diff --git a/src/helma/util/MD5Encoder.java b/src/helma/util/MD5Encoder.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f213c58e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/helma/util/MD5Encoder.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+package helma.util;
+
+import java.security.MessageDigest;
+import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
+
+
+public class MD5Encoder {
+
+    private static MessageDigest md;
+
+	/** used by commandline script to create admin username & password	  */
+    public static void main ( String args[] ) throws Exception  {
+        if ( args.length < 2 )  {
+            System.out.println( "\n\nUsage: helma.util.MD5Encoder <username> <password>");
+            System.out.println( "Output:");
+            System.out.println( "adminUsername=<encoded username>");
+            System.out.println( "adminPassword=<encoded password>\n");
+            System.exit(0);
+        }
+        System.out.println( "adminUsername=" + encode(args[0]) );
+        System.out.println( "adminPassword=" + encode(args[1]) );
+    }
+
+    public static String encode(String str) throws Exception    {
+        md = MessageDigest.getInstance("MD5");
+        byte[] b = md.digest(str.getBytes());
+        StringBuffer buf = new StringBuffer();
+        for ( int i=0; i<b.length; i++ )    {
+            int j = (b[i]<0) ? 256+b[i] : b[i];
+            if ( j<10 ) buf.append("0");
+            buf.append(Integer.toHexString(j));
+        }
+        return buf.toString();
+    }
+
+}
+