Knowledge Base (Posts about keepass)

Keepass2: fix puffy ui and fonts

bgstack15 — Sat, 30 May 2026 12:59:00 GMT

It feels like the tech I wish to use wants to fight me. It's getting frustrating. (Or maybe I'm just getting old.)

I did a medium-dive into DPI on Linux again, because the Mono-based application keepass2 wanted to look really puffy and bloated. I have a 1920x1080 display, with no special scaling at all. I know I've had to tell QT applications what scaling to use, because they apparently guess wrong on basic 1920x1080.

Wrong view (bloated):

Right view (not bloated):

This time, for some dumb reason KeePass wanted everything to look like it's scaled up kinda big and puffy. The solution to this is to uncheck the setting "Force usage of system font (Unix only)."

The setting:

I don't know why it sometimes flips. Maybe it's like that other setting that magically changes.

Aborted research

GDK_SCALE=1 GDK_DPI_SCALE=1
xrdb -override <<< "Xft.dpi:96"
xrdb -query
MONO_MWF_NATIVE=1
MONO_OPTIONS="--debug"

Unhelpful references

Passkeys from Vaultwarden or KeepassXC

bgstack15 — Thu, 14 May 2026 13:04:00 GMT

I recently was forced to start using passkeys to retain access to a bank website where I've already been able to log in using conventional means for years. The site completely disabled the use of passwords, except to set up a passkey, along with an emailed 2fa code. I hate passkeys, and hate that technology is being used against users.

If you are forced to use passkeys, here are two current options that do not depend on mobile devices or other locked-down tech.

Keepass2 2.60 check update problem

bgstack15 — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:06:00 GMT

I think I have found a novel bug in keepass2, and submitting a bug report in Debian is tricky when one doesn't use Debian.

The problem went away if I install keepass2=2.57-dfsg-4. I know the rest of the GNU+Linux world moved to keepassxc, but I like keepass2 interface, mostly because the password edit window is a separate window and there for I can move it around and still see the list of passwords.

The short explanation: starting in version 2.60, the application always removes an xml element "CheckForUpdateConfigured" when closing. This makes the application prompt again, after running again and opening a password file.

So my solution is to always enforce this entry, using this script in ~/bin/keepass2.

	`#!/bin/sh`
	`# Startdate: 2026-03-16-2 15:46`
	`# Purpose: fix keepass2 2.60 problem where it somehow removes this xml config element and therefore asks the user to`
	`always check for updates.`

	`update_xml_element() {`
	`# usage: parent="/toplevelobject" element="internalid" value="12341234" infile=./foo.xml _insert_xml_element`
	`_parent="${parent:-${1}}" ; _parent="${_parent%%/}"`
	`_element="${element:-${2}}"`
	`_value="${value:-${3}}"`
	`_infile="${infile:-${4}}"`
	`# example: xmlstarlet edit --update "/toplevelobject/internalid" --value "if-updated" --subnode "/toplevelobject[not(internalid)]" --type elem -n "internalid" --value "if-inserted"`
	`xmlstarlet edit --inplace --update "${_parent}/${_element}" --value "${_value}" --subnode "${_parent}[not(${_element})]" --type elem -n "${_element}" --value "${_value}" "${_infile}"`
	`}`
	`infile=~/.config/KeePass/KeePass.config.xml parent="/Configuration/Application/Start" element="CheckForUpdateConfigured" value="true" update_xml_element`
	`infile=~/.config/KeePass/KeePass.config.xml parent="/Configuration/Application/Start" element="CheckForUpdate" value="false" update_xml_element`
	`/usr/bin/keepass2 &`
	`wait %1`
	`infile=~/.config/KeePass/KeePass.config.xml parent="/Configuration/Application/Start" element="CheckForUpdateConfigured" value="true" update_xml_element`
	`infile=~/.config/KeePass/KeePass.config.xml parent="/Configuration/Application/Start" element="CheckForUpdate" value="false" update_xml_element`