Take Back Your Passwords: Self-Hosted Bitwarden (Vaultwarden)

LastPass got hacked. Again.

Your passwords are the keys to your digital life. Why give them to someone else?

Vaultwarden is a lightweight implementation of the Bitwarden server API written in Rust. It runs on a Raspberry Pi, uses almost no RAM, and is compatible with all official Bitwarden apps (iOS, Android, Chrome).

The Setup

Critical: You MUST run this behind HTTPS (use Traefik or Nginx Proxy Manager). Bitwarden clients will refuse to connect over HTTP.

version: '3'
services:
  vaultwarden:
    image: vaultwarden/server:latest
    container_name: vaultwarden
    restart: always
    environment:
      - SIGNUPS_ALLOWED=true # Set to false after you create your account
      - ADMIN_TOKEN=some_long_random_string_here
    volumes:
      - ./vw-data:/data
    ports:
      - "8080:80"

The Admin Panel

Go to https://your-domain.com/admin and use the ADMIN_TOKEN to log in. Here you can:

  • Invite users (family members).
  • View diagnostics.
  • Configure SMTP for email invites.

Once you have your account, set SIGNUPS_ALLOWED=false and restart. Now it's a private vault for you alone.

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