DropBox - does the 1Password.agilekeychain have to be in root?

patrickgilmour

Hi,

I have two user accounts on my Mac that share nearly all their passwords: one for work, one for personal.

So, I am sharing the 1Password.agilekeychain in DropBox, but I have put it in my folder DropBox/Library/Keychains/ instead of the default DropBox/ (this is where 1Password moves it to when you choose the "Move to DropBox..." option in the Preferences).

I have three questions:

1) Does this increase the chance of keychain corruption?

2) Can I have 1Password running in both user accounts at the same time?

3) Will this non-default location cause problems when I start using 1Password on my iPad and iPhone?

Many thanks for any answers.

Pat

khad

Welcome to the forums, Pat! Thanks for taking the time to contact us with these great questions.

The location within your Dropbox folder makes no difference to 1Password 3.8.

1. Nope.
2. Yep. Each account has its own local copy of the data file (presuming you are using Dropbox to sync as you describe).
3. Nope. There is a file in the root of your Dropbox folder called [font=courier new,courier,monospace].ws.agle.1Password.settings[/font] that indicates to the mobile app(s) where your data file is located. The file is hidden by default in UNIX-based operating systems (such as OS X) since it begins with a period. You can view the file (and its contents) via Dropbox's web interface. The file is updated by 1Password for Mac so whatever data file you are using on the desktop will be the one the mobile apps are directed to use.

I hope that helps. If we can be of further assistance, please let us know. We are always here to help!

patrickgilmour

And thanks for the great answers!

I'll definitely be buying 1Password after I've finished giving my existing Keychains a scrub down - whole lotta cruft in there I want rid of first.

Pat

khad

It is my pleasure to help! One thing I might suggest in your case is to use 1Password and log into sites as you normally would. 1Password will prompt you to save each Login, afterwards you can "scrub" it from your existing keychain. When I began using 1Password years ago, I didn't import everything wholesale. Instead I just added data to 1Password as I went along. This allowed my 1Password data to remain cruft-free and essentially reduced the effort required to "import" to zero since it was just one Login here or there over a longer period of time. It was much less of a hassle than trying to do a mass cleanup, export, and import.

It worked for me, but you may find another system to work better for you. You know where to find us if you need us.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

patrickgilmour

Thanks again, Khad. Sounds like a fair plan. Still, cleaning away - there's stuff in my Keychain goes back to the neolithic age.

One question: has anyone ever compiled a comparison chart for 1Password vs. Apple Keychain?

I think Keychain is a mystery to many users, but if you use it right in combo with web forms, screen and timed locking etc., it can be a pretty effective tool. So seeing a side-by-side with 1Password's benefits would probably be a good sales pitch to *power* users like me.

khad

Thanks again, Khad. Sounds like a fair plan. Still, cleaning away - there's stuff in my Keychain goes back to the neolithic age.

You must have had the OS X Keychain on an Apple IIe.

One question: has anyone ever compiled a comparison chart for 1Password vs. Apple Keychain?

As a matter of fact, yes.

Comparison of the Agile and OS X Keychains

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns.

Cheers!

patrickgilmour

That did it - I just bought 1Password on the Mac App Store.

I also had huge issues with iCloud etc. so for the first time in years I just did a clean install. Bang goes the weekend - but it'll be worth it for a completely clean machine.

Which bags one question: Safari frequently asks if I'd like to save a site password before 1Password does. For now, I've been clicking "Never for this site" to avoid duplicates (only four sites so far, out of hundreds to come), but what do you guys recommend? Using Keychain as a limited backup? Or doing what I'm doing and keeping a single version (I backup with Time Capsule and backBlaze).

Thanks!

khad

That did it - I just bought 1Password on the Mac App Store.

Great to hear! Welcome to the family!

We recommend disabling Safari's password manager for a couple different reasons:

http://help.agilebits.com/1Password3/extension_autofill.html

I personally don't have anything stored in the OS X keychain except application-specific passwords such as for Mail.app and Wi-Fi passwords.

It sounds like you've got a good backup system (both on- and offsite). You can recover your 1Password data from either of those pretty easily in addition to being able to access your data via the 1PasswordAywhere feature from the Dropbox.com web interface as well:

http://help.agile.ws/1Password3/1passwordanywhere.html

I hope your weekend goes well and the new install feels so fresh and so clean clean.

patrickgilmour

Fresh install is taking a very long time, but so far 1Password is making me wonder what the hell I was thinking for all those years using the Keychain!

khad

Better late than never I always say. I'm just glad to know you've got 1Password by your side now.

patrickgilmour

That took a loooong time (12 years' worth of client & my accounts), but the cruft is gone, my user keychain is back to one Login keychain, and 1Password has adopted the Alfred hotkey that used to bring up the Keychain.

Already I have the feeling that I just spent 12 years with a mild headache that I wasn't really aware of until is started to lift!

Liking 1Password a lot so far. Will be getting the mobile versions (once I do an iPhone & iPad clear out - may as well finish this thing).

Thanks for the great forum support!

patrickgilmour

[Though it seems impossible to add an image to my forum profile - uploader does not work]

Update - didn't like my PNG file. JPG works.

khad

Already I have the feeling that I just spent 12 years with a mild headache that I wasn't really aware of until is started to lift!

Nice! It is a good feeling. I remember it well when I first started using 1Password so long ago...

Update - didn't like my PNG file. JPG works.

Definitely looks like it is working now. It's great to see your 1Password-induced smile.