Archives For November 30, 1999

Install KeePassX 2 with YubiKey Support in Ubuntu

Last updated: December 28, 2015

KeePassX 2 YubiKey support

For those who want the YubiKey support for KeePassX 2.0, a new stable series released a month ago, here’s a PPA built the binaries a few days ago for Ubuntu 15.10, Ubuntu 15.04, and Ubuntu 14.04.

YubiKey (a USB authentication device) support is added by configuring a YubiKey slot to operate in HMAC-SHA1 challenge-response mode. The mechanism works by submitting the database master seed as a challenge to the YubiKey which replies with a HMAC-SHA1 cryptographic hash. The resultant hash is then hashed with the other keys (password, keyfile) to generate the final key used to encrypt the database.

How to Install KeePassX 2.0 with YubiKey support:

Open terminal from Unity Dash, App Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key. When it opens, paste below command one by one and hit run:

1. Add YubiKey stable PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yubico/stable

Type in your password when it asks, no visual feedback so just type in mind, and hit Enter to continue.

2. Add the KeePassX 2 PPA built with YubiKey support:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:hda-me/keepassx2-yubico

3. Finally update package cache and install both keepassx and yubikey-personalization-gui:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install yubikey-personalization-gui keepassx

4. (Optional) After installation, you may keep the PPAs for receiving future updates, or disable/remove them via Software & Updates -> Other Software.

For more information: github.com/keepassx/keepassx/pull/52

KeePassX, a native Linux port of KeePass password manager, finally reached the 2.0 release after several years of development.

KeePassX 2 has been rewritten from scratch. It uses the new .kdbx (same as KeePass 2) database format. You can import your .kdb database from 0.4 series from menu Database > Import KeePass 1 database.

New features include:

  • Multiple attachments per entry
  • Add custom key/value pairs to entries
  • Open multiple database in one window

For more details, see official release note.

How to Install KeePassX 2 in Ubuntu:

The official KeePassX PPA does not update at the moment, but a third-party PPA has built the KeePassX 2.0 for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Ubuntu 15.04, and Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.

1. Add PPA

Open terminal from Unity Dash, App Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key. When it opens, paste below command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:eugenesan/ppa

Type in your password when it asks (no visual feedback just type in mind) and hit Enter to continue.

2. After that, upgrade KeePassX by running Software Updater. Or run below commands one by one in terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install keepassx

For those who don’t want to add PPA, grab the .deb installer directly from HERE.

3. (Optional) As a third-party PPA, it also contains many other applications. You may remove the PPA after installation by either using Software & Updates -> Other Software tab, or running below command in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:eugenesan/ppa && sudo apt-get update