This method provides more security as you don't have to store the encrypted password anywhere in the configuration file, which makes it difficult for unauthorised parties to find and decrypt it.

Encrypt the password

In this method, we'll use AlgorithmCipher, which lets you choose the algorithm used to encrypt the database password in the dbconfig.xml file.

Before you begin: Preparing the JSON object

You will provide all arguments required to encrypt your password in a JSON object. Prepare it beforehand by using the information and examples below.

 Using this information, prepare the appropriate JSON for the password to be encrypted, for example:

{"plainTextPassword":"secret","algorithm":"AES/CBC/PKCS5PADDING","algorithmKey":"AES"}

Keep this JSON available to use when you follow the steps below.

Step 1: Encrypting the password

When you encrypt the database password, you can supply some optional arguments, as shown in the table below.

To encrypt the database password, follow the steps below.

1. Go to <Jira-installation-directory>/bin.

2. Run the following command to encrypt your database password. You can also use the optional parameters described above.

   java -cp "./*" com.atlassian.secrets.cli.db.DbCipherTool -c com.atlassian.secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore

3. When prompted for a password enter the prepared JSON object based on the information from Before you begin.
   Note: the JSON object must be entered as a single line.

   When this command is run you should see output similar to the output below:

   2023-10-13 00:30:49,016 main INFO [com.atlassian.secrets.DefaultSecretStoreProvider] Initiating secret store class: com.atlassian.secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore
   2023-10-13 00:30:50,811 main DEBUG [secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore] Initiate AlgorithmCipher
   2023-10-13 00:30:50,891 main DEBUG [secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore] Encrypting data...
   2023-10-13 00:30:50,950 main DEBUG [store.algorithm.serialization.EnvironmentVarBasedConfiguration] Will try to read file path from environment variable under: com_atlassian_db_config_password_ciphers_algorithm_java_security_AlgorithmParameters
   2023-10-13 00:30:50,951 main DEBUG [store.algorithm.serialization.EnvironmentVarBasedConfiguration] Nothing found under environment variable.
   2023-10-13 00:30:51,093 main DEBUG [store.algorithm.serialization.UniqueFilePathGenerator] Will use generated name: java.security.AlgorithmParameters_1234567890
   2023-10-13 00:30:51,108 main DEBUG [secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore] Name of generated file with algorithm params used for encryption: java.security.AlgorithmParameters_1234567890
   2023-10-13 00:30:51,111 main DEBUG [store.algorithm.serialization.EnvironmentVarBasedConfiguration] Will try to read file path from environment variable under: com_atlassian_db_config_password_ciphers_algorithm_javax_crypto_spec_SecretKeySpec
   2023-10-13 00:30:51,111 main DEBUG [store.algorithm.serialization.EnvironmentVarBasedConfiguration] Nothing found under environment variable.
   2023-10-13 00:30:51,220 main DEBUG [store.algorithm.serialization.UniqueFilePathGenerator] Will use generated name: javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_1234567890
   2023-10-13 00:30:51,245 main DEBUG [store.algorithm.serialization.SerializationFile] Saved file: javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_1234567890
   2023-10-13 00:30:51,353 main DEBUG [store.algorithm.serialization.UniqueFilePathGenerator] Will use generated name: javax.crypto.SealedObject_1234567890
   2023-10-13 00:30:51,357 main DEBUG [store.algorithm.serialization.SerializationFile] Saved file: javax.crypto.SealedObject_1234567890
   2023-10-13 00:30:51,369 main DEBUG [secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore] Encryption done.
   Success!
   For Jira, set the following properties in dbconfig.xml:
   
   <atlassian-password-cipher-provider>com.atlassian.secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore</atlassian-password-cipher-provider>
   <password>{"sealedObjectFilePath":"javax.crypto.SealedObject_1234567890","keyFilePath":"javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_1234567890"}</password>
   
   For Bitbucket, set the following properties in bitbucket.properties:
   
   jdbc.password.decrypter.classname=com.atlassian.secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore
   jdbc.password={"sealedObjectFilePath":"javax.crypto.SealedObject_1234567890","keyFilePath":"javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_1234567890"}
   
   For Bamboo, set the following properties in bamboo.cfg.xml:
   
   <property name="jdbc.password.decrypter.classname">com.atlassian.secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore</property>
   <property name="hibernate.connection.password">{"sealedObjectFilePath":"javax.crypto.SealedObject_1234567890","keyFilePath":"javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_1234567890"}</property>
   
   For Confluence, set the following properties in confluence.cfg.xml:
   
   <property name="jdbc.password.decrypter.classname">com.atlassian.secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore</property>
   <property name="hibernate.connection.password">{"sealedObjectFilePath":"javax.crypto.SealedObject_1234567890","keyFilePath":"javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_1234567890"}</property>

When encrypting your password, the encryption tool generates three files and prints the output JSON object that you'll later add to the dbconfig.xml file. The next step discusses how to secure those files.

Step 2: Securing the generated files

The following files have been generated:

• javax.crypto.SealedObject_[timestamp]
  File with the encrypted password.
  
  
• javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_[timestamp] 
  Key used to encrypt your password. You will need this file to decrypt your password.
  
  
• java.security.AlgorithmParameters_[timestamp]
  Algorithm parameters used to encrypt your password. You will need this file only if you wanted to recreate an encrypted password. 

If you're running Jira in a cluster, the files should be available to all nodes via the same path. Jira needs to be able to access and read those files to decrypt your password and connect to the database.

1. Move the files generated by the tool to a secure place. 

2. Change them to read-only and accessible only to the user running Jira. 

Step 3: Adding the encrypted password to dbconfig.xml

To add the encrypted password:

1. Back up the <home-directory>/dbconfig.xml file. Move the backup to a safe place outside of your instance.

2. In the dbconfig.xml file, add or modify the <atlassian-password-cipher-provider> property to contain:

   com.atlassian.secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore

3. In the dbconfig.xml file, add or modify the <password> property to contain the fully qualified path to the two files:

   {"sealedObjectFilePath":"/home/jira/javax.crypto.SealedObject_1234567890","keyFilePath":"/home/jira/javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_1234567890"}

4. Once updated, check that dbconfig.xml contains:

   <atlassian-password-cipher-provider>com.atlassian.secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore</atlassian-password-cipher-provider>
   <password>{"sealedObjectFilePath":"/home/jira/javax.crypto.SealedObject_1234567890","keyFilePath":"/home/jira/javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_1234567890"}</password>

   WINDOWS If you’re running Jira on Windows, you need to additionally escape the file paths and change double quotes (") surrounding the path to single quotes (') to avoid JSON parsing errors. The paths should look like the following example:

   <atlassian-password-cipher-provider>com.atlassian.secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore</atlassian-password-cipher-provider>
   <password>{"sealedObjectFilePath":'C:\\jira\\javax.crypto.SealedObject_1234567890',"keyFilePath":"'C:\\jira\\javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_1234567890'"}</password>

5. Restart Jira.

Step 4: (Optional) Storing file paths as environment variables

You can choose to store paths to the generated files as environment variables. If the paths aren't present in the dbconig.xml file, Jira will automatically look for them in the specific environment variables. In this way, file paths will not be stored in the dbconfig.xml file, making it difficult to locate the files used for encryption.

To store the paths to the generated files as environment variables:

1. Store the two generated files as environment variables. You don't need to add the file with algorithm parameters, because AlgorithmCipher does not use it to decrypt the password. You must set the following environment variables to the correct values in any of the scripts used for launching your Jira instance:

   com_atlassian_db_config_password_ciphers_algorithm_javax_crypto_spec_SecretKeySpec
   com_atlassian_db_config_password_ciphers_algorithm_javax_crypto_SealedObject

   For example:
   

   export com_atlassian_db_config_password_ciphers_algorithm_javax_crypto_spec_SecretKeySpec=/home/jira/javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_1234567890
   export com_atlassian_db_config_password_ciphers_algorithm_javax_crypto_SealedObject=/home/jira/javax.crypto.SealedObject_1234567890

2. Edit the output from the first step, Encrypting the password, and remove paths to the files. Your confluence.cfg.xml file should look like:

   <atlassian-password-cipher-provider>com.atlassian.secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore</atlassian-password-cipher-provider>
   <password>{}</password>

3. Restart Jira.

Decrypting the password

To decrypt the sensitive data:

1. Extend the command with the -m decrypt parameter.

   java -cp "./*" com.atlassian.secrets.cli.db.DbCipherTool -c com.atlassian.secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore -m decrypt

2. When asked for the JSON object, provide the one from your dbconfig.xml file.
   

   {"sealedObjectFilePath":"/home/jira/javax.crypto.SealedObject_1234567890","keyFilePath":"/home/jira/javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_1234567890"}

On running the command, the secret will be decrypted and printed:

2023-10-13 05:01:14,203 main INFO [com.atlassian.secrets.DefaultSecretStoreProvider] Initiating secret store class: com.atlassian.secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore
2023-10-13 05:01:15,991 main DEBUG [secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore] Initiate AlgorithmCipher
2023-10-13 05:01:16,068 main DEBUG [secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore] Decrypting data...
2023-10-13 05:01:16,250 main DEBUG [secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore] Decryption done.
Success! Decrypted password using cipher provider: com.atlassian.secrets.store.algorithm.AlgorithmSecretStore decrypted password: secret

Recreating an encrypted password

If you lose an encrypted password and try to encrypt the plain text password once again, the new encrypted password will look different. This is not an issue, as it will still represent the same plain text password. However, in some cases, you might want to keep it consistent, for example by having the same encrypted password when a Jira instance is migrated to another server.

To encrypt the password in the exact same way as you did before, you will need the key used to encrypt the original password and the algorithm parameters. Both of these were generated by the encryption tool and saved in the following files:

• Key:  javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_[timestamp]
• Algorithm parameters:  java.security.AlgorithmParameters_[timestamp]

Once you've located these files, you can point the encryption tool to their location by using two extra fields in the JSON object. Below you can find the description of these fields and a sample JSON object.

When asked for a password, provide the JSON object:

{"plainTextPassword":"secret","algorithm":"AES/CBC/PKCS5PADDING","algorithmKey":"AES","algorithmParametersFilePath":"/home/jira/java.security.AlgorithmParameters_1234567890","keyFilePath":"/home/jira/javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_1234567890"}

To encrypt the password, follow the steps in Step 1: Encrypting the password, and use the JSON object with they key and algorithm parameters.

Troubleshooting

[c.a.j.config.database.DatabaseConfigHandler] Trying to get encrypted password from xml and decrypt it
[c.a.d.c.p.ciphers.algorithm.AlgorithmCipher] Runtime Exception thrown when decrypting: 

[c.a.j.config.database.DatabaseConfigHandler] Trying to get encrypted password from xml and decrypt it
[c.a.j.config.database.DatabaseConfigHandler] Database password decryption success!
[c.a.config.bootstrap.DefaultAtlassianBootstrapManager] Could not successfully test your database:

[c.a.jira.health.HealthChecks] JIRA couldn't connect to your database
[c.a.jira.health.HealthChecks] JIRA failed to establish a connection to your database.