KeePass Password Manager

If you have been reading my post about password managers you know that we use KeePass for our own company, but recommend others for general use.

This is because KeePass, to be used fully, does require a lot more work to be set up. I did get questions about it and helped a friend recently to get started, so I decided to put the basics in a post here.
Now – this is not a step-by-step guide with pretty visuals. This is just a list of thoughts/steps to get you started in the right direction. If this seems daunting to you and you don’t have a friend (or trusted employee) to help you get it set up please re-consider using one of the cloud solutions.

So – here we go:

• Firstly, download KeePass 2.x and install it.
• Now start it and create new Database “File -> New…” (for example in your Documents folder – do NOT place it in a synced cloud folder like DropBox) and give it a nice password that you will remember forever and nobody can guess.
• There are many buttons in the user interface and lots of keyboard shortcuts, so have look around.

Still with me? let’s keep going…

• KeePass has many plugins but my favourite ones are below. Please go there, download and install into the plugins folder and re-start KeePass (have a look at each one’s full installation instructions):
  • The update checker that checks for plugin updates: https://sourceforge.net/projects/kpsfupdatechecker/
  • This makes the grey area on the right (View -> Window Layout -> Side by Side) much nicer and more useful. Look at it before and after when you install it.: https://sourceforge.net/projects/kpenhentryview/
  • KPEntryTemplates to make template views for special items. We use it for credit cards and websites that have different usernames and e-mail addresses, e-mails accounts and more: https://github.com/mitchcapper/KPEntryTemplates
    Now – if the current version is not 7.8 or higher then download the 7.8 pre-release at https://github.com/mitchcapper/KPEntryTemplates/files/1994132/KPEntryTemplates.zip to be able to use it with the newest KeePass.
    If you want to, you can download some Entry Templates samples here, then open that database (password is 12345) and use the right-click “Clipboard” copy/paste function of an item you want to use to copy it into your own database’s template folder.
• Now, to get it working nicely within your browsers you can try Kee or KeePass-HTTP-Connector for FireFox and KeePass-HTTP-Connector for Chrome – which also needs KeePassHttp installed
• If you have stored passwords in your browsers then you would probably like to get them into KeePass before deleting them. You can try the KeePassBrowserImporter to see what you get get over automatically rather than re-entering everything.
  If you have passwords stored somewhere else where you can export them then in KeePass go to “File -> Import…” and see if you find something there that can help you.
• Now let’s quickly talk about Notes vs Custom Fields in KeePass:
  In Notes you can enter anything you want. That’s good. The bad part is that it’s harder to copy things out – especially on mobiles. And you can’t use it in templates. That’s why it is easier to do custom fields for … let’s say credit card numbers.
• Now go and have a look at “Tools -> Options..”
  I don’t remember what I changed from the defaults for us, but many items are pretty self-explanatory. Not all, but many.
  One thing I like to enable on the Interface tab under “Main Window” for example is “Drop to background after copying data to the clipboard”. I like that setting because it’s usually getting me where I need to go and I can go back quickly with ALT-TAB.
• And if you’re really adventurous you can set up a database sync.
  We use DropBox to sync it to our mobile devices and also to sync between computers.
  For Android we use Keepass2Android Password Safe and for iOS KyPass v3 , which looks like it has been replaced by KyPass v4 now.
  You can easily try others though. Just search for KeePass in your app stores and read the information and reviews.
  Now to set up the sync:
  1. Save your database and make a copy of your database … just in case since you don’t want to lose everything you have done so far if something goes wrong.
  2. Make a copy of your database file into the DropBox folder you want to use.
  3. Take this trigger code:
     
     Trigger Code

     <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
     <TriggerCollection xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
        <Triggers>
           <Trigger>
              <Guid>f6VIpqSZ+k2yG2z5pagOrw==</Guid>
              <Name>DropBox Sync</Name>
              <Events>
                 <Event>
                    <TypeGuid>s6j9/ngTSmqcXdW6hDqbjg==</TypeGuid>
                    <Parameters>
                                 <Parameter>0</Parameter>
                                 <Parameter>C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\DATABASE.kdbx</Parameter>
                    </Parameters>
                 </Event>
                 <Event>
                    <TypeGuid>5f8TBoW4QYm5BvaeKztApw==</TypeGuid>
                    <Parameters>
                                 <Parameter>0</Parameter>
                                 <Parameter>C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\DATABASE.kdbx</Parameter>
                    </Parameters>
                 </Event>
              </Events>
              <Conditions />
              <Actions>
                 <Action>
                    <TypeGuid>tkamn96US7mbrjykfswQ6g==</TypeGuid>
                    <Parameters>
                       <Parameter />
                                 <Parameter>0</Parameter>
                    </Parameters>
                 </Action>
                 <Action>
                    <TypeGuid>Iq135Bd4Tu2ZtFcdArOtTQ==</TypeGuid>
                    <Parameters>
                                 <Parameter>C:\Users\USERNAME\Dropbox\FOLDERPATH\DATABASE.kdbx</Parameter>
                                 <Parameter />
                                 <Parameter />
                    </Parameters>
                 </Action>
                 <Action>
                    <TypeGuid>tkamn96US7mbrjykfswQ6g==</TypeGuid>
                    <Parameters>
                                 <Parameter />
                                 <Parameter>1</Parameter>
                    </Parameters>
                 </Action>
              </Actions>
           </Trigger>
        </Triggers>
     </TriggerCollection>

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     and copy that into Notepad and replace all THREE instances of file references with the proper folder and file names on your system!
  4. Copy your modified text to your clipboard
  5. In KeePass go to “Tools -> Triggers…”
  6. Click in the left bottom on “Tools -> Paste Triggers from Clipboard”
  7. Done. You can look at what it does by editing the entry.

  Do NOT EVER open a file directly in the DropBox folders. It can be fine, but it can also create duplicate databases if editing on multiple systems is done at the same time and then these files need to be manually synced. It can be done, but why the hassle? Only KeePass can sync individual entries in the databases – DropBox can only sync full files. And if both files have changed DropBox create duplicate files. One for each version.

And that’s the gist of it.

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Mark Krieger helps organizations and individuals to create systems for success, both on the IT and operations side and implement strategies for financial well-being. www.makbiz.ca

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