Currently I manage my passwords in an archaic but secure way, which is simply to synchronize a directory where I have my Keepass database between my devices, and I say archaic but secure because even if my Nextcloud server hosted on a VPS explode (where I have the database stored) I still have the databases stored locally, so I don’t lose anything.
I am currently interested in self hosting Vaultwarden although my biggest drawback is the fact that if my VPS were to fail for example I would not be able to access my database and if I lose access to the database I lose access to all my passwords. a pretty bad scenario.
So I have a question, what can I do to prevent that from happening? Apart from hosting everything on my own hardware of course, for now I prefer to use VPS for different reasons.
The Bitwarden clients all keep a cached copy of your password database, which can be viewed even if your server goes offline (you just can’t make edits) - you can even export it when that is the case.
However, if you log out of Bitwarden, it erases the local cache off that device, which will require your server to be online in order to retrieve again (or export it from a different device that is still signed in).
May I ask what is wrong with your archaic setup?
I have exactly the same config and I find it easy and reliable for not asking for a change.
Am I missing some points or what is going on?
I didn’t mean to make it sound bad, although now that I read it again it sounds bad.
With “archaic” I wanted to refer to the fact that it is not necessarily the most efficient in my opinion, because for example in the case of Nextcloud, to synchronize my Keepass directory with a directory on my phone I need an external app called FolderSync and there is no “Synchronize when detecting changes” option, every time I make a change I must manually synchronize or wait for a scheduled synchronization to take place, and it is not exactly the most efficient, unlike with Bitwarden/Vaultwarden because synchronization is immediate.
And I know that in KeepassDX for example I can directly access my database and load it from there, but every time I make a single change when entering Keepass it says that “I lost connection to the file” (Something like that) and I have to go manually and choose the file again, I would prefer to have my passwords always in sync.
Syncthing can realtime monitor a folder that just has the keepass file and automatically update to any other syncthing enabled devices in near realtime.
Additionally it can be set to keep versions of the file so you can have copies of older versions to hand whenever things go wrong.
The only real catch is to not have the keepass db open on 2 devices at the same time as any changes made in one may be overwritten by the other as file locking isn’t a thing in this method.
I’ve used Syncthing and keepass in this way for many many years
I have the exact same setup and it’s woking fine, nothing wrong with it.
My only gripe with KeepassXC is that you can’t share - or so I thought - a subset of passwords from your keepass database with other people, without sharing the full database and master password. But I just read that it is in fact possible
you should simply back it up. What’s the point here?
Yup.
I pay for Bitwarden premium. I periodically export my database manually. I know others use the CLI to do automated exports.
I save the unencrypted JSON files into a Veracrypt container.
yeah, so host a vaultwarden, back it up and you will be happy!
I suggest you don’t save unencrypted stuff there is no reason to do so so go and learn about the thing if you want!
If it’s encrypted during the export you can only reimport it back into Bitwarden. If Bitwarden were to disappear I’d like to know my exports can be used to import into other password databases.
The bitwarden client caches the database locally, so you can still access your credentials even if your server is down.
Scrolled deep to find this correct answer. Idk why people backup vaultwardens database somewhere and often.
I had a crash on the machine where vaultwarden ran. I just did a backup on a connected client “after” the crash. Saved all and rebuild a new vaultwarden, simply import and it runs perfectly without a loss. The server is mostly just a bloated secure syncthing. All data is stored in the apps, too.
