---
title: "Bitwarden"
date: 2023-01-11T18:09:37+03:00
description: >
  Bitwarden is a self-hosted password manager
---

Information security experts recommend using complex passwords and creating a unique one for each account. Even three or four passwords are difficult to remember, so people often use the same password or similar ones. A password manager solves this problem: it generates complex passwords and stores them in a convenient form. 

[Bitwarden](https://bitwarden.com/open-source/) can be downloaded and configured on your server, which is what we use as part of the SelfPrivacy project. Unlike other free (like freedom) password managers, Bitwarden provides easy synchronization of one database between all devices.

## Setting an admin token manually

First, make sure your system config is up to date. You may click "upgrade server" in the app and wait for a couple of minutes, or run the following command in the terminal:

```bash
cd /etc/nixos
git pull
```

Then, we have to generate an admin token. Run the following:

```bash
nix-shell -p openssl --run 'openssl rand -base64 48'
```

It will output a string like this:

```
47pFSgYBbS0G0vCG63nX1yyblzgNaqZ40bNuJnwq2hvOy8ABfe+iHRfBeXlfrRdJ
```

This will be a password to your admin account. Copy it and paste it somewhere safe. To set it, we will run the following, replacing `PASSWORD` with the password you just generated:

```bash
jq '.bitwarden.adminToken = "PASSWORD"' /etc/nixos/userdata/userdata.json > /etc/nixos/userdata/userdata.json.new && mv /etc/nixos/userdata/userdata.json.new /etc/nixos/userdata/userdata.json
```

Now, we have to apply the changes:

```bash
nixos-rebuild switch
```

And after rebuilding the system, restart Bitwarden:

```bash
systemctl restart vaultwarden
```

Now, your admin interface is available on `https://password.YOUR.DOMAIN/admin`.