This article describes steps one can take to install and use sysPass password manager on Ubuntu Linux.
sysPass is a free, open-source, intuitive and secure and multiuser password manager built on top of HTML5 and PHP technologies to offer a better UX. It supports AES-256-CTR for a stronger password encryption and RSA to send data securely.
Its user-friendly web interface helps users to configure different authentication options, and supports multiple ways to store, export and manage their passwords.
Below is how to install and use sysPass password manager on Ubuntu Linux.
How to install and use sysPass password manager on Ubuntu Linux
As described above, sysPass is a free, open-source, intuitive and secure and multiuser password manager built on top of HTML5 and PHP technologies to offer a better UX.
Below is how to install it on Ubuntu Linux.
sysPass is a PHP-based web application. You will need to install a web server, database and PHP script to install it on Ubuntu Linux.
Install Apache HTTP server
For this article, we will be using Apache HTTP web server with sysPass. Below is how to install Apache on Ubuntu Linux.
sudo apt update sudo apt install apache2
Once Apache is installed, use the commands below to stop, start and enable Apache to automatically start up when your server starts up.
sudo systemctl stop apache2 sudo systemctl start apache2 sudo systemctl enable apache2
To verify that Apache is installed and functioning, open your web browser and browse to the server’s hostname or IP address.
You will see similar page as the one below.
Install MariaDB database server
A database server is also required to run and use sysPass. For this article, we will be installing and using MariaDB database server.
Run the commands below to install MariaDB server.
sudo apt update sudo apt install mariadb-server
Once MariaDB is installed, run the commands below to stop, start and enable MariaDB database to automatically start up when the server starts up.
sudo systemctl stop mariadb sudo systemctl start mariadb sudo systemctl enable mariadb
You can enhance MariaDB security by running the commands below. This will allow you to create a root password, remove anonymous user and test database.
sudo mysql_secure_installation
When prompted, use the guide below to answer the following questions.
Enter current password for root (enter for none): OK, successfully used password, moving on... Setting the root password or using the unix_socket ensures that nobody can log into the MariaDB root user without the proper authorisation. You already have your root account protected, so you can safely answer 'n'. Switch to unix_socket authentication [Y/n] y Enabled successfully! Reloading privilege tables.. ... Success! Change the root password? [Y/n] y New password: Re-enter new password: Password updated successfully! You should remove them before moving into a production environment. Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] y Normally, root should only be allowed to connect from 'localhost'. This ensures that someone cannot guess at the root password from the network. Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] y By default, MariaDB comes with a database named 'test' that anyone can access. Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] y - Dropping test database... - Removing privileges on test database... Reloading the privilege tables will ensure that all changes made so far will take effect immediately. Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] y Cleaning up... All done! If you've completed all of the above steps, your MariaDB installation should now be secure.
Install PHP
sysPass is a PHP based application and requires that PHP is installed. sysPass also only supports PHP 7.4 as of the time of writing this article.
If your Ubuntu server has PHP 7.4 repositories already included, then simply run the apt get install command.
However, if you need to install PHP 7.4, the commands below will help you install it.
sudo apt install software-properties-common ca-certificates lsb-release apt-transport-https
Next, add the PPA repository below.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
Finally, run the commands below to install PHP version 7.4.
sudo apt install libapache2-mod-php7.4 php7.4 php7.4-mysqli php7.4-pdo php7.4 php7.4-cgi php7.4-cli php7.4-common php7.4-gd php7.4-json php7.4-readline php7.4-curl php7.4-intl php7.4-ldap php7.4-xml php7.4-mbstring git
If you want to add additional PHP configurations, the default file is at the path below:
sudo nano /etc/php/7.4/apache2/php.ini
Create a database for sysPass
At this point, we have installed Apache, MariaDB and PHP.
Next, create a database for sysPass to store its content. The commands below will help you create it.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Type the root password you created above if prompted.
Then run the commands below to create a database named syspassdb.
CREATE DATABASE syspassdb;
After that, create a database user account named syspassdbuser and set a password for the account.
CREATE USER 'syspassdbuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the database.
GRANT ALL ON syspassdb.* TO 'syspassdbuser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Exit when you are done.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; exit;
Install sysPass
We are now ready to install sysPass. Run the commands below to download sysPass files.
git clone
Next, move the downloaded files to Apache root directory, change the permissions and ownership of the files.
sudo mv sysPass /var/www/html/syspass
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/syspass
sudo chmod 750 /var/www/html/syspass/app/{config,backup}
Next, create a composer script by running the commands below.
sudo nano /var/www/html/syspass/install-composer.sh
Copy the content below and paste into the file, then save and exit.
#!/bin/sh
EXPECTED_SIGNATURE="$(wget -q -O -
php -r "copy(' 'composer-setup.php');"
ACTUAL_SIGNATURE="$(php -r "echo hash_file('sha384', 'composer-setup.php');")"
if [ "$EXPECTED_SIGNATURE" != "$ACTUAL_SIGNATURE" ]
then
>&2 echo 'ERROR: Invalid installer signature'
rm composer-setup.php
exit 1
fi
php composer-setup.php --quiet
RESULT=$?
rm composer-setup.php
exit $RESULT
After that, change into the directory and run the composer script created above, and install required PHP dependencies.
cd /var/www/html/syspass/ sudo sh install-composer.sh sudo php composer.phar install --no-dev
Configure Apache for sysPass
Once you are done above, run the commands below to create an Apache server block file for sysPass.
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/syspass.conf
Copy and paste the code below into the file and save.
<VirtualHost *:80> ServerName syspass.example.com ServerAlias www.syspass.example.com ServerAdmin [email protected] DocumentRoot /var/www/html/syspass <Directory /var/www/html/syspass/> Options FollowSymlinks AllowOverride All Require all granted </Directory> ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined </VirtualHost>
Run the commands below to enable the configuration above and restart Apache.
sudo a2ensite syspass sudo systemctl restart apache2
If all is set up correctly, you should be able to open your browser and type in the domain or server hostname created and access sysPass set up portal.
Create an admin account, type in the database details created above, (database name, user and password).
Check the box Hosting Mode.
Then click Install to finish the installation.
Login with the admin account created and start using sysPass.
You can also use sysPass with Let’s Encrypt certificate. Below is how to install and sue Let’s Encrypt on Ubuntu Linux with Apache.
How to set up Let’s Encrypt with Apache on Ubuntu Linux
That should do it.
Conclusion:
This post showed you how to install sysPass password manager on Ubuntu Linux. If you find any error above or have something to add, please use the comment form below.
