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Logging in

How to login and use the Keeper Commander CLI

First Login on a New Device

To login to Commander for the first time, click the Keeper Commander icon or open a shell and type:

keeper shell

If you are using the US data center, just type login to start the login process.

The Keeper Commander CLI will default to the US data center. To change regions, use the server command. For example, to switch to the EU data center, type:

server EU

Login to Commander with the login command:

login my@company.com

By default, Commander stores login data in the native OS keychain.

Use keeper shell --config-file or login --config-file inside the shell to store login data in the config file instead.

Examples:

keeper shell --config-file
login --config-file my@company.com

To switch back to native storage, delete the local config.json file. Then run keeper shell and login without --config-file.

Device Approval

Depending on your setup, you might need to approve the device. Several methods are available.

Not logged in> login me@company.com

Device Approval Required
Approve by selecting a method below:
        "email_send" to send email
        "email_code=<code>" to validate verification code sent via email
        "keeper_push" to send Keeper Push notification
        "2fa_send" to send 2FA code
        "2fa_code=<code>" to validate a code provided by 2FA application
        "approval_check" check for device approval
Type your selection:

  • If you wish to approve via email:

    • Type email_send or es

    • Enter the security code with email_code=<code>

  • If you wish to approve via Keeper Push:

    • Type keeper_push

    • Approve via push

    • Then type approval_check

  • If you wish to approve via 2fa code:

    • Input 2fa_send

    • Then input 2fa_code=<code>

Logging in with a Master Password

After device approval, you will immediately move to the login process, or if you previously approved the device, this will be the first step.

Master Password Login Example

Logging in With 2FA

If you have 2FA enforced on your account, you will be required to pass the 2FA step before logging in with a Master Password. Your login flow in commander will follow the same rules you have for logging into the Vault.

Each 2FA method that is enabled will have a number next to it.

In this example, only TOTP is enabled, so 1 would need to be entered, followed by the TOTP code. Enter the corresponding number to proceed:

By default, Keeper Commander prompts for 2FA code on every login. To store 2FA authentication for this device either for 30 days or forever, type one of the following before entering the code:

  • 2fa_duration=30_days to prompt for 2FA every 30 days, or...

  • 2fa_duration=forever to never prompt again on this device

Logging in with Biometric Authentication

If biometric authentication is configured on your device, you can use Windows Hello or Touch ID to log in to Keeper Commander. This allows you to bypass both the Master Password and two-factor authentication (2FA) for a faster, secure login experience.

For Windows users, ensure Windows Hello is configured:

  • Navigate to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options > Windows Hello

  • Set up Face recognition, Fingerprint, or PIN

Register Biometric Authentication

First, login to Keeper Commander with your Master Password (or SSO), then register biometric authentication:

Biometric authentication prompt (fingerprint or Face ID) will be displayed.

Register by authenticating with your fingerprint or faceID when prompted by the system.

With successful fingerprint or faceID authentication the registration will be completed:

Device Registration

To use biometric authentication as your default login method, you must register your device

Login Example with Biometric Authentication

Once biometric authentication and device are registered, your login will look like this:

Managing Biometric Credentials

Command
Description

biometric list

List all registered biometric credentials

biometric update-name

Update the friendly name of a biometric credential

biometric unregister

Remove biometric authentication from current device

biometric verify

Test biometric authentication without logging in

Logging In with Enterprise SSO (SAML 2.0)

If SSO is configured for your Keeper enterprise account, the following screen will appear for users that login to Commander:

To login to Commander using SSO, you will need to paste a token provided by the SSO provider from your web browser into Commander. To receive the SSO token, follow these steps:

SSO Login Using Default Browser

To have Commander automatically open the default browser to the SSO Connect page, enter "o" in the SSO selection and hit Enter

The default browser for your system will open to the SSO Connect page.

Depending on your operating system, settings, and administrator privileges, Commander may be unable to open the web browser, in this case use the following option to open the SSO Connect screen.

SSO Login Using Pasted Token

You can copy the URL to your SSO's logins screen from the SSO Connect text in Commander, or enter "c" in the SSO selection and hit Enter to copy the URL to your clipboard.

Once the URL is copied, paste it into a web browser to navigate to the SSO Connect page.

After a successful SSO login, the web page will show a yellow "Copy" button. Click the button to copy the token.

SSO Login success screen

Paste the SSO Token

Once the token has been copied, go back to Commander to complete the SSO login.

In Commander enter "p" in the SSO selection screen and hit Enter to paste the token from your clipboard into Commander and complete SSO login.

What if There is No "Copy login token" Button?

In some cases, the "Copy login token" button may not appear. This depends on your SSO setup and Commander version. In this case, the SSO token will need to be manually copied from the web page source.

The page will remain in a loading state (with spinning icon) to give you time to find and copy the token. Though the spinning icon appears to be loading, the page will not change.

Once you have opened the SSO Connect page in the browser, follow these instructions to copy the SSO token:

Right click the web page and select "View Page Source"

Right click menu with "View page source" highlighted

With the page source open, search for "var token" and copy the token that follows that text.

Be sure to copy all text between the quotation marks (") without copying the quotation marks themselves. Note that the token is longer than the page shows.

There are two possible formats that the token could have for SSO login

The token is a long quoted string

var token = "aQwDh&r[...]"

In this case copy everything within the quotation marks

The token is a json object

var token = {'result':'success', 'password':"d8!xe3[...]"}

in this case, copy the entire object including the curly brackets

The SSO token highlighted

Once the token has been copied, go back to Commander to complete the SSO login.

In Commander enter "p" in the SSO selection screen and hit Enter to paste the token from your clipboard into Commander and complete SSO login.

Device Approval with SSO Login

If device approval is turned on for your account, the device approval selection will be shown after the first SSO login.

Enter your selection and hit Enter to continue with device approval.

1 : Approve with Keeper Push

2 : Approve with Admin Approval

r : Resume SSO login after the device has been approved

See First Login on a New Device section for more details on device approval.

Use a Master Password with SSO Login

Customers who normally login to their Keeper Vault using Enterprise SSO Login (SAML 2.0) can also login to Keeper Commander using a Master Password. To make use of this capability, it must be enabled by the Keeper Administrator and then configured by the user. The steps are below:

Login to the Keeper Admin Console

As the admin, login to the Keeper Admin Console as you normally do.

Enable SSO Master Password Policy

For the User/Role who will be accessing Keeper Commander, open the Role Enforcement Policy setting screen. Enable the option "Allow users who login with SSO to create a Master Password"

SSO Master Password Policy

Login to the End-User Vault using SSO

As the user who will be using Commander, login to the Keeper Web Vault or Keeper Desktop app with your SSO provider as you normally do.

Create a Master Password

Visit the Settings > General screen and setup a Master Password

After the Master Password is created, you are now able to login to Keeper Commander.

Optional: Force SSO Master Password Login in Configuration File

Add the following line to your configuration file.

Logging in with a Proxy

If your network configuration requires using a proxy server you can use the proxy command before logging in.

Persistent Login Sessions ("Stay Logged In")

Commander can be configured to stay logged in between sessions, and you can also configure how long the device will remain logged in without activity. This feature is referred to as "persistent login" or "Stay Logged In" in the Keeper Vault UI.

Using a persistent login session will allow you to execute Commander scripts without being prompted for authentication. Since this setting applies to all devices for that particular account, it also enables "stay logged in" across the web vault, mobile apps and desktop apps associated to that user.

Use the this-device command to set your preferences.

Example:

To enable "Stay Logged In" so that you're not prompted for authentication, use these commands:

If persistent login is enabled, you won't be prompted to authenticate the next time you run Commander:

Activating persistent login ("stay logged in") for a login ID affects all devices that you use with Keeper. When persistent login is enabled, protect the local device from unauthorized access. If you use --config-file, also secure the local config.json file.

To set the inactivity logout timer to a certain number of minutes. For example:

If 2FA is configured on the account, you may need to also set up the 2FA frequency. For example, to set the frequency to not prompt again on this device:

By default, persistent login data stays in the OS keychain on the local device. If you login with --config-file, Commander stores the same data in .keeper/config.json.

That config should only be used by one device. If you login with the same config on a second device, both sessions will be revoked and persistent login will break. If you plan to move the config to a container or server, delete the local copy after creation.

Working with Commander

Keeper Commander – Accessing and Working with Your Vault
PreviousBiometric LoginNextSuperShell: TUI Vault Browser

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