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John the Ripper Cheatsheet

Fast password cracker supporting multiple hash formats.

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## John the Ripper Command Reference

## 🚀 Basic Usage

Function	Command	Example
Basic Cracking	`john <password_file>`	`john hashes.txt`
Show Cracked Passwords	`john --show <password_file>`	`john --show hashes.txt`
Help Menu	`john -h` or `john --help`	`john --help`
Resume Cracking	`john --restore`	`john --restore`
Resume from File	`john --restore=<restore_file>`	`john --restore=./session.rec`
Session Management	`john --session=<name> <file>`	`john --session=crack1 hashes.txt`

## 🧠 Attack Modes

Mode	Command	Example
Wordlist Mode	`john --wordlist=<file> <password_file>`	`john --wordlist=rockyou.txt hashes.txt`
Incremental Mode	`john --incremental <password_file>`	`john --incremental hashes.txt`
Charset in Incremental	`john --incremental:<charset> <file>`	`john --incremental:alpha hashes.txt`
Single Crack Mode	`john --single <password_file>`	`john --single hashes.txt`
External Mode	`john --external=<mode> <password_file>`	`john --external=Custom hashes.txt`
Mask Mode	`john --mask=?l?l?l?d <password_file>`	`john --mask=?l?l?l?d hashes.txt`
Custom Rules	`john --rules=<rule> <password_file>`	`john --rules=custom hashes.txt`

## 🧩 Hashes & Formats

Function	Command	Example
Specify Hash Format	`john --format=<format> <password_file>`	`john --format=md5crypt hashes.txt`
Auto Format Detection	`john --format=auto <password_file>`	`john --format=auto hashes.txt`
List Supported Formats	`john --list=formats`	`john --list=formats`

## ⚙️ Performance & Customization

Function	Command	Example
Fork (Parallel Processes)	`john --fork=<n> <password_file>`	`john --fork=4 hashes.txt`
Save Memory	`john --save-memory=<level> <password_file>`	`john --save-memory=30 hashes.txt`
Verbose Output	`john --verbose <password_file>`	`john --verbose hashes.txt`

## 📦 Output Examples

Command	Output Example
`john hashes.txt`	`Loaded 1 password hash (descrypt)` `guesses: 0 time: 0:00:00:00`
`john --show hashes.txt`	`user1:password123` `user2:password456`
`john --format=md5crypt hashes.txt`	`Loaded 1 password hash (md5crypt)`
`john --wordlist=rockyou.txt hashes.txt`	`Loaded 1000000 words from rockyou.txt` `Press 'q' or Ctrl-C to abort`
`john --mask=?l?l?l?d hashes.txt`	`Using mask: ?l?l?l?d (length 4)`
`john --incremental hashes.txt`	`Using incremental mode: ASCII` `ETA: 2025-05-30 20:00`
`john --rules=custom hashes.txt`	`Using custom rules`
`john --restore`	`Restored session from ./john.rec`
`john --fork=4 hashes.txt`	`Forked 4 processes`