When Sync asks if I want to merge with existing can I say replace?
I use folder sync on my home wifi network. I have multiple Macs, one of which is a business meeting and vacation MacBook that usually has its sync preference set to none. Periodically, I briefly set the MacBook's sync to my network folder in order to update its local vault. Unfortunately, whenever it finds changes to existing logins or secure notes since its sync was last turned on 1P asks me if I want to merge the changes it has found with the existing vault in my MacBook. I always say yes, since that is the only choice to update, but this ALWAYS gives me fenced duplicate notes to reflect any changes. The fences show up in my wifi OPVault as well.
Is there any way to just say "replace" instead of update? If I know I have not made any changes to my 1P logins or secure notes on the MacBook since the last time I set its sync to folder I would be most happy to just replace the MacBook's local vault with the newer OPVault on my home wifi sync folder.
1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
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Sync Type: Not Provided
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Any Team Member comments?
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Thank you for taking some time to contact us. One of the most important things to keep in mind while syncing 1Password is to be sure no data is lost. We rather fall on the side of caution and save too much information than too little. If you know there's nothing on the MacBook that you need to keep, it might be easier for you to trash all your items before setting up sync. You only need to right click on any item on the list, then pick "Select all", then right click again and "Move to Trash". It will only take you a few seconds before syncing your computer and will save you from duplicates.
Please let us know what you think about this work around, and if you try it how it works for you :chuffed:
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Thanks. I thought you guys might know how to accomplish this. I'll do as you suggested, hitting Backup Now just before I do it!
If the MacBook has not been used for a while, and I am just refreshing its local vault before I take it on a trip, I can be pretty sure there are no new 1P items or note edits on it. The key is to remember to log into my home network and turn on its sync briefly when I get home.
If anyone reads this and sees what I have to do to maintain my off-web 1P practices this thread will be a good ad for your web-integrated products! I realize I am an outlier.
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Making sue you have a backup is always the smartest approach :chuffed: Thank you for sharing with us how you use 1Password, while a bit less practical, there's a place for everyone here! If there's anything else that we can help you with, we're always here for you :chuffed:
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Pilar,
I want to give you and other AgileBits team members an alert that I encountered a major problem yesterday trying to follow the advice you gave me on this thread. To recap, I have several Macs that share a common 1P sync folder that is located on a USB network drive plugged into our Time Capsule. One of the computers is a MacBook that we take on vacations. The MacBook's sync preference is usually set to None. Before each vacation I briefly set the sync to Folder in order to update its local vault from the network drive sync folder so that we will have an up to date 1P vault while we are on vacation.
Unfortunately, as you can see from my initial post, this refreshing procedure often results in fenced entries, both in the MacBook and in the network drive OPVault, for any 1P items that have changed since my last refresh.
Yesterday I followed the instructions you gave me to refresh my MacBook before an upcoming trip. While the MacBook's sync was still set to None, I right clicked on an item in the MacBook, clicked on Select All, and then clicked Move to Trash. Voila, no more items. Then I set the sync to Folder and selected Merge with Existing when 1P said it had found existing items in the selected network drive sync folder. To my surprise, my MacBook items remained blank.
I turned off my MacBook and went to another one of my Macs to see if the entire network drive OPVault had been blanked out. When I opened 1P I initially saw full set of items, but as the second Mac synced, in a matter of seconds, all of its items disappeared before my eyes. I turned it off and thought through a strategy to regain my now-empty network drive OPVault.
When I chose the second Mac to examine I purposely did not choose the Mac I had been using most of the day yesterday, since I knew my most recently used Mac would have the freshest Backup file. Next I turned on the most recently used Mac. Before I turned on 1P I copied its most recent Backup file from my User Library to a USB thumb drive, to be sure I kept a clean copy of the most recent Backup file. As I expected, when I turned on 1P, with its sync already set to Folder, all of the login items disappeared within a second or two. Next I set the sync preference to None and did a restore from the most recent Backup file. Hooray, all of the login items reappeared. Then I set its sync back to Folder. All of the items remained, with no problems.
Next I went back to the other Macs, which I had turned off with their syncs set to None. I copied the clean Backup file from my thumb drive to their user libraries and then did a restore from the clean backup file. Once they each had new complete sets of items I set their sync preferences back to Folder and let them "Merge with Existing". As I expected, since their restored items were identical to the network drive OPVault the merge did not cause and problems or fences.
I now think the best way to refresh my MacBook before vacations is to copy the newest Backup file from my most recently used Mac to the MacBook's Backup folder. I do have one other question, would it also work if I just copied the entire Data folder from my most recently used Mac and replaced the MacBook's Data folder?
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Late edit to the end of the second to last paragraph: As I expected, since their restored items were identical to the network drive OPVault the merge did not cause any problems or fences.
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@fourwheelcycle: Copying over a backup or the full vault occasionally is definitely better than turning sync off and on at various times on various devices, and — most importantly — much safer than trying to sync with a USB network drive, since this is not consistent. Based on your description, I'd say that keeping a "canonical" copy of the data and then transferring it to the "vacation" Mac when you travel makes great sense, both practically and for maintaining consistency in 1Password. I'm glad you seem to have found a solution that works for you! :)
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brenty,
Thank you very much for responding. One clarification - can I copy an entire new "canonical" Data folder into my vacation Mac?
The strategy I used above was to copy a "known up to date" backup file into the vacation Mac's Backups folder, but that requires doing a Restore from the copied backup file after I open 1P on the vacation Mac. If I could copy a whole new Data folder to my vacation Mac it would presumably be updated as soon as I open 1P, without the need to do a Restore.
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Hi @fourwheelcycle,
can I copy an entire new "canonical" Data folder into my vacation Mac?
Do you mean the "1Password 4" folder located in
~/Library/Application Support/? If so, that should work in theory, but it's actually much better to restore from a backup file. The entire folder is relatively big compared to a single backup file - in fact, the folder includes all of your 1Password backup files from the Mac it came from, but you only need the latest one. Also, by replacing the whole folder with the one you copy from another Mac, you're also replacing all the 1Password backup files that have been saved there. If you make any changes to the data in 1Password on your vacation Mac, you'll lose those changes when you replace the entire folder, and you'll lose the backups that contained a copy of those changes.Hopefully that helps to answer your question, but we're here for you if you have more! :)
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