e.g. for a kickstart config file:

python -c 'import crypt; print crypt.crypt("test", "$6$random_salt")'

Use the number after the first $:

• 1 = MD5
• 2a = Blowfish (not in mainline glibc; added in some Linux distributions)
• 5 = SHA-256 (since glibc 2.7)
• 6 = SHA-512 (since glibc 2.7)