target: add option to set the root password

index 9f0f6a9..edf49e9 100755
@@ -158,3 +158,10 @@ if grep ^BR2_TOOLCHAIN_BUILDROOT=y $CONFIG_FILE > /dev/null && \
        exit 1 ;
    fi
 fi
+
+if grep -E '^TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD=".+"$' $CONFIG_FILE > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    if ! which mkpasswd > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+        /bin/echo -e "\nYou need the 'mkpasswd' utility to set the root password\n"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+fi

index b8472f4..b376c85 100644
@@ -12,6 +12,20 @@ config BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ISSUE
        help
          Select system banner (/etc/issue) to be displayed at login.
 
+config BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD
+	string "root password"
+	default ""
+	help
+	  Set the initial root password. It will be des56-encrypted.
+	  
+	  If set to empty (the default), then no root password will be set,
+	  and root will need no password to log in.
+	  
+	  WARNING! WARNING!
+	  The password appears in clear in the .config file, and may
+	  appear in the the build log! Avoid using a valuable password
+	  if either the .config file or the build log may be distributed!
+
 choice
 	prompt "/dev management"
 	default BR2_ROOTFS_DEVICE_CREATION_STATIC

index 4185202..1021b10 100644
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 TARGET_GENERIC_HOSTNAME:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_HOSTNAME))
 TARGET_GENERIC_ISSUE:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ISSUE))
+TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD))
 TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_PORT))
 TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_BAUDRATE:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_BAUDRATE))
 

@@ -13,6 +14,13 @@ target-generic-issue:
 	mkdir -p $(TARGET_DIR)/etc
 	echo "$(TARGET_GENERIC_ISSUE)" > $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/issue
 
+target-no-root-passwd:
+	$(SED) "s/^root:[^:]*:/root::/" $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/shadow
+
+target-root-passwd:
+	root_passwd="$$( mkpasswd -m des "$(TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD)" )"; \
+	$(SED) "s,^root::,root:$${root_passwd}:," $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/shadow
+
 target-generic-getty-busybox:
 	$(SED) '/# GENERIC_SERIAL$$/s~^.*#~$(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY)::respawn:/sbin/getty -L $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY) $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_BAUDRATE) vt100 #~' \
 		$(TARGET_DIR)/etc/inittab

@@ -39,6 +47,12 @@ ifneq ($(TARGET_GENERIC_ISSUE),)
 TARGETS += target-generic-issue
 endif
 
+ifneq ($(TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD),)
+TARGETS += target-root-passwd
+else
+TARGETS += target-no-root-passwd
+endif
+
 ifeq ($(BR2_ROOTFS_SKELETON_DEFAULT),y)
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_SYSVINIT),y)
 TARGETS += target-generic-getty-sysvinit

index b376c85..9933df6 100644
@@ -27,6 +27,52 @@ config BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD
 	  if either the .config file or the build log may be distributed!
 
 choice
+	bool "root password encoding"
+	depends on BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD != ""
+	default BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD_DES
+
+config BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD_DES
+	bool "des"
+	help
+	  Use standard 56-bit DES-based crypt(3).
+	  
+	  The default, wildly available, but also the weakest.
+
+config BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD_MD5
+	bool "md5"
+	help
+	  Use MD5 to encode the password.
+	  
+	  Although not default, still wildly available, and pretty good.
+
+config BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD_SHA256
+	bool "sha-256"
+	help
+	  Use SHA256 to encode the password.
+	  
+	  Very strong, but not ubiquitous, although available in glibc
+	  for some time now. Choose only if you are sure your C library
+	  understands SHA256 passwords.
+
+config BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD_SHA512
+	bool "sha-512"
+	help
+	  Use SHA512 to encode the password.
+	  
+	  Extremely strong, but not ubiquitous, although available in glibc
+	  for some time now. Choose only if you are sure your C library
+	  understands SHA512 passwords.
+
+endchoice # root passwd encoding
+
+config BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD_METHOD
+	string
+	default "des"       if BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD_DES
+	default "md5"       if BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD_MD5
+	default "sha-256"   if BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD_SHA256
+	default "sha-512"   if BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD_SHA512
+
+choice
 	prompt "/dev management"
 	default BR2_ROOTFS_DEVICE_CREATION_STATIC
 

index 1021b10..674665b 100644
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 TARGET_GENERIC_HOSTNAME:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_HOSTNAME))
 TARGET_GENERIC_ISSUE:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ISSUE))
 TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD))
+TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD_METHOD:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD_METHOD))
 TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_PORT))
 TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_BAUDRATE:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_BAUDRATE))
 

@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ target-no-root-passwd:
 	$(SED) "s/^root:[^:]*:/root::/" $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/shadow
 
 target-root-passwd:
-	root_passwd="$$( mkpasswd -m des "$(TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD)" )"; \
+	root_passwd="$$( mkpasswd -m "$(TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD_METHOD)" "$(TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD)" )"; \
 	$(SED) "s,^root::,root:$${root_passwd}:," $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/shadow
 
 target-generic-getty-busybox: