Procedure for Syncing

chrisauman
chrisauman
Community Member
in Mac

Is there a specific procedure that I need to follow to properly sync multiple computers? Here's what I'm doing.

I have a IMac desktop, Macbook Air laptop and iPhone. I'm trying to sync a Primary and Second Vault using Dropbox. I can get my laptop and iPhone syncing. But when I try to sync the desktop weird things happen. I've tried a million different things and nothing works. Today I tried to sync my desktop and it ended up syncing the empty vault on my desktop back to dropbox and overwriting everything in that vault on my iphone and my laptop. Thank God for backups!

In theory I should be able to restore the correct vault from my laptop, sync it to Dropbox and then it should sync properly over to my phone and desktop but this doesn't happen.

Can you confirm if there's a specific step by step procedure that I should follow so everything syncs together properly?

I need to make this work and I'm at the end of my rope with this.

Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • Drew_AG
    Drew_AG
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @chrisauman,

    I'm sorry you've been having such trouble with Dropbox sync! For the troubleshooting steps below, I'm assuming you're using 1Password 5 for Mac and iOS, but if you're using an older version, please let us know.

    The first thing to check is that Dropbox sync is enabled in 1Password on your Macs and iPhone:

    On both Macs, open 1Password and go to the menu for 1Password > Preferences, then click the Sync tab. Check your Primary and secondary vaults. Do they each show that they're syncing with Dropbox? If not, follow these steps to set up Dropbox sync for each vault that is not currently syncing.

    On your iPhone, open 1Password and go to Settings > Vaults. Tap the 'i' button next to the Primary vault. Does it show that the Sync Service is Dropbox? Go back and tap the 'i' button next to the secondary vault and check the sync setting. If either vault is not set up to sync, follow these steps to set up Dropbox sync for each vault that is not currently syncing.

    If Dropbox sync is already set up for both vaults in 1Password on your Macs and iPhone, but the sync isn't working, follow these steps to make sure they're syncing with the same keychain files in Dropbox:

    On both Macs:

    • Open 1Password and go to the menu for 1Password > Preferences
    • Click the Sync tab
    • Select the Primary vault and check the file path for the 1Password.agilekeychain file
    • Select the secondary vault and check the file path for its .agilekeychain file.

    On your iPhone:

    • Open 1Password and go to Settings > Vaults
    • Tap the 'i' button next to the Primary vault, then tap Sync Service
    • Check the file path for the 1Password.agilekeychain file (underneath Current Sync Method / Dropbox)
    • Go back and tap the 'i' button next to the secondary vault, then tap Sync Service
    • Check the file path for the .agilekeychain file (underneath Current Sync Method / Dropbox)

    On all devices, the Primary vault must be syncing with the same 1Password.agilekeychain file, and the secondary vault must by syncing with the same .agilekeychain file. If not, you'll need to disable the sync for the vault that isn't syncing with the proper keychain, then set it up again and choose the correct one.

    Let us know how it goes and what you find, thanks!

  • chrisauman
    chrisauman
    Community Member

    Thanks for the info but this is all basic syncing instructions. I'm past that so let me ask you this.

    I have this syncing properly between my laptop, iphone and dropbox. Now I want the correct data to sync over to my desktop. Currently that vault exists but is empty and not setup to sync. In theory, if I just set this up to sync correctly it should connect with Dropbox and sync up with the data on my other devices, correct? But in the past, this is where things have gone south. As I stated yesterday, I connected my desktop to sync and it synced the empty vault to my other devices and deleted all the correct data!

    Please just confirm that connecting this third piece (my desktop) should sync with the existing data out there and not overwrite it.

    Thanks.

  • Drew_AG
    Drew_AG
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @chrisauman,

    I'm sorry if I misunderstood the situation. You are correct that your current 1Password data in Dropbox should sync to 1Password on your iMac. The vault(s) in Dropbox and your other devices should not be overwritten with a blank vault, and I honestly don't know why/how that would have happened when you tried it before.

    Here's what I would suggest: Assuming all your 1Password data is up to date on your MacBook Air, open 1Password on the MBA and make a new backup by going to File > Backup. Next, open 1Password on your iMac, and set the Primary vault to sync with the appropriate vault in Dropbox. You will most likely be prompted to merge your data, which is fine (in this case, it should simply copy all items from the vault in Dropbox to the Primary vault on the iMac). If something goes wrong again, leave the sync enabled on your iMac, but restore 1Password from the latest backup on your MacBook Air. Re-enable Dropbox sync in 1Password on the MBA if necessary, allow it to complete the sync, then see if the data syncs to your iMac.

    Let us know how it works out for you. If it's still a problem, we'll take it from there. Thanks!

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