john

name	john
description	Auth/lab ref: CPU-based password cracker supporting hundreds of hash formats with wordlist, rules, and incremental modes.
license	MIT
compatibility	Linux/macOS/Windows.
metadata	{"author":"AeonDave","version":"1.1"}

John the Ripper

CPU password cracker — hundreds of hash formats, wordlist + rules + incremental.

Quick Start

# Auto-detect format and crack
john hashes.txt --wordlist=/usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt

# Show cracked passwords
john hashes.txt --show

# Single crack mode (fast, username-based)
john hashes.txt --single

# Incremental (brute-force)
john hashes.txt --incremental

Core Flags

Flag	Purpose
--wordlist=FILE	Dictionary attack
--rules[=RULE]	Apply mangling rules
--format=TYPE	Force hash format
--single	Single crack (username hints)
--incremental	Brute-force
--show	Display cracked passwords
--pot=FILE	Custom pot file
--fork=N	Parallel processes
--list=formats	List all formats

Common Workflows

NTLM with rules:

john ntlm.txt --format=NT --wordlist=rockyou.txt --rules=best64

SSH private key:

ssh2john id_rsa > id_rsa.hash
john id_rsa.hash --wordlist=rockyou.txt

Zip archive:

zip2john archive.zip > zip.hash
john zip.hash --wordlist=rockyou.txt

PDF:

pdf2john document.pdf > pdf.hash
john pdf.hash --wordlist=rockyou.txt

KeePass database:

keepass2john database.kdbx > kp.hash
john kp.hash --wordlist=rockyou.txt

Office documents (docx/xlsx):

office2john document.docx > office.hash
john office.hash --wordlist=rockyou.txt

7-Zip:

7z2john archive.7z > 7z.hash
john 7z.hash --wordlist=rockyou.txt

Session Management

# Named session
john hashes.txt --wordlist=rockyou.txt --session=mysession

# Resume
john --restore=mysession

# Check status of running session (send USR1 signal or press 'q')
john --status=mysession

Parallel Cracking

# Fork N processes (uses all CPU cores)
john hashes.txt --wordlist=rockyou.txt --fork=4

Custom Rules (inline in john.conf)

[List.Rules:MyRules]
# Append year variants
Az"[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]"
# Capitalize first + append !
c Az"!"
# l33t substitutions
sa@ se3 si1 so0

john hashes.txt --wordlist=rockyou.txt --rules=MyRules

Resources

File	When to load
references/formats-and-rules.md	Supported format names, *2john tool list, rule syntax reference