Install and Configure Passbolt Team Password Manager on Ubuntu 20.04

Passbolt is a free, open-source, self-hosted and extensible password manager that helps you to securely share and store login credentials, such as password of the router, website, Wi-Fi, and more. It is different from other password managers. it is focused on team usage rather than individuals. It is available in both community and paid edition. It offers a lot of features some of them are listed below:

• Provides Firefox and Google Chrome extensions.
• Use OpenPGP to encrypt the password.
• Simple and user-friendly web interface.
• Allows to import and export passwords.
• Allows adding login credentials manually.

In this tutorial, we will explain how to install Passbolt Password manager with Apache and Let’s Encrypt on Ubuntu 20.04.

Prerequisites

• A server running Ubuntu 20.04.
• A valid domain name pointed with your server IP.
• A root password is configured the server.

Install LAMP Server

First, you will need to install Apache and MariaDB server in your system. You can install them with the following command:

apt-get install apache2 mariadb-server -y

After installing the above packages, you will also need to install PHP and other required packages in your system.

By default, Ubuntu 20.04 comes with PHP7.4 in its default repository. However, Passbolt does not support PHP7.4. So you will need to add the PHP repository in your system.

First, install required packages with the following command:

apt-get install software-properties-common gnupg -y

Next, add the PHP repository with the following command:

add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php --yes

Next, install the PHP version 7.3 with Composer and other required extensions with the following command:

apt-get install php7.3 php7.3-mysql libapache2-mod-php7.3 php7.3-intl php7.3-mbstring php7.3-gd php7.3-imagick php7.3-xml php7.3-common php7.3-curl php7.3-json php7.3-ldap php7.3-gnupg zlib1g unzip git composer curl -y

Once all the packages are installed, you can proceed to the next step.

Configure MariaDB Database

First, you will need to secure the MariaDB installation and set the MariaDB root password. You can do it with the following command:

mysql_secure_installation

This script will set the MariaDB root password, remove anonymous users, disallow root login remotely and remove test database and access to it as shown below:

Enter current password for root (enter for none): 
OK, successfully used password, moving on...
Set root password? [Y/n] Y
Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] Y
Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] Y
Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] Y
Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] Y

Once the MariaDB is secured, log in to the MariaDB shell with the following command:

mysql -u root -p

Provide your root password when prompt then create a database and user for Passbolt with the following command:

MariaDB [(none)]> CREATE DATABASE passboltdb CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
MariaDB [(none)]> GRANT ALL on passboltdb.* to passbolt@localhost identified by 'password';

Next, flush the privileges and exit from the MariaDB with the following command:

MariaDB [(none)]> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
MariaDB [(none)]> EXIT;

Once you are finished, you can proceed to the next step.

Download and Configure Passbolt

In this section, we will learn how to download and configure passbolt:

Download Passbolt

First, download the latest version of the Passbolt to the Apache web root directory with the following command:

mkdir /var/www/passbolt
git clone https://github.com/passbolt/passbolt_api.git /var/www/passbolt

Once downloaded, change the ownership of the passbolt to www-data with the following command:

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/

Next, change the directory to passbolt and install required dependencies with the following command:

cd /var/www/passbolt
sudo -u www-data composer install --no-dev

You should get the following output:

> Cake\Composer\Installer\PluginInstaller::postAutoloadDump
9 packages you are using are looking for funding.
Use the `composer fund` command to find out more!
thadafinser/package-info:  Generating class...
thadafinser/package-info: ...generating class
> App\Console\Installer::postInstall
Created `config/app.php` file
Created `/var/www/passbolt/logs` directory
Created `/var/www/passbolt/tmp/cache/models` directory
Created `/var/www/passbolt/tmp/cache/persistent` directory
Created `/var/www/passbolt/tmp/cache/views` directory
Created `/var/www/passbolt/tmp/sessions` directory
Created `/var/www/passbolt/tmp/tests` directory
Set Folder Permissions ? (Default to Y) [Y,n]? Y

Type Y and hit Enter to set the folder permissions.

Generate OpenPGP Key

Next, you will need to generate OpenPGP key to authenticate and sign outgoing JSON requests. You can generate it with the following command:

cd /var/www/passbolt
gpg --full-generate-key

During the process, you will be asked for the passphrase, simply press the Tab key, select OK and confirm that you don’t want to set it., because the php-gnupg module doesn’t support using passphrase at the moment.

gpg (GnuPG) 2.2.19; Copyright (C) 2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

gpg: directory '/root/.gnupg' created
gpg: keybox '/root/.gnupg/pubring.kbx' created
Please select what kind of key you want:
   (1) RSA and RSA (default)
   (2) DSA and Elgamal
   (3) DSA (sign only)
   (4) RSA (sign only)
  (14) Existing key from card
Your selection? 1
RSA keys may be between 1024 and 4096 bits long.
What keysize do you want? (3072) 4096
Requested keysize is 4096 bits
Please specify how long the key should be valid.
         0 = key does not expire
        = key expires in n days
      w = key expires in n weeks
      m = key expires in n months
      y = key expires in n years
Key is valid for? (0) 0
Key does not expire at all
Is this correct? (y/N) y

GnuPG needs to construct a user ID to identify your key.

Real name: Hitesh
Email address: [email protected]
Comment: Hi
You selected this USER-ID:
    "Hitesh (Hi) <[email protected]>"

Change (N)ame, (C)omment, (E)mail or (O)kay/(Q)uit? O
We need to generate a lot of random bytes. It is a good idea to perform
some other action (type on the keyboard, move the mouse, utilize the
disks) during the prime generation; this gives the random number
generator a better chance to gain enough entropy.
We need to generate a lot of random bytes. It is a good idea to perform
some other action (type on the keyboard, move the mouse, utilize the
disks) during the prime generation; this gives the random number
generator a better chance to gain enough entropy.
gpg: /root/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created
gpg: key 2DA8E7FB8E23B2FD marked as ultimately trusted
gpg: directory '/root/.gnupg/openpgp-revocs.d' created
gpg: revocation certificate stored as '/root/.gnupg/openpgp-revocs.d/9622291A72D99A4EC78ABCB92DA8E7FB8E23B2FD.rev'
public and secret key created and signed.

pub   rsa4096 2020-07-25 [SC]
      D2394A45B7CBBAB7F00CC79B23D4750486780854
uid                      Hitesh (Hi) <[email protected]>
sub   rsa4096 2020-07-25 [E]

Please remember the above public key fingerprint as it will be needed later in the setup.

Next, export the public and private key to the ‘/var/www/passbolt’ directory with the following commands:

gpg --armor --export-secret-keys [email protected] > /var/www/passbolt/config/gpg/serverkey_private.asc
gpg --armor --export [email protected] > /var/www/passbolt/config/gpg/serverkey.asc

Next, you will need to initialize keyring of gpg key for the Apache user. You can do it with the following command:

sudo su -s /bin/bash -c "gpg --list-keys" www-data

You should get the following output:

gpg: directory '/var/www/.gnupg' created
gpg: keybox '/var/www/.gnupg/pubring.kbx' created
gpg: /var/www/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created

Configure Passbolt

First, copy the sample Passbolt configuration file with the following command:

cp /var/www/passbolt/config/passbolt{.default,}.php

Next, edit the Passbolt configuration file with the following command::

nano /var/www/passbolt/config/passbolt.php

Define your fullbaseurl, database and public key fingerprint as shown below:

        'fullBaseUrl' => 'https://passbolt.linuxbuz.com',
    // Database configuration.

    'Datasources' => [
        'default' => [
            'host' => 'localhost',
            //'port' => 'non_standard_port_number',
            'username' => 'passbolt',
            'password' => 'password',
            'database' => 'passboltdb',
            'serverKey' => [
            // Server private key fingerprint.
            'fingerprint' => 'D2394A45B7CBBAB7F00CC79B23D4750486780854',
            'public' => CONFIG . 'gpg' . DS . 'serverkey.asc',
            'private' => CONFIG . 'gpg' . DS . 'serverkey_private.asc',

Save and close the file when you are finished.

If you don’t remember your public key fingerprint you can fetch it with the following command:

gpg --list-keys --fingerprint | grep -i -B 2 [email protected]

You should get the following output:

gpg: checking the trustdb
gpg: marginals needed: 3  completes needed: 1  trust model: pgp
gpg: depth: 0  valid:   1  signed:   0  trust: 0-, 0q, 0n, 0m, 0f, 1u
pub   rsa4096 2020-07-25 [SC]
      D239 4A45 B7CB BAB7 F00C  C79B 23D4 7504 8678 0854
uid           [ultimate] Hitesh (Hi) <[email protected]>

Configure Apache for Passbolt

Next, you will need to create an Apache virtual host configuration file for Passbolt. You can create it with the following command:

nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/passbolt.conf

Add the following lines:

<VirtualHost *:80>

        ServerName passbolt.linuxbuz.com
        DocumentRoot /var/www/passbolt

        ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/passbolt_error.log
        CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/passbolt_access.log combined


      <Directory /var/www/passbolt/>
                Options FollowSymLinks MultiViews
                AllowOverride All
                Require all granted
        </Directory>

</VirtualHost>

Save and close the file then activate the virtual host file and restart the Apache service with the following command:

a2ensite passbolt
systemctl restart apache2

When you are finished, you can proceed to the next step.

Secure Passbolt with Let’s Encrypt

In order to secure your website with Let’s Encrypt SSL, you will need to install the Certbot client utility in your system to manage the SSL certificate.

You can install it with the following command:

apt-get install python3-certbot-apache -y

Once installed, run the following command to secure your website with Let’s Encrypt SSL:

certbot --apache -d passbolt.linuxbuz.com

You will be asked to provide your email and accept the term of service as shown below:

Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log
Plugins selected: Authenticator standalone, Installer None
Enter email address (used for urgent renewal and security notices) (Enter 'c' to
cancel): [email protected]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Please read the Terms of Service at
https://letsencrypt.org/documents/LE-SA-v1.2-November-15-2017.pdf. You must
agree in order to register with the ACME server at
https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(A)gree/(C)ancel: A

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Would you be willing to share your email address with the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, a founding partner of the Let's Encrypt project and the non-profit
organization that develops Certbot? We'd like to send you email about our work
encrypting the web, EFF news, campaigns, and ways to support digital freedom.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(Y)es/(N)o: Y
Plugins selected: Authenticator apache, Installer apache
Obtaining a new certificate
Performing the following challenges:
http-01 challenge for passbolt.linuxbuz.com
Enabled Apache rewrite module
Waiting for verification...
Cleaning up challenges
Created an SSL vhost at /etc/apache2/sites-available/passbolt-le-ssl.conf
Enabled Apache socache_shmcb module
Enabled Apache ssl module
Deploying Certificate to VirtualHost /etc/apache2/sites-available/passbolt-le-ssl.conf
Enabling available site: /etc/apache2/sites-available/passbolt-le-ssl.conf

Next, select whether or not to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS as shown below:

Please choose whether or not to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS, removing HTTP access.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1: No redirect - Make no further changes to the webserver configuration.
2: Redirect - Make all requests redirect to secure HTTPS access. Choose this for
new sites, or if you're confident your site works on HTTPS. You can undo this
change by editing your web server's configuration.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Select the appropriate number [1-2] then [enter] (press 'c' to cancel): 2

Type 2 and hit Enter to install the Let’s Encrypt SSL for your website:

Enabled Apache rewrite module
Redirecting vhost in /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/passbolt.conf to ssl vhost in /etc/apache2/sites-available/passbolt-le-ssl.conf

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Congratulations! You have successfully enabled https://passbolt.linuxbuz.com

You should test your configuration at:
https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=passbolt.linuxbuz.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

IMPORTANT NOTES:
 - Congratulations! Your certificate and chain have been saved at:
   /etc/letsencrypt/live/passbolt.linuxbuz.com/fullchain.pem
   Your key file has been saved at:
   /etc/letsencrypt/live/passbolt.linuxbuz.com/privkey.pem
   Your cert will expire on 2020-10-23. To obtain a new or tweaked
   version of this certificate in the future, simply run certbot again
   with the "certonly" option. To non-interactively renew *all* of
   your certificates, run "certbot renew"
 - If you like Certbot, please consider supporting our work by:

   Donating to ISRG / Let's Encrypt:   https://letsencrypt.org/donate
   Donating to EFF:                    https://eff.org/donate-le

At this point, your website is secured with Let’s Encrypt SSL.

Install Passbolt

Next, you can install Passbolt by running the Passbolt installation script.

First, change the directory to /var/www/passbolt:

cd /var/www/passbolt

Next, run the Passbolt installation script with the following command:

sudo su -s /bin/bash -c "./bin/cake passbolt install --no-admin" www-data

Once the installation ahs been completed successfully, you should get the following output:

All Done. Took 1.6533s

Import the server private key in the keyring
---------------------------------------------------------------
Importing /var/www/passbolt/config/gpg/serverkey_private.asc
Keyring init OK

Passbolt installation success! Enjoy! ?

Next, you will need to finalize the Passbolt setup from the browser. Open your web browser and visit the URL https://passbolt.linuxbuz.com. You should see the following screen:

Here, you will need to download and install a plugin for your browser. Click on Download the plugin to download and install the Passbolt plugin. Once installed, you can proceed to the next step.

Access Passbolt Web Interface

Before starting, you will need to create an admin user and set a password for Passbolt. You can do it with the following command:

cd /var/www/passbolt
sudo su -s /bin/bash -c "./bin/cake passbolt register_user -u [email protected] -f howtoforge -l Demo -r admin" www-data

You should get the following output:

     ____                  __          ____  
    / __ \____  _____ ____/ /_  ____  / / /_ 
   / /_/ / __ `/ ___/ ___/ __ \/ __ \/ / __/ 
  / ____/ /_/ (__  |__  ) /_/ / /_/ / / /    
 /_/    \__,_/____/____/_.___/\____/_/\__/   

 Open source password manager for teams
---------------------------------------------------------------
User saved successfully.
To start registration follow the link provided in your mailbox or here: 
https://passbolt.linuxbuz.com/setup/install/5bcfb186-3d9f-448f-8388-f705abd855c8/a2ba80dc-5ef2-433a-9138-11282747b377

Now, copy the link from the above output and use it to finalize the setup of Passbolt on the browser. You should see the following screen:

Confirm that the URL and GPG key fingerprint are okay and click on the Next button. You should see the following screen:

Provide Owner name, email and click on the Next button. You should see the following screen:

Set your password and click on the Next button. You should see the following screen:

Download your secret key and click on the Next button. You should see the following screen:

Set a security token and click on the Next button. You should see the following screen:

Provide your username, password and click on the login button. You should see the Passbolt dashboard in the following screen:

Conclusion

Congratulations! you have successfully installed the Passbolt password manager with Let’s Encrypt SSL on Ubuntu 20.04 server. You can now store and share your passwords with your teams and individual user. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions.