Running KeePass under Mono (Linux, Mac OS X, BSD, …)

In addition to Windows, KeePass 2.x runs fine under Mono, i.e. Linux, Mac OS X, BSD, etc. In order to run KeePass, follow these steps:

1. Install Mono ≥ 2.6 (older versions will not work and are not supported). Depending on your platform, the packages to install are called mono-stable, MonoFramework, mono-devel or mono-2.0-devel; see the Mono project page, if you are unsure which packages to install.
2. On some platforms, the Windows Forms implementation (System.Windows.Forms) is offered as a separate package. KeePass requires this package; so if you see one, install it, too.
3. On some platforms, the Runtime namespace (System.Runtime) is offered as a separate package. KeePass requires this package; so if you see one, install it, too.
4. If you want to use auto-type on Linux / Mac OS X / BSD / etc., you additionally need the xdotool package.
5. Download the portable version of KeePass (file KeePass-2.xx.zip) and unpack it in a location of your choice.
6. When being in the KeePass directory, run the command line “mono KeePass.exe“. Alternatively, right-click onto the KeePass.exe file, choose “Open with Other Application” and type in mono as custom command.

For the last step you might want to create a shortcut or shell script file with this command line (use an absolute path to KeePass.exe, if the shortcut / shell script file is in a different location).

Global Auto-Type:
In order to use global auto-type, you need to create an appropriate system-wide hot key. This only needs to be done manually once. KeePass performs global auto-type when it’s invoked with the --auto-type command line option.

For example, to create a system-wide hot key for global auto-type on Ubuntu Linux, follow these steps:

1. Press Alt-F2, enter gconf-editor and click [OK].
2. Navigate to apps -> metacity -> keybinding_commands.
3. Double-click one of the command_i items, enter
   mono /YourPathToKeePass/KeePass.exe --auto-type
   and click [OK].
4. Click the global_keybindings node on the left.
5. Double-click the appropriate run_command_i item (for example, when you’ve used command_5 in the previous steps, double-click run_command_5 now) and specify the hot key of your choice. For example, to use Ctrl-Alt-A as hot key, you’d enter <Control><Alt>a.

Important: for global auto-type, the version of the xdotool package must be 2.20100818.3004 or higher! If your distribution only offers an older version, you can download and install the latest version of the package manually, see the xdotool website.