Self hosting VS using Bitwarden cloud Pros and Cons

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Looking for suggestions to the following question? Should I self host or use Bitwarden cloud.

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Very happy with the cloud here. I feel security is enough for my needs.

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@choban Welcome to the forum!

Not trying to be flip, but it’s really a case of “if you have to ask, then you should not self-host”. Self-hosting safely takes a significant amount of expertise, and if you already have that expertise, then you would already know the relative benefits of the two options.

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Thanks for the quick response, still looking for someone who can provide some Pros and Cons

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I am currently being hosted by a relative who has the self hosting service setup. Should I have any concern with this setup or should I switch to Bitwarden cloud

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My relative who has the server setup seem to know what he is doing, but if some happen to him and the server was shut down, how much trouble would I be in?

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A lot. It’ll work until something breaks, and then you won’t have access to it anymore. Could be as long as it takes for the server your relative is using to not function after not being supported, a failed update, or as simple as your relative’s significant other pulling the power plug when your relative passes away.

Sounds like the cloud option is infinitely better for you than a relative hosting it.

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I couldn’t agree more with @grb’s whole post.

Not only a significant amount of expertise, but also a significant effort. Especially if your self hosted instance is exposed to the Internet.

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I’m new to bitwarden, can you point me to something that talks about how to switch from a self hosting to bitwarden’s cloud system.

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Not much, if you have a fresh enough backup [1] [2].

[1] a backup that is not an account restricted export (if that’s a thing in self-hosting).

[2] and a backup that includes everything important to you (for example, importing a vault export does not restore attachments, password history, some metadata, etc).

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Start by creating a vault export, as follows:

  1. Log in to the Web Vault on your self-hosted server (e.g., https://vault.yourdomain.com/#/login).
  2. Click on Tools in the top menu bar.
  3. Click on Export Vault in the left-hand navigation menu.
  4. In the dropdown menu under File Format, select the option .json (Encrypted).
  5. You will now see two options for Format Type: select Password-Protected (it is very important that you don’t select Account-Restricted).
  6. Choose a strong password for the backup (use the Bitwarden Password Generator if you like), and enter it into the input fields File password and Confirm file password.
  7. Click Confirm Format.
  8. When prompted (in a window titled Confirm Vault Export), enter your Bitwarden Master Password (not your backup password).
  9. Click Export Vault button. You should see a green alert box in the upper right corner of your browser window, with the message “Vault data exported.”
  10. Go to your Downloads folder, and look for a file named something like bitwarden_encrypted_export_20230612204532.json. Move this file to any location where you will be able to access it later. The file is encrypted, so you do not have to worry about hiding the file.

In addition, if you have file attachments in your vault, locate these by typing the following expression in the vault search bar:

>attachments:*

Then, download each attachment (as file attachments are not included in the vault export), and make a note of which vault item each file was attached to. If you are concerned about the security of saving these files in decrypted form on your computer, you will need to take special measures (which I won’t detail here, unless you ask).

Finally, if you use the Bitwarden Send feature, then take any necessary actions to preserve or re-create any currently active Sends (as Sends are not included in vault exports).

Now, you will be able to register for a Bitwarden cloud account, and then use the Import tools to import your JSON export (by selecting “Bitwarden json” as the file format). If you had file attachments, you will have to individually upload those to the corresponding vault items in your new vault.

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Thank for all the help