Self-hosting

Configure Clients Centrally

When operating a self-hosted Bitwarden server in a business setting, administrators may want to centrally configure client application settings (particularly, Server URL) before deploying to users with an endpoint management platform. Settings are applied upon installation of the client application.

The process for doing so will be different for each client application:

Browser extensions

Chrome and Chromium

To pre-configure environment URLs for Linux:

  1. Create one of the following directory structures if they do not already exist on your system:

    • For Chrome, /etc/opt/chrome/policies/managed/

    • For Chromium, /etc/opt/chromium/policies/managed/

  2. In the managed folder, create a bitwarden.json file with the following contents:

    {
  "3rdparty": {
  "extensions": {
  "nngceckbapebfimnlniiiahkandclblb": {
      "environment": {
        "base": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

    The extension ID (nngceckbapebfimnlniiiahkandclblb) will vary depending on your installation method. You can find your extension ID by navigating to your browser's extension menu (for example, chrome://extensions).

    Most installations will only require the "base": URL, however some unique setups may require you to enter URLs for each service independently:

    {
  "3rdparty": {
  "extensions": {
  "nngceckbapebfimnlniiiahkandclblb": {
      "environment": {
        "base": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
        "webVault": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
        "api": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
        "identity": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
        "icons": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
        "notifications": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
        "events": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

    note

    If you'll be using the Chrome or Chromium Web Store version of Bitwarden, you can follow these instructions to force install Bitwarden on end-user machines when you distribute managed policies. You can skip overlapping steps, like creating required directories.

  3. As you will need to deploy these files to users' machines, we recommend making sure only admins can write files in the /policies directory.

  4. Using your preferred software distribution or MDM tool, deploy the following to users' machines:

    • The Chrome or Chromium-based browser

    • /etc/opt/{chrome or chromium}/policies/managed/bitwarden.json

tip

For more help, refer to Google's Chrome Browser Quick Start for Linux guide.

To pre-configure environment URLs for Windows:

  1. Open the Windows Group Policy Manager and create a new Group Policy Object (GPO) or use an existing GPO scoped for your end-users.

  2. Edit the GPO and navigate to User Configuration -> Preferences -> Windows Settings -> Registry.

  3. Right-click Registry in the file tree and select New > Registry Item.

  4. Create a new Registry Item with the following properties:

    • Action: Update

    • Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

    • Key Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\3rdparty\extensions\<extension_id>\policy\environment

      The <extension_id> will vary depending on your installation method. You can find your extension ID by navigating to your browser's extension menu (for example, chrome://extensions).

      note

      While Microsoft edge is a Chromium based browser, the Key Path location is different than the input for Google Chrome. For Microsoft Edge, use the following key path:

      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\3rdparty\extensions\<extension_id>\policy\environment

    • Value name: base

    • Value type: REG_SZ

    • Value data: Your server's configured domain

  5. Select OK once the item is configured.

    Most installations will only require the base URL, however some unique setups may require you to enter URLs for each service independently. If your setup requires this, repeat Step 4 to create a new Registry Item for each of the following:

    • Value name: webVault

    • Value name: api

    • Value name: identity

    • Value name: icons

    • Value name: notifications

    • Value name: events

note

You can also use a GPO to force-install the browser extension. Learn more.

To pre-configure environment URLs for macOS:

  1. Create a new file com.google.chrome.extensions.<extension_id>.plist.

    The <extension_id> will vary depending on your installation method. You can find your extension ID by navigating to your browser's extension menu (for example, chrome://extensions).

  2. In the created .plist file, add the following contents:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
	<dict>
		<key>environment</key>
		<dict>
			<key>base</key>
			<string>https://my.bitwarden.server.com</string>
		</dict>
	</dict>
</plist>

    Most installations will only require the base <key> and <string> pair, however some unique setups may require you to enter URLs for each service independently:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
	<dict>
		<key>environment</key>
		<dict>
			<key>base</key>
			<string>https://my.bitwarden.server.com</string>
                         <key>webVault</key>
                        <string>https://my.bitwarden.server.com</string>
                        <key>api</key>
                        <string>https://my.bitwarden.server.com></string>
                        <key>identity</key>
                        <string>https://my.bitwarden.server.com</string>
                        <key>icons</key>
                        <string>https://my.bitwarden.server.com</string>
                        <key>notifications</key>
                        <string>https://my.bitwarden.server.com</string>
                        <key>events</key>
                        <string>https://my.bitwarden.server.com</string>
		</dict>
	</dict>
</plist>

  3. Convert the .plist file to a .mobileconfig configuration profile.

    note

    If you'll be using the Chrome or Chromium Web Store version of Bitwarden, you can follow these instructions to force install Bitwarden on end-user machines by creating another configuration profile that can be distributed in the next step.

  4. Using your preferred software distribution or MDM tool, install the following on users' machines:

    • The Chrome or Chromium-based browser

    • The .mobileconfig configuration profile

Firefox

To pre-configure environment URLs for Linux:

  1. Create a directory /etc/firefox/policies:

    mkdir -p /etc/firefox/policies

  2. As you will need to deploy this directory and the files in it to users' machines, we recommend making sure old admins can write files in the /policies directory:

    chmod -R 755 /etc/firefox/policies

  3. Create a policies.json file in /etc/firefox/policies and add the following contents:

    {
 "policies": {
    "3rdparty": {
      "Extensions": {
        "{446900e4-71c2-419f-a6a7-df9c091e268b}": {
          "environment": {
            "base": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

    Most installations will only require the "base": URL, however some unique setups may require you to enter URLs for each service independently:

    {
 "policies": {
    "3rdparty": {
      "Extensions": {
        "{446900e4-71c2-419f-a6a7-df9c091e268b}": {
          "environment": {
            "base": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
            "webVault": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
            "api": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
            "identity": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
            "icons": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
            "notifications": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
            "events": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

  4. Using your preferred software distribution or MDM tool, deploy /etc/firefox/policies/policies.json to users' machines.

To pre-configure environment URLs for Windows:

  1. Open the Windows Group Policy Manager and create a new Group Policy Object (GPO) or use an existing GPO scoped for your end-users.

  2. Edit the GPO and navigate to User Configuration > Preferences > Windows Settings > Registry.

  3. Right-click Registry in the file tree and select New > Registry Item.

  4. Create a new Registry item with the following properties:

    • Action: Update

    • Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

    • Key Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Mozilla\Firefox\3rdparty\Extensions\{446900e4-71c2-419f-a6a7-df9c091e268b}\environment

    • Value name: base

    • Value type: REG_SZ

    • Value data: Your server's configured domain

  5. Select OK once the item is configured.

    Most installations will only require the base URL, however some unique setups may require you to enter URLs for each service independently. If you setup requires this, repeat Step 4 to create a new Registry item for each of the following:

    • Value name: webVault

    • Value name: api

    • Value name: identity

    • Value name: icons

    • Value name: notifications

    • Value name: events

To pre-configure environment URLs for macOS:

  1. Remove the quarantining attribute automatically applied to Firefox by running the following command:

    xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Firefox.app

  2. Create a directory /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/Resources/distribution.

  3. Create a file policies.json in the distribution folder and add the following contents:

    {
 "policies": {
    "3rdparty": {
      "Extensions": {
        "{446900e4-71c2-419f-a6a7-df9c091e268b}": {
          "environment": {
            "base": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

    Most installations will only require the "base": URL, however some unique setups may require you to enter URLs for each service independently:

    {
 "policies": {
    "3rdparty": {
      "Extensions": {
        "{446900e4-71c2-419f-a6a7-df9c091e268b}": {
          "environment": {
            "base": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
            "webVault": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
            "api": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
            "identity": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
            "icons": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
            "notifications": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
            "events": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

  4. Using your preferred software distribution or MDM tool, deploy /etc/firefox/policies/policies.json to users' machines.

Desktop apps

To centrally configure the Desktop app for deployment, first complete the following steps on a single workstation:

  1. Install the Desktop app. If you're using Windows, silently install Bitwarden as an administrator using installer.exe /allusers /S (see NSIS documentation).

  2. Navigate to the Desktop app's locally stored settings. This directory is different depending on your OS (e.g. %AppData%\Bitwarden on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/Bitwarden on macOS). Find your directory.

  3. In the directory, open the data.json file.

  4. Edit data.json to configure the Desktop app as desired. In particular, create the following object to configure the app with your self-hosted Server URL:

    }
 "environmentUrls": {
		     "base": "https://my.bitwarden.server.com",
		     "api": null,
		     "identity": null,
		     "webVault": null,
		     "icons": null,
		     "notifications": null,
		     "events": null,
		     "enterprise": null
	  }
}

  5. Once configured the way you want it, use your endpoint management solution of choice (like Jamf) to deploy the pre-configured Desktop app as a template.

Mobile apps

Most Mobile Device Management (MDM) or Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solutions allow administrators to pre-configure applications before deployment in a standard fashion. To pre-configure Bitwarden Mobile apps to use your self-hosted Server URL, construct the following Application Configuration:

Configuration Key

Value Type

Configuration Value

baseEnvironmentUrl

string

Your self-hosted Server URL, for example https://my.bitwarden.server.com.

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