up vote 3 down vote favorite
2
share [g+] share [fb]

I have a customer with various computers and hardware devices that have admin passwords. There's no active directory so each computer / device has its own password.

I would like to store those password with a secure system on their LAN.

Even an excel file with cipher would be ok but I look for better suggestions (of any kind for linux or windows).

Online services and paid applications are not interesting.

link|improve this question
81% accept rate
4  
This is known as Doing It Wrong, just set up a damn domain, and get it over and done with. – Tom O'Connor Jul 8 '11 at 13:08
2  
They have no interest / budget to set up a domain. Even in that case I'd have troubles to save the "not connected to lan multifunction printer admin password" – Pitto Jul 8 '11 at 13:10
2  
I suggest you choose your customers more carefully in future, and find ones who actually want to do things the right way, instead of taking the cheapest easiest option, which is going to be a ballache in the future. – Tom O'Connor Jul 8 '11 at 13:11
3  
I do agree and I will think about your suggestion next time but not always you can choose customers. Sometimes you just have to thank god because you have customers :) So I just have to offer them the best I can. – Pitto Jul 8 '11 at 13:16
5  
Now that Tom O'Connor has got that off his chest, I'd like to see some more constructive tips. There are many passwords in corporations of any size that are not related to a Windows Domain, so 'just set up a damn domain' isn't a full solution there. – Martijn Heemels Jul 8 '11 at 13:18
show 3 more comments
feedback

6 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

One thing to be concerned with using Excel is that it will create temp files when the decrypted files are opened. That file will exist as long as Excel is open and if it crashes for any reason, that temp file will be left on the system decrypted. So it is certainly a good idea to look for alternatives.

We are just starting to use Manage Engine's Enterprise password manager I don't have a whole lot of experience with it, but it seems to do the right thing as far as separation of permissions, and logging for who got what password when.

Edit: Missed the "not interested in paid options" bit. Perhaps using something like KeePass would work for you then.

link|improve this answer
Excuse me for being not accurate but I'm looking for a free solution: I'm adding detail to question. I saw that your suggestion also have a free application but it has a maximum number of 10 systems. – Pitto Jul 8 '11 at 13:14
1  
Keepass looks very interesting. I'm downloading and testing it now. – Pitto Jul 8 '11 at 13:19
Being the 1st to suggest I assign you the correct answer: thanks a lot – Pitto Jul 8 '11 at 14:19
1  
KeePass is a great tool, we use it inhouse here for keeping track of passwords. – ErnieTheGeek Jul 8 '11 at 14:48
I couldn't live without KeePass. Highly recommended. – Tatas Jul 8 '11 at 15:46
feedback
up vote 7 down vote

A popular solution for small and medium business is KeePass, which is free and available for many platforms.

link|improve this answer
Thank you for your contribution. @Alex suggested it a few minutes ago. I'm downloading and testing it. – Pitto Jul 8 '11 at 13:23
2  
Great news @Pitto, don't forget to let us know what you think about it please, I can't speak for everyone but I personally can't wait. – Chopper3 Jul 8 '11 at 13:28
1  
If you combine it with a service like dropbox (getdropbox.com), it becomes a really nice and powerful solution. You add/update a password on one computer, it gets synched over to all other computers by the dropbox software. You'd have to check how that works with multiuser though, I use it for singleuser, multicomputer use. – Walter Heck Jul 8 '11 at 14:11
I've installed the program (I've chosen the portable option so there's no need to install it from anywhere) and I've saved it in a hidden share of their qnap storage giving access to only a user made for this task. I've added all the pc / devices I needed and it was easy and filled with options. +1 to Martijn for confirming Alex suggestion It's a great solution for my case and I thank everyone for helping. – Pitto Jul 8 '11 at 14:19
The dropbox option is really interesting... Maybe I could combine it with dropbox encription (I've read about that somewhere here on serverfault or superuser: I have to check)... For now on LAN is working great. – Pitto Jul 8 '11 at 14:22
show 2 more comments
feedback
up vote 6 down vote

I personally use 1Password for home/lab stuff - there's loads of other products though but I like that enough to have not really looked around for others, not sure if it'll meet your/their needs but just thought I'd mention it.

link|improve this answer
Excuse me for being not accurate but I'm looking for a free solution: I'm adding detail to question – Pitto Jul 8 '11 at 13:12
2  
You're not the first and won't be the last to come on here and only drop the 'needs to be free' think into their question only once people have answered. – Chopper3 Jul 8 '11 at 13:16
I think you're right. Next time I'll re-read twice before posting... Sorry. – Pitto Jul 8 '11 at 13:20
4  
@Pitto, you're time isn't free, the office people's time isn't free. The security of the system has some value. Why should the software that makes this all work have to be free? – Chris S♦ Jul 8 '11 at 13:36
1  
Of course. I understand your point of view and the correct way you'd like to handle this but... It's just a request from the boss. It's like "I want a chair and I want it red". I can give suggestions, not impose solutions. There are paid projects, open source projects, free projects... He wants a free solution, that's it :) – Pitto Jul 8 '11 at 14:14
feedback
up vote 3 down vote

Do they have a safe? There's your secure system! jk! :D

link|improve this answer
feedback
up vote 1 down vote

Another neat option is called corporate vault google it on sourceforge. It can tie into ldap if you want to and it is web based. Another neat feature is that you can assign roles to users and groups.

link|improve this answer
feedback
up vote 0 down vote

If for whatever reason you don't want to use KeePass (which is an excellent program), Password Safe is another excellent free option.

They don't have any multi-user support to speak of, but I know that pwSafe will allow others to open a DB in read-only mode if someone has it open for read/write. I've never tried doing the same thing with KeePass, so I'm not sure of its behavior.

Finally, if you need compliance with a particular set of regulations (PCI, HIPPA, etc.), then you may need to look elsewhere or pay the $$$ to get them certified yourself.

link|improve this answer
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.