - how to create a random string 8 bytes long?

Question

Possible Duplicate:
python random string generation with upper case letters and digits

I need to create a random string that is 8 bytes long in python.

rand_string = ?

How do I do that?

Thanks

This is **not** a duplicate of [python random string generation with upper case letters and digits](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2257441/python-random-string-generation-with-upper-case-letters-and-digits). This question wants a random bytestring, whereas the other one wants a random character string with a limited character set. — phihag, Jul 21 '12 at 15:29

Rapptz · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-21T15:28:45.227

23

import os
rand_string = os.urandom(8)

Would create a random string that is 8 characters long.

edited Jul 21 '12 at 15:28

answered Jul 21 '12 at 15:21

Rapptz

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17

No, it creates a string that is 8 bytes long. "Characters" is a matter of interpretation. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Jul 21 '12 at 15:23

phihag · Answer 2 · 2012-07-21T15:33:13.553

os.urandom provides precisely this interface.

If you want to use the random module (for deterministic randomness, or because the platform happens to not implement os.urandom), you'll have to construct the function yourself:

import random
def randomBytes(n):
    return bytearray(random.getrandbits(8) for i in range(n))

In Python 3.x, you can substitute bytearray with just bytes, but for most purposes, a bytearray should behave like a bytes object.

Python - how to create a random string 8 bytes long?

2 Answers2