The challenge
What the system needed to solve
Make a password vault available to trusted clients without exposing a conventional login page broadly to the internet.
The build
Engineering decisions
Deployed a Bitwarden-compatible server on a dedicated private service address with replicated persistent storage.
Issued a private server certificate for enrolled LAN/VPN clients and a separate public-edge policy requiring an approved client certificate.
Built a structured import workflow and documented account recovery and backup expectations.
Kept administrative enrollment and trust distribution outside the public route.
Architecture
How the pieces connect
- 1Enrolled client
- 2Private DNS or public mTLS edge
- 3Dedicated service VIP
- 4Vaultwarden
- 5Replicated encrypted backup path
Results
What changed
- Desktop and mobile clients can sync through narrowly defined trust paths.
- A stolen password alone is insufficient to reach the public service endpoint.
- State, recovery, and access controls are monitored and documented as one system.
