How to keep old Macs, new Mac, and devices in the same loop

Watertight

The situation: two older Macs both running Snow Leopard and limited to it by hardware. They have 1PW 3.8.20 and 3.8.21 installed and running just fine.

My principal computer is a Mac mini running Mountain Lion with 1PW 3.8.21 also running just fine.

I'm intent on keeping my syncs local with a fall back to iCloud where necessary.

I sync these three computers via a "sync messenger" set-up suggested by khad (I think) several years ago on the Forum. The "messenger" is an iPad3 with iOS 7.1 and 1PW Pro v. 3.7.2. It's keeping all four units in sync very nicely.

Disruption: two iPhone 5s(s) arrived for Christmas. I want to install 1PW 4 on them and also switch my iPad3 over to 1PW 4.3.2 that's already on it but is presently unused. Then, I would install 1PW4 on the Mac mini so that my primary computer and devices were all on 1PW4 and using wi-fi syncing (and staying local).

That leaves out the two old Macs running 1PW3. If I rule out Dropbox as a solution, are there any sync combinations available via wi-fi (and iCloud if necessary) that will let me keep the two older Macs with Snow Leopard in sync with the Mac mini (and Mountain Lion or Mavericks) ?

Any ideas greatly appreciated.

Terry

Megan

Hi Terry ( @Watertight‌ ),

Thanks for writing such a detailed outline of your 1Password ecosystem! Unfortunately, this is a bit of a tricky situation if you do not want to use Dropbox. Wi-Fi is a great option for keeping all your version 4 devices in sync, however, since iCloud was only introduced in 1Password 4, it will not be able to help keep 1Password 3 in sync on your older Macs.

If all your Macs are on the same network, you could make use of 1Password 4's Folder Sync and use an alternative sync solution like ChronoSync, rsync, etc. to keep your data synced up between 1Password 4 for Mac and 1Password 3 for Mac.

I hope this helps, but we're here if you have any further questions! :)

Watertight

Appreciate your help, Megan. 1PW4 is now installed on the Mac mini and successfully synched with the iPad3 and one iPhone. I used Wi-fi sync with no problem.

Now the hard part: I think I'll try ChronoSync to Folder Sync with my two Snow Leopard Macs. Am I right in assuming that the source data I'll be syncing will be from my Mac mini's vault and that this data (which is 1PW4 data) will be usable by the 1PW3 apps running on the two Macs?

My grandmother taught me that if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. What have I missed?

Thanks.

Terry

Megan

Hi Terry ( @Watertight‌ ),

Your grandmother sounds like a wise woman. However, in this case, your solution is sound. Both Dropbox sync and Folder Sync store your database in a backwards compatible format (the 1Password.agilekeychain format), so 1Password 3 will be able to read your data just fine. :)

Watertight

Back for some coaching, Megan. I've set up a sync folder per the instructions in the user manual. No problem so far.

Now comes the ChronoSync set-up. My read of its user manual makes me think the "Synchronize Bidirectional" operation is what I want (or, rather, it's what I want, but is going to be acceptable to 1PW4?).

Recall, I'm trying to sync my primary Mac (a mini running 1PW4) with two Macs that are both running 1PW3 because they are hardware limited to Snow Leopard. The two older Macs are on the same network with the mini, and the file sharing among them seems to be working seamlessly. In a perfect set-up, I'd like to be able to sync 1PW changes both ways among this trio of machines. 1PW has always made things easy, but this really sounds too good to be possible.

If the bidirectional sync isn't possible (presumably because the older machines won't be "allowed" to mess with the contents of the sync file in the folder sync folder on the Mac mini), then I want the Mac mini to be the control for the other two -- which would mean the sync would be one way.

So far, you've delighted me with finding that 1PW4 will sync with 1PW3. There's got to be something I'm missing that I need to understand before I set up ChronoSync and throw the switch.

Appreciate your help.

Terry

Megan

Hi Terry ( @watertight )

Thanks for providing such a detailed report here! Unfortunately, because ChronoSync isn't 'officially' supported, I can't give you much guidance here, just because we haven't fully tested it. I see no reason why the bi-directional sync shouldn't work here though. My advice is to ensure that you have a few backups of your 1Password data (use File > Backup to create an extra one if you're nervous) and give it a try.

Please let me know how things work out! :)

Megan

Hi Terry ( @watertight )

I did a bit of digging for you here, and it appears that 1Password 3 for Mac will only be able to use Unidirectional Sync with ChronoSync. You can read a bit more about it here. I hope this helps!

Watertight

Whew! That was a close one, Megan. I was going to test Bidirectional Sync today.

My testing of Unidirectional Sync from 1PW4 to 1PW3 appears successful -- at least with secure note changes. I haven't compared enough logins yet to be certain. However, the Uni runs generated a question concerning "extended file attributes" each time before proceeding -- the sort of thing about which my grandmother cautioned me back in the day.

ChronoSync is a very robust tool, and if one way sync is all that I can use it for, it may be overkill. I think I'll test using a USB stick and the "sneaker network" to port my sync folder from the mini to my two 1PW3 Macs. Not so elegant, but simple can sometimes take some getting used to. Unidirectional will accomplish all I require here. Will post results when I wrap this up.

Terry

Megan

Hi Terry ( @Watertight‌ )

I'm glad I caught you in time! (Again my apologies for not noticing that document in the first place.) I hope that unidirectional sync and/or your 'sneaker network' works well for you. If you do run into any snags, we'll do our best to help get things straightened out :)