Is it possible to get Auto-Type working with local password managers in Bazzite?
As best I can tell, Bazzite with KDE Plasma is now strictly Wayland. When I tried to get a local password manager (KeepassXC) working, I found that Auto-Type did not work (it wasn’t even an option in the settings). I found references to a browser plugin to let KeepassXC do something similar to Auto-type in the browser, but since I also need passwords in local files and applications, that didn’t help. I also found references to setting an environment variable (QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb) in .bashrc. I thought that got things working, but after a reboot, the desktop was, essentially, gone: no taskbar, no system tray, no start button (sorry for the Windows-centric terminology). Removing that line from .bashrc fixed things. Since I think that line is supposed to set up an X11 server, I assume the Desktop going Tango Uniform with it means X11 just won’t run on Bazzite.
Is there, in fact, any way to actually get Auto-type working in Bazzite so a local password manager can work properly? Maybe I’m “holding it wrong” by trying to get Auto-type to work. Maybe there’s a better, more linux-centric or Wayland-centric way to do that. But, I couldn’t find it. I’d seen some references that someday, someone might come up with an API to allow password managers to securely communicate with browsers and other applications. But, even if that was in the works, it would be years before anything came of it. I’m not going to store my passwords (or some other equivalent) out in the cloud. I’m not going to store them in the various browsers I use. I need them for local files and applications as well as in browsers. Is there some solution I’m missing?
Well, it looks like I’ll be staying trapped on Windows for a while longer. I HAVE to have a password manager that works with multiple browsers, local applications and local files. I can’t understand why there isn’t more noise about this. Surely Bazzite users use password managers. And, surely, some of them have to be using local (i.e., non-cloud-based) password managers.
Maybe I’m wrong about getting KeepassXC set up. But, here’s a 7 year old, unsolved issue on their github page about it:
I think if you go to flatseal, search for keepassxc and scroll down to environment and there type in QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb you will get keepassxc running through xwayland (i think you can also just toggle off wayland and toggle on x11 in the same settings) . I think if you apply the same to your browser (via flatseal turn on x11 and turn off wayland) then you should be good to go. note that x11 is less “secure”, but it should work. I will qualify I haven’t tested it as I setup browser integration another way Installing 1Password in Bluefin, a better way? - #26 by jpl .
Sorry for the delay in getting back. I’d already uninstalled Bazzite and had to re-install it to test this. Adding QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb to the KeepassXC Environment Variable area in Flatseal got things (mostly) working. It looks like window titles/names aren’t getting communicated to KeepassXC, so auto-type isn’t really “auto.” I have to filter the auto-type popup window to narrow down the selection. But, once I do that, I can at least use the password manager. Not the best of all worlds, but usable. Adding the environment variable and the X11 fallback options to the Brave entry didn’t help.
Also unfortunately, it looks like Browser Integration doesn’t work with the flatpak versions of KeepassXC and browsers. I assume that’s because of the sandboxes.
Hopefully, the KDE Plasma people can get this Wayland-level inter-app communication working in the near future (from what I can find, it looks like the Wayland people don’t want to do it).
Thanks for the reply. I can at least continue working with Bazzite and see if it’ll work for me.
not sure how adventurous you are, but I think people have gotten flatpak keepassxc → flatpak browser working. It does escape the flatpak sandbox a little bit, but I use something similar for Bitwarden and for me having a working password manager > technically escaping the flatpak sandbox.