Dropbox, Multiple Vaults and new install - BE CAREFUL

Eduardo Martinez
Eduardo Martinez
Community Member
edited December 2013 in Mac

It was my understanding that the main database that is stored in Dropbox (in my case) would save all my data including other Vaults I have created, however I have found they are not, only the data for the Primary Vault is saved in Dropbox.

I found this out because I recently replaced my Mac's hard drive, I did a clean install of everything and I thought restoring my whole 1Password data would be done by simply syncing it with Dropbox, which it it didn't. Luckily I still had access to my old hard drive and I had to actually copy the 1Password backup manually and put it in the new hard drive for all my data to be restored.

I can't imagine that someone with little knowledge about this things would ever be able to figure out how to do this. Maybe you guys can make it simpler.

Thanks.

Comments

  • sjk
    sjk
    1Password Alumni

    Hi, Eduardo.

    I'm sorry for the misunderstanding that all of your 1Password 4 vaults would be stored in a single 1Password keychain (in Dropbox). Really glad to hear you were able to recover your missing data from a backup!

    While it doesn't specifically address your issue and concern, here are a few definitions from the 1Password 4 glossary I hope will be helpful:

    Database
    The internal name used to refer to ALL your 1Password data, including vaults. Whether you have one vault or five, they are contained in a single database.

    Keychain or data file
    When you use the Dropbox or Folder sync method, 1Password creates a .agilekeychain file for you. Since sync settings are vault-specific, the file is named after the selected vault (for example, work.agilekeychain). The exception to this is the default, primary vault, which is always saved as 1Password.agilekeychain.

    Vault
    A collection of items. 1Password creates your default, primary vault for you when you run it for the first time. Everything you see when you open the application—items, folders, tags, everything—is in the current vault. You can have multiple vaults. When you switch to a different vault, the main application window is refreshed to display only the items, folders, tags, etc. that are in the selected vault.

    Those imply that having only one of multiple vaults configured with Dropbox or Folder sync doesn't store the entire 1Password database.

    Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I'm filing a report about it, emphasizing that it's important we have more clearly available information about how and where 1Password data is stored when using 1Password 4. With 1Password 3 it's simpler because its active vault, single keychain, and database are all considered the same thing.

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