Self-host

License Organizations or Premium

Self-hosting Bitwarden is free, however some features must be unlocked in your self-hosted instance with a registered license file. A license file can be obtained from the Bitwarden-hosted web app by either an account with a premium individual subscription or by the owner of an organization.

The steps are different when working with an individual license versus an organization license.

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The procedures in this article assume that you have already started a paid subscription to Bitwarden. If you haven't, refer to About Bitwarden Plans and What Plan is Right for Me?

Individual license

Follow these procedures when working with an individual license for a premium subscription. You'll be working in both the cloud web vault and your self-hosted web vault, and your account email addresses should match.

Retrieve individual license

After you create an account on your self-hosted server, retrieve your license from the cloud web app:

  1. Log in and select Settings → Subscription from the navigation.

  2. Select the Download license button:

    Download personal license

Apply individual license

Next, log in to your self-hosted Bitwarden server to apply the downloaded license:

  1. If you haven't already, verify your email address. You will need to have configured SMTP-related environment variables to do so.

  2. Select Settings → Subscription from the navigation.

  3. In the License file section, select the Browse... or Choose file button button and add the downloaded license file.

  4. Select the Submit button to apply your premium license.

Update individual license

If for any reason you need to update your individual license file, for example when it expires:

  1. Follow the steps to Retrieve your license again.

  2. Follow the steps to Apply your license again, only this time you will see an Update license button rather than a button to browse for a new license.

Organization license

Follow these procedures when working with an organization license for a Families or Enterprise organization. You must be an organization owner to retrieve, apply, and update a license.

Retrieve organization license

Before starting an organization on your self-hosted server, retrieve your organization license from the cloud web app.

  1. In the Bitwarden web app, open the Admin Console using the product switcher:

    Product switcher

  2. Navigate to Billing → Subscription.

  3. Scroll down and select the Download license button.

  4. When prompted, enter the installation ID that was used to install your self-hosted server and select Submit. If you don't know the installation ID off-hand, you can retrieve it from ./bwdata/env/global.override.env.

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Make sure that the installation ID you retrieved from bitwarden.com/host uses the same data region as where your organization exists.

Apply organization license

Applying your license in a self-hosted server is the means by which you'll create a self-hosted organization. From your self-hosted web vault:

  1. Start a new organization by selecting the Add organization button.

  2. Select the Browse... or Choose file button, add the downloaded license file, and select Submit.

note

Als je een foutmelding krijgt over een versie die niet wordt ondersteund, werk dan je server bij en probeer je licentiebestand opnieuw te uploaden. Om je server bij te werken, maak je een back-up van de map bwdata en volg je deze instructies.

Update organization license

Organizations will need to update the license file used by their self-hosted server in several different scenarios, for example:

  • To add user seats to a self-hosted organization. Self-hosted organizations' seat count is dictated by the license, so to add seats they must first be added to the associated cloud organization and then the license used by your self-hosted organization must be updated.

  • To continue operation of the self-hosted organization when the license renews. You have 60 days, from the date of renewal, to update the license file to you self-hosted server before your self-hosted organization is disabled.

There are two methods for updating a self-hosted organization's license, however Families organizations may only update manually:

Automatic sync:

  • Eliminates the need for organization admins to manually re-upload licenses. Once setup, admins will only need to trigger a sync from the Organization → Billing when an update to the license used by the self-hosted organization is required.

  • Makes Families sponsorships possible for members of self-hosted organizations. Sync for these sponsorships will automatically occur per day.

  • Cannot be setup by organizations still in a free trial period.

To set up automatic sync:

Step 1: Enable cloud communication

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Deze stap moet worden uitgevoerd door iemand die toegang heeft tot de configuratiebestanden van je zelf gehoste instantie.

First, configure your server to allow communication with Bitwarden cloud systems by setting the following line in bwdata/env/global.override.env to true:

Bash
globalSettings__enableCloudCommunication=true

Once you have set this value, apply your change by running the ./bitwarden.sh rebuild command. Start your server again with the ./bitwarden.sh start command.

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Het inschakelen van automatische synchronisatie vereist communicatie met de cloudsystemen van Bitwarden. Als je omgeving een firewall gebruikt om uitgaand verkeer te blokkeren, moet je https://api.bitwarden.com of .eu en https://identity.bitwarden.com of .eu toestaan.

Step 2: Retrieve billing sync token

Once cloud communication is enabled at the server-level, a sync token needs to be passed from the cloud organization that is associated with your self-hosted organization. To retrieve your sync token from the cloud web app:

  1. Open the cloud Admin Console and navigate to Billing → Subscription.

  2. In the self-hosting section, select Set up billing sync.

  3. Enter your master password and select Generate token.

  4. Copy the generated token.

Step 3: Apply billing sync token

To apply the billing sync token to your self-hosted organization:

  1. Open the self-hosted Admin Console and navigate to Billing → Subscription.

  2. In the License and billing management section, choose the Automatic sync option.

  3. Select the Manage billing sync button.

  4. Paste your generated Billing Sync Token and select Save.

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De synchronisatie voor Families voor Ondernemingen vindt eenmaal per dag plaats zodra je de eerste synchronisatie hebt geactiveerd. Het veld Laatste synchronisatie in dit gedeelte meldt Nooit totdat je de eerste synchronisatie start.

Synchronisatie voor licentie-updates moet altijd handmatig worden uitgevoerd door de knop Licentie synchroniseren te selecteren (zie de volgende sectie voor meer informatie).

Step 4: Trigger sync

Trigger a sync once you've completed setup and each time you need to update your license. Sync for Familes for Enterprise will occur once daily. To trigger a sync:

  1. Open the self-hosted Admin Console and navigate to Organization → Billing.

  2. Select the Sync license button.

note

Als je een foutmelding krijgt over een versie die niet wordt ondersteund, werk dan je server bij en probeer je licentiebestand opnieuw te uploaden. Om je server bij te werken, maak je een back-up van de map bwdata en volg je deze instructies.