I’m probably sweating this, but I was staring at my password manager, and it just felt… wrong. Like, seriously wrong. You know? All that data, just floating around somewhere, and you don’t really know who’s looking. So, I decided to build my own. And honestly, it wasn’t nearly as much of a headache as I anticipated.
It started with bitwarden, which is pretty decent, you know? Good security, easy to use. But the idea of it all being on Microsoft’s servers? That just felt heavy. Then I found vaultwarden – this little Rust-based thing that’s built to be super lean.
It’s like they took the best parts of Bitwarden and just made them… lighter.
Setting it up was actually pretty quick. I used docker compose – basically, it’s just a set of instructions for my computer to build the server. Or, you could use Docker Desktop, which is a fancy GUI thing that makes it even easier. Seriously, a few minutes, a couple of lines of configuration, and bam – you’ve got your own password cloud.
The key is this Docker Compose file, which basically maps a folder on your computer to where the server stores all your passwords. It’s like giving your password vault a little home.
Once it’s running, you log in through a web interface, create an account, and, because security is paramount, you immediately shut down the ability to create new accounts. Then you can use the same Bitwarden browser extensions and mobile apps, and suddenly, your passwords are syncing across everything.
It’s a bit of a surprise, isn’t it? I’m not saying it’s perfect, but don’t be scared off by the tech. It’s a surprisingly simple way to take things back into your own hands. Liberating.
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