Recently I switched my personal password manager from Revelation to KeepassX. I keep an encrypted password file in my Dropbox account, which syncs across all of my computers (Dropbox on Ubuntu).
Install KeepassX
You can install KeepassX by opening a terminal and running ‘apt-get install keepassx’, or by opening the Ubuntu Software Center and searching for it there:
Create a password database
After installing the first thing you are going to want to do is create a password database. This is where your passwords will be stored on your hard disk.
Add a new entry
Now that you have created a password database, you can start adding entries in
Generate a password
One of the best features of using a password manager like KeepassX is that for every single site you use, you can use a very long password, and a different password for each website. Here we can hit the button labelled ‘gen’ and create a password
Right click your entry
Now you can right click your new entry, copy the new password and paste it into sites. This is much more secure, as if you use the same password for every website you visit, and one of them gets hacked, you will have to change your password on the other sites, if you even get a chance before they exploit your information. In addition, KeepassX is cross platform, working on Windows and OS X also.
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#1 by Magnus on August 28, 2011 - 6:30 pm
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An extra bonus for Android users. KeepassX do also exists for Android phones and tablets. I use Ubuntu One to sync between my computers, phone and tablet.
#2 by Matthew Platte on August 28, 2011 - 6:35 pm
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This article was the one that tipped me off the fence and into the camp of folks who use a password database instead of the all-too-fallible human brain. Thx.
#3 by David Watson on August 28, 2011 - 7:21 pm
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I do exactly the same, but I also Dropbox and KeepassDroid installed on my android phone. This way I have access to all of my passwords where ever I go.
#4 by BaldPatches on August 28, 2011 - 8:05 pm
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I use the Windows portable version of Keypass Proffessional on a flashdrive on all my Debian and RPM based Linux OSs via Mono!
#5 by Uli on August 28, 2011 - 8:44 pm
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There is also a client for Android, and I think IOS too.
#6 by Rick on August 28, 2011 - 9:54 pm
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I had not considered using dropbox. I’ve been using ubuntu one to store my file. Good idea and thanks for the article.
Rick
#7 by Steffen on August 29, 2011 - 10:55 am
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Hi, could you briefly say why you switched away from revelation ?
I use it and it works fine. Of course, having keepass on phones
*is* a major advantage.
Yours,
Steffen
#8 by Ryan on August 29, 2011 - 12:45 pm
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Would you care to elaborate on why you prefer KeepassX over Revelation?
#9 by Mackenzie on August 29, 2011 - 3:10 pm
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Missed the cool thing that KeePassX has that the Mac and Windows versions don’t: autotype! Put the cursor in the “username” field on a site, alt+tab to KeePassX, select the account, and hit ctrl+v while still in KeePassX. It’ll jump back to the browser and enter the username, tab, password, and submit it all in one.
#10 by Neil on August 29, 2011 - 3:43 pm
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KeepassX is one of the very first applications I install… that and Dropbox to always have my database and key handy anyplace I have a net connection
#11 by Denise P. Grigg on August 30, 2011 - 7:50 am
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I’ve been using ubuntu one to store my file. Good idea and thanks for the article.Hope to see more of your post
#12 by admin on August 31, 2011 - 12:17 am
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The main reason for switching away from Revelation were that it is no longer actively maintained, needs some updates to interface with GIO instead of current methods, and does not work for cross platform / mobile uses.
Now that I have switched to KeepassX I have not experienced any regressions