How to recreate the .agilekeychain from backup copy of data?
Hello,
I had a major disaster with a computer and cut the story short my question is the following:
Would you please confirm how to recreate the .agilekeychain from backup found in the archive made by 1Password?
I have removed all data and reset all devices (iPhone + iPad + Windows) so that they do not sync and so I can start with a fresh copy of the last backed up set of data made by 1Password 4.
I am working from the Mac to do the "restore". Each time I restore from the last backup, 1Password seems to work fine in re-establishing the data. No issue there. But the problem is to recreate the .agilekeychain I had before to place a copy on Dropbox to start syncing with the other devices.
It seems the recreation of the data done by the Mac is to keep the database locally. This is not what I am trying to achieve. In Preferences > Sync tab > Dropbox : clicking on Dropbox offers me to locate "an existing file", not move the data to Dropbox.
Could you kindly give me some information as to how the file/folder .agilekeychain can be recreated please?
Thank you for your help. :-)
L.
1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided
Comments
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The .agilekeychain file is created automatically when you set up Dropbox syncing. So if you are saying that you have been successful at restoring your local data from a backup file, you would then turn on Dropbox syncing from the Mac you are working from. That will result in the creation of the .agilekeychain file. It might take a little time for everything to upload to your Dropbox account after you do so, but once that happens, turn Dropbox syncing on again on your other devices, and they will pull the data down from Dropbox.
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Greetings @Luds,
I hadn't considered it before but I suppose it isn't clear that the Finder selector window serves a dual purpose. If you select an existing Agile Keychain file it will try and merge the local vault with the Agile Keychain selected. If you select a folder that contains an Agile Keychain of the same name 1Password would have used it will do the same, try and merge. To clarify that I'll use an example of a single primary vault. The Agile Keychain for a primary vault is always titled
1Password.agilekeychain. If you selected a folder that contained such a keychain 1Password would assume you are wanting to merge.If you select a folder with no existing Agile Keychain for the vault in question 1Password will assume you wish to create a new one. Once you've selected a path you're returned to the previous sync window and the button will help highlight what is going to happen. It will either say Merge with Existing or Create New and that will be the biggest clue as to what 1Password is intending on doing.
This all applies equally to 1Password 4 and 5 for Mac as yes, we do store the vaults locally but not in an Agile Keychain but instead in an encrypted SQLite database file. We then merge with the sync container. Given you're using Windows too I can see how this would seem unintuitive as 1Password for Windows behaves a lot more like 1Password 3 for Mac where the Agile Keychain is the vault. Personally I much prefer the newer 1Password for Mac approach as it means the sync data can be thrown away if needed and it is also what allows multiple vaults to be stored easily and to allow a single Master Password to unlock the all.
Does that help at all? You may very well have some follow up questions so please ask if you do!
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Thank you to both of you for your reply.
@hawkmoth as you mentioned the .agilekeychain was recreated automatically when the set up with Dropbox syncing was done. Gracias !
@littlebobbytables Thank you for explaining that the Finder selector window serves a dual purpose when selecting the target folder in Dropbox : either merge existing vault or create a new fresh one.
I am writing what follows only so that it may help someone who might be having the same issue I had and share some information and thoughts about some of the process of restoring data.
I got confused in the process from 3 different elements:
1Password for Mac and Windows (if I understand correctly) both work differently, and also changing from 1Passowrd 3 to version 4 the Mac now keeps a local copy on the machine (SQL database) as well as one copy on Dropbox (with the .agilekeychain extension). If still correct 1Password 3 worked like Windows and was 'only' reading the .agilekeychain onto Dropbox. I was expecting to find the .agilekeychain identical system of data on both Mac and Windows, - my bad N°1.
when restoring from a backup on a Mac, I did assume the files for the several vaults were going to be recreated where they were originally (absolute path and structure as well as their sync settings) - my bad N°2. This is not the case. The local vaults have to be Dropbox synced re-enabled. This is not automatic and has to be done manually - and reiterated for each vault one by one, 4 in my case.
The Sync option for this last step is done in Preferences > Sync tab > Dropbox.
Clicking on Dropbox triggers the message: "Click here to find the Dropbox folder" and then the message that pops up differs depending of the 2 following scenarios:
a) it offers to either merge the data if it finds an existing .agilekeychain folder/file.
b) or it offers to create the .agilekeychain folder/file if no data is found in the
selected folder",…
as pointed by littlebobbytables, thank you so much for this.
This is neat and very well thought of by AgileBits.
In the first place I could not figure out why a default "1Password.agilekeychain" was created and not as the name of my main vault was, but reading your message/help, littlebobbytables, I now understand that when recreating a primary vault it is by default named that way. Mine was originally named "1Password [Principal].agilekeychain" name that I'd given it a long time ago, it just would not restore to that name. Thanks to your information I was able to rename it to my chosen name (easier to identify on Windows for me), and have it sync back again between 1Password and Dropbox the way it was (by deleting once more all data in 1Pass, and then double clicking the main renamed vault from Dropbox to start the sync and do the same for the secondary 3 vaults, then recreate the sync with Windows + iPhone - iPad (cutting short so this post already long does not get even longer). Spent a full day ! at it but it is working again beautifully. So all is now good. :)
Final note: in a way it may be that this original computer issue may have been a blessing in disguise, because the new combined vaults seem to have been quite largely "pruned", leaving behind all data from 1Password 3 (In a 'special' folder of the 1Password [Principal].agilekeychain : Well over 300 files of icons/Thumbnails unnecessary with the new Version 4 and 'Rich icons'. Was scared at first Windows would have its icons removed but no they are there. Anyway, it works and the file size of the vault combined has halved! Cool.
Bye for now. Thanks again. Cheers
1Password rocks !!! & I could not live without it : I call it my "second brain".
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Hi @Luds,
It's often very useful for us to understand what trips people up and why, sometimes it's easy to forget what it's like the first time after being immersed in it for so long.
- You're right, the conceptual differences, if you don't know before hand, will only confuse. We have advocates for both approaches but I have to confess, I prefer the local SQLite database approach. I find it immensely handy being able to unlock all of my vaults with a single Master Password and I can be rapidly jumping between vaults at times so the idea of unlocking each time would drive me nuts. It might be worth having a page somewhere that explains the key differences for those beginning to use the other platform. Thank you.
- It might seem odd, and I definitely think we can improve matters with a better information dialog here but we purposely disable sync and once you understand why you'll see why it's a good idea. Say something went wrong, somebody deleted something they shouldn't and purged it from the Trash or merged two vaults they didn't mean to, the changes get uploaded and then pulled to all the other copies of 1Password. You restore a backup but if sync is enabled the first thing 1Password would do is check the Agile Keychain and synchronise. You end up in a loop which you need to break. So by disabling synchronisation we give the user a chance to decide how to proceed. We do need to make it clear this has happened though and we don't right now.
- I can see how this isn't clear after our discussion :smile:
It sounds like there was a bit of effort involved but that you've got a set up that you're happy with so that's great to hear. Sorry for the stumbling blocks along the way and we'll have to see what we can do in a future update to maybe clarify some of these things.
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Thank you for your reply, and sorry I have not replied before - being away.
Like you I like the local SQLite database approach that provides the ability to unlock all vaults with a single Master Password.
Also I understand the reasons with upon restore the sync settings are not carried across to prevent issues or loop in merging information.
The information you provided was very useful, no more confusion.
Thank your for your help, all is good and everything is recovered and working perfectly now.
Cheers
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That's great to hear @Luds, I'm glad I could help :smile:
If you ever have any other questions please do post and ask!
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