diff --git a/libretroshare/src/libretroshare.pro b/libretroshare/src/libretroshare.pro
index 3006f6bf9..248ff5563 100644
--- a/libretroshare/src/libretroshare.pro
+++ b/libretroshare/src/libretroshare.pro
@@ -480,6 +480,7 @@ HEADERS +=	turtle/p3turtle.h \
 
 HEADERS +=	util/folderiterator.h \
 			util/rsdebug.h \
+			util/rskbdinput.h \
 			util/rsmemory.h \
 			util/smallobject.h \
 			util/rsdir.h \
@@ -626,6 +627,7 @@ SOURCES +=	turtle/p3turtle.cc \
 
 SOURCES +=	util/folderiterator.cc \
 			util/rsdebug.cc \
+			util/rskbdinput.cc \
 			util/rsexpr.cc \
 			util/smallobject.cc \
 			util/rsdir.cc \
diff --git a/libretroshare/src/util/rskbdinput.cc b/libretroshare/src/util/rskbdinput.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..24593b9ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libretroshare/src/util/rskbdinput.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * libretroshare/src/retroshare/util/rskbdinput.cc                             *
+ *                                                                             *
+ * Copyright (C) 2019  Cyril Soler <csoler@users.sourceforge.net>              *
+ *                                                                             *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify        *
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as              *
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the          *
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.                             *
+ *                                                                             *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,             *
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of              *
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the                *
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.                         *
+ *                                                                             *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License    *
+ * along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.       *
+ *                                                                             *
+ *******************************************************************************/
+
+#ifndef __ANDROID__
+
+#ifdef WINDOWS_SYS
+#include <conio.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+#define PASS_MAX 512
+
+std::string rs_getpass(const std::string& prompt,bool no_echo)
+{
+    static char getpassbuf [PASS_MAX + 1];
+    size_t i = 0;
+    int c;
+
+    if (!prompt.empty()) {
+        std::cerr << prompt ;
+        std::cerr.flush();
+    }
+
+    for (;;) {
+        c = _getch ();
+        if (c == '\r') {
+            getpassbuf [i] = '\0';
+            break;
+        }
+        else if (i < PASS_MAX) {
+            getpassbuf[i++] = c;
+        }
+
+        if (i >= PASS_MAX) {
+            getpassbuf [i] = '\0';
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (!prompt.empty()) {
+        std::cerr << "\r\n" ;
+        std::cerr.flush();
+    }
+
+    return std::string(getpassbuf);
+}
+#else
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <string>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <termios.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+static int getch()
+{
+    int ch;
+    struct termios t_old, t_new;
+
+    tcgetattr(STDIN_FILENO, &t_old);
+    t_new = t_old;
+    t_new.c_lflag &= ~(ICANON | ECHO);
+    tcsetattr(STDIN_FILENO, TCSANOW, &t_new);
+
+    ch = getchar();
+
+    tcsetattr(STDIN_FILENO, TCSANOW, &t_old);
+    return ch;
+}
+
+std::string rs_getpass(const char *prompt, bool no_echo)
+{
+  const char BACKSPACE=127;
+  const char RETURN=10;
+
+  std::string password;
+  unsigned char ch=0;
+
+  std::cout <<prompt; std::cout.flush();
+
+  while((ch=getch())!=RETURN)
+    {
+       if(ch==BACKSPACE)
+         {
+            if(password.length()!=0)
+              {
+                 if(no_echo)
+                 std::cout <<"\b \b";
+                 password.resize(password.length()-1);
+              }
+         }
+       else
+         {
+             password+=ch;
+             if(no_echo)
+                 std::cout <<'*';
+             else
+                 std::cout << ch,std::cout.flush();
+         }
+    }
+  std::cout <<std::endl;
+
+  return std::string(password);
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif
diff --git a/libretroshare/src/util/rskbdinput.h b/libretroshare/src/util/rskbdinput.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9a4483626
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libretroshare/src/util/rskbdinput.h
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * libretroshare/src/retroshare/util/rskbdinput.h                              *
+ *                                                                             *
+ * Copyright (C) 2019  Cyril Soler <csoler@users.sourceforge.net>              *
+ *                                                                             *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify        *
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as              *
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the          *
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.                             *
+ *                                                                             *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,             *
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of              *
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the                *
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.                         *
+ *                                                                             *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License    *
+ * along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.       *
+ *                                                                             *
+ *******************************************************************************/
+
+namespace RsUtil {
+
+	std::string rs_getpass(const std::string& prompt,bool no_echo=true) ;
+
+}
diff --git a/retroshare-service/src/retroshare-service.cc b/retroshare-service/src/retroshare-service.cc
index 6b6d8aac0..9f91c78c7 100644
--- a/retroshare-service/src/retroshare-service.cc
+++ b/retroshare-service/src/retroshare-service.cc
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 #include "util/stacktrace.h"
 #include "util/argstream.h"
+#include "util/rskbdinput.h"
 #include "retroshare/rsinit.h"
 #include "jsonapi/jsonapi.h"
 
@@ -26,10 +27,6 @@ CrashStackTrace gCrashStackTrace;
 #include <cmath>
 #include <csignal>
 
-#ifndef __ANDROID__
-#include <termios.h>
-#endif
-
 #ifdef __ANDROID__
 #	include <QAndroidService>
 #	include <QCoreApplication>
@@ -42,59 +39,6 @@ CrashStackTrace gCrashStackTrace;
 #include "retroshare/rsinit.h"
 #include "retroshare/rsiface.h"
 
-#ifndef RS_JSONAPI
-#	error Inconsistent build configuration retroshare_service needs rs_jsonapi
-#endif
-
-int getch() {
-    int ch;
-    struct termios t_old, t_new;
-
-    tcgetattr(STDIN_FILENO, &t_old);
-    t_new = t_old;
-    t_new.c_lflag &= ~(ICANON | ECHO);
-    tcsetattr(STDIN_FILENO, TCSANOW, &t_new);
-
-    ch = getchar();
-
-    tcsetattr(STDIN_FILENO, TCSANOW, &t_old);
-    return ch;
-}
-
-std::string readStringFromKeyboard(const char *prompt, bool show_asterisk=true)
-{
-  const char BACKSPACE=127;
-  const char RETURN=10;
-
-  std::string password;
-  unsigned char ch=0;
-
-  std::cout <<prompt; std::cout.flush();
-
-  while((ch=getch())!=RETURN)
-    {
-       if(ch==BACKSPACE)
-         {
-            if(password.length()!=0)
-              {
-                 if(show_asterisk)
-                 std::cout <<"\b \b";
-                 password.resize(password.length()-1);
-              }
-         }
-       else
-         {
-             password+=ch;
-             if(show_asterisk)
-                 std::cout <<'*';
-             else
-                 std::cout << ch,std::cout.flush();
-         }
-    }
-  std::cout <<std::endl;
-  return password;
-}
-
 class RsServiceNotify: public NotifyClient
 {
 public:
@@ -104,7 +48,7 @@ public:
 	virtual bool askForPassword(const std::string& title, const std::string& question, bool prev_is_bad, std::string& password,bool& cancel)
 	{
 		std::string question1=title + "\nPlease enter your PGP password for key:\n    " + question + " :";
-		password = readStringFromKeyboard(question1.c_str()) ;
+		password = RsUtil::rs_getpass(question1.c_str()) ;
 		cancel = false ;
 
 		return !password.empty();
@@ -184,8 +128,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 
 		for(;;)
 		{
-			webui_pass1 = readStringFromKeyboard("Please register a password for the web interface: ");
-			webui_pass2 = readStringFromKeyboard("Please enter the same password again            : ");
+			webui_pass1 = RsUtil::rs_getpass("Please register a password for the web interface: ");
+			webui_pass2 = RsUtil::rs_getpass("Please enter the same password again            : ");
 
 			if(webui_pass1 != webui_pass2)
 			{