KDE Wallet

KDE Wallet is the default password manager on Kubuntu systems. It stores passwords completely encrypted and unlocks upon login. All KDE applications integrate with this password manager, and it stores Wi-Fi passwords, file manager passwords, and other system passwords. It also integrates well with Google Chrome and other browsers.

By default, the KDE Wallet master password is the same as your user password. For this reason, if you ever change your user password, your KDE Wallet password will no longer unlock automatically upon login. You can fix this by making sure the passwords match again:

• Open System Settings > Account Settings
• Under the tab Wallet Preferences, make sure [x] Enable the KDE Wallet Subsystem is selected
• Click on the bottom-right button labeled Launch Wallet Manager
• When the Wallet Manager app appears, click on the top-right button labeled Change Password...
• When prompted, set your new password to match the password of your user account
• Logout and login to test the change

Some apps that typically require gnome-keyring need libsecret capability. Recent versions of KWallet reportedly provide this capability through the qbus |grep -i secret. This shows org.freedesktop.secrets service. One can inspect these services using sudo apt install qttools5-dev-tools && qdbusviewer. However, since we use KeePassXC as our cross-platform password manager, we use it instead as described below.

KeePassXC

KeePassXC is a cross-platform, sync-able, decentralized password management solution. It has plugins for Chrome (and other Chromium-based browsers), Firefox, and Android clients. We highly recommend this password solution. For many, it’s a great alternative to commercial services like LastPass and 1Password.

To use KeePassXC as your browser password manager, install the browser extension. With Firefox, use Menu > Add-Ons and themes, with Chrome, use Menu > Extensions > Visit Chrome Web Store. Then in KeePassXC, enable browser password integration by clicking on Settings (Gear Icon) > Browser and select your browser, like [x] Firefox, and click OK. If you are using the Firefox snap, see the Browsers Guided Solution for additional adjustments you will need to make.

To use KeePassXC to provide libsecrets (gnome-keyring), such as VSCode Settings Sync and Fortinet Client, follow the steps below.

• Optional: Install libsecret-tools (sudo apt install libsecret-tools). This provides the secret-tool command.
• In KeePassXC, open or create a database to keep your secrets and create a group inside the database like "secret-service".
• Go to Tools > Settings > Secret-Service-Integration and check the Enable KeePassXC Freedesktop.org Secret Service Integration and click Ok.
• Go to Tools > Settings > Secret-Service-Integration, click the General tab, and then in the Exposed Database Groups table, click the small pencil icon next to the database you want to host the secrets. This will show the Database Settings dialog, which has a Secret Service Integration section. Click on Secret Service Integration and then check the Expose entries under this group radio option. Select the group you created in the second step, and click Ok.
• Optional: While the database is unlocked in KeePassXC, test storing a credential by entering the following into a terminal: secret-tool store --label='Created from cli' account test, and then enter your desired password. You should be able to see this new credential in KeePassXC

Some forum posts recommend installing Gnome Keyring; however, this can interfere with the KWallet subsystem. For this reason, we strongly recommend you try to use KeePassXC instead. KeePassXC libsecret capability is shown here. The steps above are found in this AskUbuntu post.

KeePassXC’s database file can be stored on a cloud drive such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, ownCloud, Nextcloud, or similar. This is useful to synchronize across multiple devices. To learn more, visit the KeePassXC website documentation. In April 2023, the KeePassXC team released a reassuring security audit which we also encourage you to review.

Disclaimer

We try hard to provide a useful solution validated by professionals. However, we cannot anticipate every situation, and therefore cannot guarantee this procedure will work for your needs. Always backup your data and test the solution to determine the correct procedure for you.

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