(reprint) How to manage multiple passwords on Linux with KEEPASSX

Transferred from: http://netsecurity.51cto.com/art/201311/417764.htm

Now, password-based authentication is common online, and you may not be counting how many passwords you're using. In fact, according to the Norwegian Information Security Center (norsis) 's 2012-year password survey, everyone uses an average of at least 17 passwords. Another survey found that 82% of people forgot their passwords at least once.

What's worse is the fact that different Web sites take various password policies (such as password length, composition, duration, etc.), forcing you to set up a whole bunch of passwords for life cycles. While technological advancements, such as the OAuth protocol, are trying to cope with the proliferation of login information for each site, they are not a perfect solution. Unless a good password alternative can become mainstream, the password will not disappear quickly.

At this point, password Manager software like KeePass can come in handy. KeePass is a lightweight password management tool that uses open source technology (GNU gplv2+) and is compliant with Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) authentication. KeePass allows you to manage your own passwords in a secure database that is protected by a master password and/or key file. There is also the Linux version of the KeePass, which features include the following:

• Easy-to-use password management with groups and search capabilities.

• Support for password expiration periods.

• Database encryption with AES (256-bit) or twofish (256-bit) encryption mechanism.

• The generation of secure passwords can be customized.

• Automatic password filling (test type)

In this tutorial, I'll focus on how to manage multiple passwords on Linux with KEEPASSX.

Installing the KEEPASSX on Linux

To install KEEPASSX on Debian, Ubuntu, or Linux Mint, please run:

$ sudo apt-get install KEEPASSX

To install KEEPASSX on fedora, please run:

$ sudo yum install KEEPASSX

To install KEEPASSX on CentOS or Rhel, first enable the Epel software library and run:

$ sudo yum install KEEPASSX

Manage passwords with KEEPASSX

To start KEEPASSX, just run this command:

$ keepassx

If you use KEEPASSX for the first time, you will create a new password database. To do this, click on the "New database" icon on the upper left panel. You will be asked to provide a master password, and you can access your own password database if you have a master password. You can use a simple password, a key file, or both as the master password.

Once you have created the database, you can now add the password entry to the database. Click on the "Add New Entry" icon.

Fill in the detailed login information, including the password, as shown below. Don't forget to save the changes in the database.

In the future, if you want to access your password in an entry, right-click the entry and select Copy Password to clipboard (copy password to clipboard) option. Your password will then be copied to the Clipboard, and you can paste the contents (password) of the Clipboard into any password-filled location. Note: For security reasons, the plaintext password copied to the Clipboard is automatically cleared after 20 seconds.

KEEPASSX maintains each password database in an encrypted manner. To change the encryption algorithm used in the current database, go to "file" and "Database Settings".

To update the KEEPASSX configuration, go to "Extras" (extra)--"Settings" (set). Here, you can change the security-related settings as shown below.

(reprint) How to manage multiple passwords on Linux with KEEPASSX