1PW Account Backup options

Ricci
Ricci
Community Member
in Mac

Have moved to a 1PW Account having previously used 1PW with Dropbox to sync between devices. Previously, backups were automatically initiated by 1PW and stored locally with options available in the preference pane. I note that the backup option is no longer listed in the 1PW Account preferences pane. The Agilebits website is hazy about backups when using 1PW Accounts. I do not want to export items as they would not be encrypted. I would like to backup the encrypted vaults as before.

Questions:
1. Where are the automatic, once a day backups stored when using 1PW Accounts?
2. How do I enable an automatic local backup of a vault?
3. How do I force a local backup?
4. The 1PW OSX application preferences panel changed when I moved to 1PW Accounts. Are there other changes?

Many thanks

1Password Version: 6.3.2(632001)
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: OS X 10.11.6
Sync Type: accounts

Comments

  • ag_kevin
    ag_kevin

    Hi @Ricci ,

    AgileBits performs encrypted backups of all data, and we also offer Item History - if you accidentally delete or save over information in an item, you can, via the web interface, restore previous versions of your items. And of course in case there's a disk failure on the servers. We're still defining the exact parameters of the backups (e.g. how long, how redundant, etc.) and we hope to have more information available soon.

    If you need to make a local copy the best thing to do is export to a 1pif to an encrypted disk image.

    1Password also keeps a local cache of your account data as well. Depending on the version of the app you use, it is located here:
    Mac App Store version: ~/Library/Containers/2BUA8C4S2C.com.agilebits.onepassword-osx-helper/Data/Library/Data
    AgileBits Website version: ~/Library/Application Support/1Password 4/Data/

    If you have that backed up, it is useful in case of local disk failure as it contains all of your vaults and account settings, but should not be used in cases where you accidentally delete an item or overwrite it - use the web interface for that.

    We are investigate possible improvements to backup/export methods in the future as well. I hope that helps. If you have further questions, please let us know.

    Cheers,
    Kevin

  • Ricci
    Ricci
    Community Member

    Please understand that I am not an expert, but thanks for the quick response. You didn't directly address my questions but reading between the lines will try to answer them myself ...

    1 - On AgileBits server.
    2 - No longer possible.
    3 - Not possible as there is no local backup facility.
    4 - ?

    New questions that arise are:

    5 - Am I right in saying that AgileBits now feels that because of the new 'Accounts" system there is no requirement for local back-ups?
    6 - How do I know if my iOS or OSX device has successful synched the in use vault with AgileBits?
    7 - What's the situation if the AgileBits server crashes or is not available?

    Sorry for the silly questions but I'm right at the limit of being able to understand the new accounts system. I could just about grasp the old concept of a vault kept locally or shared between devices via Dropbox.

    Given the critical importance of 1PW to my security, I'm not that happy about trusting a system which is a struggle for the layman to fully understand.

    7 - Is there an idiots guide somewhere that explains 1PW Accounts?

    Thanks again.

  • Drew_AG
    Drew_AG
    1Password Alumni
    edited August 2016

    Hi @Ricci,

    You didn't directly address my questions but reading between the lines will try to answer them myself

    I'm very sorry if that wasn't clear! It sounds like your understanding of the current backup system is correct, but just to be clear:

    1. Where are the automatic, once a day backups stored when using 1PW Accounts?

    You're correct - with a 1Password account, your data is hosted on our secure servers (which is how your data now syncs between devices) and so are your backups. Previously, before you were using an account, the 1Password app on your Mac would create local backups because otherwise your 1Password data wasn't being backed up at all (unless of course you regularly backup your entire Mac, in which case that should also be backing up the 1Password data on your Mac). The only problem with saving backups locally on your Mac is that if the hard drive fails or that Mac is lost/stolen, the backups saved there are also gone. Backing up your account data on our servers means that no matter what happens to your Mac or any local backup drives you may use, you'll still be able to restore your 1Password data.

    2. How do I enable an automatic local backup of a vault?

    Again, you're correct that 1Password doesn't backup your account data locally, as that now happens on our servers.

    3. How do I force a local backup?

    There's currently no option within 1Password to have it create local backups of your account data. However, what Kevin explained was that there's a local copy of your 1Password account data on your Mac, and you can manually make a backup of that if you want to. The folder which contains the local data is in one of the following locations, depending on whether you're using the Mac App Store or AgileBits Store version of 1Password for Mac:

    Mac App Store version:

    ~/Library/Containers/2BUA8C4S2C.com.agilebits.onepassword-osx-helper/Data/Library/Data/

    AgileBits Website version:

    ~/Library/Application Support/1Password 4/Data/

    Please note the ~ indicates your Mac user folder, which is located here: Macintosh HD/Users/_[your Mac user folder]_/

    You can make a backup of your data by simply copying the 'Data' folder to another location. If you have any trouble finding that folder, just let us know and we'll be happy to give more specific steps.

    Now, as for your unanswered questions:

    4. The 1PW OSX application preferences panel changed when I moved to 1PW Accounts. Are there other changes?

    Internally, using an account with the 1Password app is a lot different than the way it worked before. But as far as differences you might notice in the 1Password app, a few that come to mind are:

    • The Preferences window will no longer show a Sync or WLAN Server tab, as you no longer need to configure any sync options - that's handled automatically by our servers.
    • As you've already noticed, there is no longer a Backup tab in Preferences, as that is also handled by our server.
    • In 1Password accounts, Folders have been replaced by Tags. Tags work much the same way as Folders but you can have more than one Tag assigned to each item.
    • Instead of a Primary vault, you will see a Personal vault.

    There might be a few more minor differences in the Mac app, but those are the main ones. Otherwise, the app should work the same way for you as before! :)

    5 - Am I right in saying that AgileBits now feels that because of the new 'Accounts" system there is no requirement for local back-ups?

    I think I pretty much answered that above, but essentially the idea is that local backups aren't needed because we're taking care of that for you on our end. A big advantage to backing up data to an offsite location is that it's still there no matter what happens to your own equipment. You could also think of the local copy of your data as a backup of the data that is on our servers.

    But I understand what you're saying - it can be easier to trust backup files that you have on your own Mac. 1Password accounts are a new thing and they're still evolving and improving, so perhaps one day we'll also add an option to make local backups again - I can't make any promises one way or the other, though.

    6 - How do I know if my iOS or OSX device has successful synched the in use vault with AgileBits?

    If you make a change in 1Password and that change appears on your other devices, it was successful! Alternately, you can always sign into your account on 1Password.com to see if your changes are there.

    7 - What's the situation if the AgileBits server crashes or is not available?

    Your data is stored locally on each device where you use 1Password, so it will still work normally even if our servers are unavailable for some reason, or you've lost your internet connection, etc. (Of course, any changes you make to 1Password won't sync to/from other devices until the app can connect to our servers again.)

    7 - Is there an idiots guide somewhere that explains 1PW Accounts?

    You can find a list of our knowledgebase articles about 1Password accounts here: 1Password accounts

    I think that should help, but as always, we're here for you if you have more questions! :)

  • Ricci
    Ricci
    Community Member

    Wow, a beautiful response that makes it all very clear. It's quite nerve racking to move across to the new system as 1PW is the one application I use with which I cannot afford any kind of screw-up. Anything else on my system that I make a gross error with is recoverable, one way or another. Thanks for a very reassuring and detailed reply, most appreciated.

  • Drew_AG
    Drew_AG
    1Password Alumni

    You're very welcome! I'm so glad that was helpful for you. I think it's great that you're asking these questions, and if you have more, we'll be happy to answer them - so please don't hesitate to let us know if you do. Cheers! :)

This discussion has been closed.