AES encryption
In this method, we'll use AlgorithmCipher
that allows you to choose the algorithm used to encrypt your password.
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.
Field | Description |
---|---|
plainTextPassword | Password in plain text. |
algorithm | You can choose one of the following algorithms:
|
algorithmKey | The algorithm key must correspond with the algorithm chosen above:
|
Step 1: Encrypting the password
- Go to
<Jira-installation-directory>/bin
. Run the following command to encrypt your password. You can also use optional parameters described below.
java -cp "./*" com.atlassian.db.config.password.tools.CipherTool -c com.atlassian.db.config.password.ciphers.algorithm.AlgorithmCipher
- After running the command, you'll be asked to provide the required arguments in a JSON object. Prepare it based on the information from Before you begin.
The encryption tool generated three files that were used to encrypt your password, and printed the output JSON object that you'll later add to the dbconfig.xml
file.
Step 2: Securing the generated files
Move the files generated by the tool to a secure place, and change them to read-only. Jira needs to be able to access and read those files to decrypt your password and connect to the database.
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.
Change the permissions on the files generated by the tool so that they are `read-only` to the user running Jira.
Step 3: (Optional) Storing file paths as environment variables
This step is optional, but we recommend that you do it for extra security.
You can 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.
Store the two of the generated files as environment variables. You don't need to add the file with algorithm parameters, because Jira will not be using it to decrypt the password. You must use the following environment variables:
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_123456789 export com_atlassian_db_config_password_ciphers_algorithm_javax_crypto_SealedObject=/home/jira/javax.crypto.SealedObject_123456789
Edit the output from Step 1: Encrypting the password and remove paths to the files. The final output should look similar to the following JSON object:
<atlassian-password-cipher-provider>com.atlassian.db.config.password.ciphers.algorithm.AlgorithmCipher</atlassian-password-cipher-provider> <password>{}</password>
Step 4: Adding the encrypted password to dbconfig.xml
Add the output JSON object to the dbconfig.xml
file, replacing your current password.
- Go to Jira home directory and back up the
dbconfig.xml
file. Move the backup to a safe place outside of your Jira server. - Edit the
dbconfig.xml
file. - Replace the
<password>
tag with the output JSON object. Depending on whether you used environment variables or not, adjust the JSON object to one of the following examples:If you stored file paths as environment variables, remove the paths from the output. It should look like the following example:
<atlassian-password-cipher-provider>com.atlassian.db.config.password.ciphers.algorithm.AlgorithmCipher</atlassian-password-cipher-provider> <password>{}</password>
If you didn't use environment variables and want to stick to file paths in the
dbconfig.xml
file, make sure you updated them after moving the files to a secure place. The output should look like the following example:<atlassian-password-cipher-provider>com.atlassian.db.config.password.ciphers.algorithm.AlgorithmCipher</atlassian-password-cipher-provider> <password>{"sealedObjectFilePath":"/home/jira/javax.crypto.SealedObject_123456789","keyFilePath":"/home/jira/javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_123456789"}</password>
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.db.config.password.ciphers.algorithm.AlgorithmCipher</atlassian-password-cipher-provider> <password>{"sealedObjectFilePath":'C:\\jira\\javax.crypto.SealedObject_123456789',"keyFilePath":"'C:\\jira\\javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_123456789'"}</password>
- Restart Jira.
Decrypting the password
To decrypt the password, extend the command with the -m decrypt parameter:
java -cp "./*" com.atlassian.db.config.password.tools.CipherTool -c com.atlassian.db.config.password.ciphers.algorithm.AlgorithmCipher -m decrypt
When asked for the JSON object, provide the one from your dbconfig.xml
file.
{"sealedObjectFilePath":"/home/jira/javax.crypto.SealedObject_123456789","keyFilePath":"/home/jira/javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec_123456789"}
{}
Recreating an encrypted password
When you lose the encrypted password and encrypt the plain text password once again, the new encrypted password will look differently. This is not an issue, as it will still represent the same plain text password. However, in some cases, you might want to keep the consistency, for example by having the same encrypted password for all Jira Data Center nodes.
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.
Field | Description |
---|---|
| Path to a file that contains the key used to encrypt your original password, e.g. If you stored the file path as environment variable, you can omit this parameter. |
| Path to a file that contains the algorithm parameters used to encrypt your original password, e.g. |
To encrypt the password, follow the steps in Step 1: Encrypting the password, and use the JSON object with they key and algorithm parameters.