WLAN server disabled after switching user
My wife (user1) and I (user2) both using the same MacBook with one user for each person (that means, there two different users on the MacBook). Every user is using 1Password on his own and every user uses the WLAN sync feature which is working nice, when it is enabled.
Here is the problem: When user1 is switching to user2 on the mac, the WLAN server is stoping for both 2 users! That means, that every user has to enable the WLAN server manually again through the preferences every single user switch. That's very annoying. Is the a way to fix the problem?
We do not want to have our passwords in the cloud.
1Password Version: 7.2.4
Extension Version: 7.2.4
OS Version: 10.14.2
Sync Type: WLAN
Referrer: forum-search:WLAN server disabled after switching user
Comments
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Welcome to the forum, @maroony! I'm sorry for the trouble. This unfortunately is functioning as it must, as intended. When you use WLAN server as your sync method AND you use Apple's Fast User Switching feature, you run into the issue of having two WLAN Servers running at the same time. Just because you switched user accounts doesn't mean the running applications on the other user account stop functioning. But in the case of 1Password's WLAN sync, this is problematic, since - if the other user account's WLAN server was still running when you switched, it would cause conflicts with the current user account's WLAN server. So, if 1Password is open when you switch, the WLAN server is shut off. That means, if you switch from user A to user B, user A's WLAN server is switched off when you change to user B, so that when you change back to user A, you have to turn it back on again. And meanwhile, user B's WLAN server has gotten switched off when you switched back to user A, etc. There's no direct solution for this; it's one of the complications of using WLAN sync. You could NOT use Fast User Switching, and instead log completely out of each user account (i.e. - turn it off in System Preferences > Users & Groups, or you could continue turning on WLAN sync each time you switch.
Your third option, if you find the above too cumbersome, would indeed be switching to a different form of sync. I'll leave it up to you to decide what's of paramount importance, but I did want to quickly address the "passwords in the cloud" statement. We don't want your passwords in the cloud either...which is why they never are -- that would be very insecure. In our existing 3rd party sync solutions (Dropbox, iCloud), your 1Password data is only ever decrypted on your own device, and what's stored in "the cloud" is an encrypted sync keychain that's secured with your Master Password. We don't have your Master Password nor the encryption keys it derives, meaning anyone acquiring your data from there would find it of no use to them. In 1password.com, all of the above is true, but we've added the even stronger protection of the Secret Key, which protects you even further if WE are somehow hacked. Either way, your data is quite secure.
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Thanks you for your detailed explanations Lars! I tested one more thing: I activated option "locking on fast user switching" in 1Password under both user accounts. The problem still persists. Maybe there is an improvement here:
1) Lock 1Password and shut down WLAN server (always)
2) Unlock 1Password and start up WLAN server (always)So, I could use Apple's fast user switching together with 1Passwords option "locking on fast user switching". And everytime I unlock my vaults the server is automatically ready. Do you think that this realizable for your team?
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@maroony - no. Locking 1Password is unfortunately not the same thing as the WLAN server, which opens ports. Locking 1Password re-encrypts your data in the user interface, but the 1Password app is still running, so the WLAN server must be shut off when you switch users.
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But for all the users using the WLAN server, it would be a great option to restart the server on unlocking as an optional feature. That's what I meant in my last post.
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@maroony - I'm not sure what to tell you; this is a function of the interaction between Fast User Switching and the choice of WLAN server as your sync method. We try not to make assumptions about what you want or intend with your data or system settings, when we can. If the WLAN server is turned off (which it is when you leave 1Password open when you Fast User Switch), all the 1Password app "knows" after that is that the WLAN server is off. We'd have to add code to make it so that any unlock of 1Password also activated the WLAN server, to do what you're suggesting. Or we'd have to try to get even trickier and leave some sort of flag that indicates it was turned off BY Fast User Switching, and only turn it back on if that flag is present. Even then when a user switched back to this first user account, it's entirely conceivable that user would not WANT the WLAN server to be activated automatically. Which would in turn require us to add even more code - this time in the form of a pop-up asking whether you DO want it on. Aside from the developer time, difficulty and potential for bugs present in such intricate decision-making, by the time you're down to having to click a pop-up, it's not a lot different than just enabling the WLAN server yourself. If it's annoying for you to have to restart the server when you switch between accounts, you could close 1Password before switching away. Or you could log out of the first account altogether, instead of leaving both user accounts open regularly (or constantly) and switching back and forth.
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This seems to be a new problem for me.
"But in the case of 1Password's WLAN sync, this is problematic, since - if the other user account's WLAN server was still running when you switched, it would cause conflicts with the current user account's WLAN server. "
Conflicts? To me it seemed to be working just fine until about a month ago, with both my account and another active on the same computer and 1Password wifi server active as well.
Anyway, why wouldn't it be possible to solve this "conflicts" so that you could have two wifi servers active? Instead of the super-convoluted solutions you proposed for switching from one wifi server to another with user switching?
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@Raffaello Alistair Rosselli Baslini
why wouldn't it be possible to solve this "conflicts" so that you could have two wifi servers active?
Which server would a given mobile device sync with? There needs to be only one possibility, to avoid the possibility of data duplication, corruption or even loss.
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Again, I don't know why you're arguing that this is technically impossible. I think that this configuration worked for years until recently.
It should work exactly as if the two wi-fi servers were on 2 different Macs.
By disabling this feature, you're basically asking every member of the family to buy their own Mac Mini server to use wifi sync with iOS. (or forcing us to switch to 1Password cloud sync, that many users don't want to use for critical data)
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@Raffaello Alistair Rosselli Baslini - OK, thanks for the suggestion. I'll make sure the dev team sees your thoughts. :)
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Great, thanks!
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@Raffaello Alistair Rosselli Baslini - you're quite welcome. :) :+1:
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