Proper (encrypted) sync between Win and Mac?

Sefer
Sefer
Community Member

hi,
I am thinking about to get the Win+Mac Bundle. Now my question is, how can I sync between Mac and Windows?

I know there is a dropbox feature, but for the love of god, who would store a vault in the clouds? There are alot of password managers, all cloud based and I was happy to read about WiFi-Sync. Sadly it is only working for Win/iOS / Mac/iOS...

Next feature would be folder based sync... But for this I would have to create a network drive (dunno how) which can be accessed from Windows and Mac. If I would do this, how does the sync would work? I mean, if I am not at home within my wifi range, I wouldnt be able to access this network drive at all...

TL:DR -> I am looking for a non-cloud based way to sync between mac <-> windows, no iOS copy of 1password possible

best regards

Comments

  • MikeT
    edited May 2015

    Hi @Sefer,

    Your 1Password data is always encrypted, long before the sync gets started. The only thing that happens during a sync is that encrypted content is being copied from the local drive to the cloud servers, no decrypted data is involved. Even if someone breaches your Dropbox (or any other cloud service) account, he or she still can't get into your 1Password data without knowing your 1Password master password. If you want, you can read more here.

    To answer your question, you can use any local sync tool to sync your data between two computers. On Mac, you'll need to use the built-in Folder Sync to put a sync file inside your sync folder that you're using with your tool. On Windows, you can handle it directly by configuring the sync tool to sync your vault folder or move your vault folder to the sync folder.

    Please do not use a network drive by itself, you can use the sync tool to sync between the local vault folder and your network drive but you should not use the vault folder directly from the network drive, this is not recommended nor supported. The main difference between a sync tool and a network drive is that a sync tool places a copy on each drive rather than a single file on the network drive. That means if 1Password is writing to your vault folder and your network drive suddenly drops, it will still work because you're working on a local copy, which will be pushed to the network drive later.

    As for the syncing outside of your home network, you can use something like VPN to remotely connect to the home network and then use your sync tool if you want.

  • MikeT
    edited May 2015

    Hi @Sefer,

    So far I was able to enable wifi sync for mac <-> ios ... Is the sync done automatically by now?

    As long as the Mac and the iOS device are active and in the same home Wi-Fi network, yes, it should be automatic.

    How do I add the windows sync now? In windows I can create a secret, but I am not able to add another device. I could change WLAN, but thats not what I want to do... How do I have to proceed now?

    You shouldn't, you can only use one computer with one or multiple iOS devices. Switching computers can complicate the whole process.

    You do have to change the Wi-Fi to switch the iOS device from syncing with your Mac to syncing with your Windows PC. You cannot keep switching between computers or it will lose track of your data on the other computer.

    The best way is to sync with your own tool between computers and use your Mac as the sync point for your iOS devices.

  • Hi @Sefer,

    I'm sorry I wasn't clear about this, I was thinking you just wanted to know how to sync between both computers without the iOS device in the mix. To get the money back on the iOS app, you'll need to contact Apple's iTunes support team since you bought the iOS app at their store. Here's how to reach them: https://www.apple.com/support/itunes/contact/

    One of the reasons that the cloud sync is easy to do is because there is a single central server in the cloud that tells each computer and mobile device how to sync. There isn't an easy way to do this in the typical home network, especially trying to figure out what computer should be the server when there is more than one computer involved. That's why in our current Wi-Fi sync implementation, one computer can still sync to multiple mobile devices.

    This isn't to say that we won't figure this out, we might be able to make this happen in the future for 1Password where the computer can be smarter and switch between being a server and a client at the right time.

  • svondutch
    svondutch
    1Password Alumni

    I just wanted an "easy" way to sync between window and mac

    @Sefer My advice is to use Dropbox. Instructions are here.

    who would store a vault in the clouds?

    @Sefer I do. Your 1Password data is protected by AES-256+PBKDF2+HMAC-SHA-512 encryption. Assuming you have a long and strong master password, it is perfectly safe in the cloud.

  • Hi @Sefer,

    That's great, I'm glad BT Sync is working out for you.

    Do you recall what 1Password on Mac said? We'd like to see if we can improve the compatibility there but as far as I know, there aren't any issues with it from my testings and other BT Sync users.

  • MikeT
    edited May 2015

    Hi @Sefer,

    That might have happened because the folder disappeared. We have a system in place for users who put their sync folders on a network drive. If the network drive is dropped and 1Password can't access it, it will prompt a message asking if you want to ignore this or repair it. Otherwise, 1Password would be constantly monitoring something that doesn't exist.

    The repair would simply disable the sync and remove the file next time because you have to re-enable it properly to get it back in sync. This stops the monitoring completely and save resources on your computer, especially laptops with limited battery life.

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