How to Self-host Bitwarden on a VPS

Given how frequent data breaches occur, it’s no surprise that Bitwarden self-hosting has become more popular among the DIY community (especially given that Bitwarden is open source). Note that it’s free to self-host Bitwarden, but there are some features that need to be unlocked with a registered Bitwarden license file. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to self-host Bitwarden and Vaultwarden using a virtual private server (VPS). Vaultwarden is the lighter option, if you are self-hosting for personal or team use — faster to set up and does not require a Bitwarden license key. Use the Official Bitwarden Server section if you need enterprise features or vendor support.

For almost everyone self-hosting a password manager, the practical answer is Vaultwarden, not the official Bitwarden server — it’s a lightweight, Rust-based reimplementation that’s fully compatible with every official Bitwarden client, runs on a fraction of the resources, and includes premium features like TOTP and file attachments without a license. The standard setup is Docker Compose plus Caddy for automatic HTTPS, since Bitwarden’s browser extensions and mobile apps require a valid HTTPS connection to work at all.

Official Bitwarden is the right choice for organizations that specifically need enterprise SSO, SCIM user provisioning, directory sync, or detailed audit logs — features Vaultwarden doesn’t offer. For individuals, families, and teams up to roughly 20 people, Vaultwarden gives you the identical client experience (same browser extensions, same mobile apps, same autofill) at a fraction of the resource cost, with premium features included free rather than gated behind a paid license.

before you set up your Bitwarden instance, you’ll need to consider whether you’re running it only on a virtual machine (VM) or for other purposes (we cover both installation methods in this guide):

1. Running self-hosted Bitwarden on a VM: Choose the Bitwarden standalone variant.
2. Running Bitwarden for a different purpose: Choose Vaultwarden fka bitwarden_rs, an unofficial Bitwarden-compatible server.

Installing Bitwarden Server (Standalone)

The ready-made installation script makes installation relatively easy.

Requirements

• A Linux operating system-based server.
• Root access to the server.
• A subdomain connected to the server.

Step 1: Install Docker and cURL

Before you can run the installation script, you’ll need to first install a Docker container to run Bitwarden in. And, you’ll need to install other smaller packages like cURL.

Use this command to install both Docker and cUrl:

apt install docker.io docker-compose curl -y

Step 2: Download the Installation Script

Downloading the script is quite simple and done with one command (the script is executable.) Use the following command:

curl -s -o bitwarden.sh \  

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bitwarden/server/master/scripts/bitwarden.sh \  

&& chmod +x bitwarden.sh

Step 3: Run the Installation Script

To start the installation, run the installation script with the following command: 

./bitwarden.sh install

And then you’ll need to enter your (sub)domain:

Step 3A: Install SSL Certificate (optional)

This next step of installing a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt is optional, but since it’ll be a storage location for your passwords later on, we strongly recommend installing a SSL certificate (the certificate doesn’t have to be from Let’s Encrypt): 

If you decide to install a SSL certificate, then you’ll need to enter your email address to request a private Installation ID and Installation Key for self-hosting Bitwarden in the next step.

Step 3B: Getting an Installation ID and Key

Enter the email address that you’d like to be admin to get your ID and Key.

You’ll then enter your Installation ID and Installation Key into the console.

The console will prompt you for your ID first: 

Then your Key: 

After you’ve entered both, the script installs the rest and your Bitwarden self-hosted instance is active.

Now call your (sub)domain in the browser, and create an account there.  

And voila! You can now use your instance of Bitwarden.

If you want to run more than just Bitwarden on your server, then read the following sections.

Install Vaultwarden Server (Bitwarden)

If you want to run other things on your server in addition to your Bitwarden instance, then this variant is much more suitable for you.  

Vaultwarden is an implementation of the Bitwarden API in a Rust program that also runs in a Docker container.

The following is the current standard deployment as of 2026. It uses Docker Compose for Vaultwarden and Caddy as an automatic HTTPS reverse proxy. This approach is simpler and more maintainable than the Apache2 method shown further below — Caddy handles SSL certificate issuance and renewal automatically with no extra steps.

• A VPS running Ubuntu 22.04 or Debian 12 — Contabo Cloud VPS 4 (4 vCPU / 8 GB, €4.50/mo) is well-suited; Vaultwarden itself uses ~256 MB RAM.
• Docker and Docker Compose installed.
• A domain or subdomain pointing to your server’s IP address (required for HTTPS).
• Ports 80 and 443 open in your firewall.

Step 1: Install Docker

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

Step 2: Create the Docker Compose file

Create a directory and open the Compose file:

mkdir -p ~/vaultwarden && nano ~/vaultwarden/docker-compose.yml

Paste the following content — replace vault.yourdomain.com with your actual domain:

services:
vaultwarden:
image: vaultwarden/server:latest
container_name: vaultwarden
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
DOMAIN: "https://vault.yourdomain.com"
SIGNUPS_ALLOWED: "true" # set to false after creating your accounts
ADMIN_TOKEN: "your-long-random-token-min-64-chars"
volumes:
- ./vw-data:/data
ports:
- "127.0.0.1:8080:80"
caddy:
image: caddy:2-alpine
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- "80:80"
- "443:443"
volumes:
- ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile
- caddy_data:/data
volumes:
caddy_data:

Step 3: Create the Caddyfile

nano ~/vaultwarden/Caddyfile

Paste — replacing vault.yourdomain.com with your domain:

vault.yourdomain.com {

    reverse_proxy vaultwarden:80

}

Step 4: Start the stack

cd ~/vaultwarden && docker compose up -d

Caddy automatically obtains a Let’s Encrypt certificate for your domain. Visit https://vault.yourdomain.com in your browser and create your account.

Step 5: Disable public signups (important)

Once your accounts are created, open docker-compose.yml and change SIGNUPS_ALLOWED to false, then restart: docker compose up -d. This prevents anyone who finds your URL from creating an account on your instance.

Step 6: Connect the Bitwarden app

Install any official Bitwarden client (browser extension, desktop app, or mobile app). On the login screen, tap the gear icon or ‘Self-hosted’ option and enter your server URL (e.g. https://vault.yourdomain.com). Your account credentials work exactly as with the cloud version.

Backups

The entire Vaultwarden database lives in the ./vw-data directory. Back this folder up regularly — if you lose it, passwords are unrecoverable. A simple daily cron job copying vw-data to Contabo Object Storage is the recommended approach for VPS deployments.

Prefer a 1-Click Option? Contabo does not yet offer a dedicated 1-click Vaultwarden image, but the Contabo Cloud VPS 4 (€4.50/mo, 4 vCPU / 8 GB RAM) is well-suited to running this stack — Vaultwarden uses only ~256 MB RAM, leaving the rest available for other self-hosted apps like Nextcloud or n8n.

Requirements

• Linux-based virtual server.
• Root access to the server.
• A (sub)domain already connected to the server.

Step 1: Install Docker and Other Needed Prorams

Before we can start installing Vaultwarden, we need to install programs like Docker in this variant.  

You can install the following programs with this command:

apt install apache2 docker.io docker-compose curl git wget sudo certbot python3-certbot-apache -y 

Step 2: Create a Virtual Host

To tell the web server which port Vaultwarden is running on, we first need to insert a Virtual Host. We create this with the following command:

nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/bitwarden.conf

And paste in the following content: 

<VirtualHost *:80> 

    ServerName <Your(Sub)Domain> 

    ProxyPreserveHost On 

    <Proxy *> 

        Order allow,deny 

        Allow from all 

    </Proxy> 

    ProxyPass / http://localhost:8081/ 

    ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:8081/ 

</VirtualHost>

Important: Replace <your(sub)domain> with your (sub)domain under which the Bitwarden instance should be accessible. The brackets (i.e. “<” and “>”) must be removed.  

Now, activate the virtual host with this command:

a2ensite bitwarden.conf

Step 3: Activate the Required Modules

Enable required modules with this command (the server needs these modules to work properly):

a2enmod ssl proxy proxy_http proxy_balancer lbmethod_byrequest

You’ll need to restart the server afterward in order for the changes to take effect. Use this command to restart your server:

systemctl restart apache2

Step 4: Install SSL certificate

Unlike the first variant, you’ll need to manually install the SSL certificate. 

Fortunately, it’s a simple step. All you need to start the certification process is enter in this command: 

certbot --apache 

The rest of the SSL certification process is straightforward, so we won’t go into details here.

Step 5 (Last Step): Download and Run Vaultwarden

After all the preparations are complete, you can download the Vaultwarden image with this command:  

docker pull vaultwarden/server:latest

And then start the container with this command:  

docker run -d --name vaultwarden -v /vw-data/:/data/ -p 8081:80 vaultwarden/server:latest 

Now, go to your (sub)domain in the browser and create an account there.

Once you’ve created an account, your Vaultwarden (or Bitwarden instance) install is complete and ready to use. Thanks for following with us on this tutorial!

Feel free to check out more tutorials, or explore our VPS plans for self-hosting. Customers typically use our VPS for a variety of applications and projects (like self-hosting Bitwarden or Nextcloud) because we have the “best price-to-performance ratio” (where else can you get truckloads of RAM and traffic (32 TB!), lightning-fast NVMe SSDs, and AMD EPYC™ processors for cheap?).

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