Mix of local and 1Password.com vaults? [Not supported in 1Password 6, have to use both 4 and 6]

Ragnar_Kon
Ragnar_Kon
Community Member
edited June 2017 in 1Password 4 for Windows

Has anyone managed to successfully mix installations of 1Password v4 and 1Password v6 on the same machine?

I just attempted and it seems to have caused havoc on my browser plugin.


In case you are wondering why in the world I would want to do something like that....well... after spending a month touring of other password managers, I've discovered that they too have all gone to cloud-based synchronization models. The only solid manager that has not is KeePass, which is fantastic on Windows but unfortunately lacking and buggy on Mac / iOS. (Nothing against the open source community members working on those projects, but it just isn't ready for prime-time.)

So I'm finding myself back where I started:

  • I have 1Password 6 for Mac that is truly my favorite piece of software ever
  • I have an aging & outdated 1Password 4 for Windows that is absolutely slowing down my workflow
  • And I have 1Password 6 for Windows that took everything I hate about modern software and distilled it into a single showpiece package

Rather than fighting the market trend forever, I guess it is time to accept my fate. I am (very grudgingly, kicking and screaming the whole way) willing to use the new cloud service for my personal passwords. Unfortunately that doesn't really help with my work-related passwords, which cannot be stored on cloud services due to company policy.

So with that background... has anyone managed to mix 1Password.com and local vaults in a way that actually works?? At this point I am on the brink of going back a few decades and resorting to storing passwords in spreadsheets. But before I do that... in my eyes there are a few acceptable, albeit terrible—but acceptable, solutions:

  • Mixed installation of 1Password 4 & 1Password 6, with the browser plugins only communicating with 1Password 6.
  • Opening the work-related vaults locally in read-only mode with 1Password 6, with a guarantee they will never be uploaded to the cloud, while simultaneously opening a 1Password.com vault.
  • A way to use multiple vaults in 1Password 4 that doesn't cause me to spend half (slightly exaggerated, but still) of my work day switching between vaults.
  • A way to use all of my local vaults (read-only is fine I guess) in 1Password 6 that doesn't require me to relaunch the program every 15 minutes to bypass the 1Password.com login screen.

Any ideas on how I can make this work?? Ever since v6.4.x I feel like I have to fight with 1Password, and it is starting to get a bit old.


1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided

Comments

  • Hi @Ragnar_Kon,

    Thanks for writing in.

    Unfortunately, there is no officially supported configuration that'll let you have both local vaults and 1Password subscriptions in the same program nor on the same computer on Windows. There are workarounds you can try but it is not going to reduce the hassles you'll have to deal with.

    First, 1Password 6 will not support local vaults any time soon, it is something we want to add but yes, you'll need both 1Password 4 and 6 co-existing on the same computer.

    The problem is that we're in the transition to move away from WebSockets to Native Messaging and that has an impact of how both 1Password 4/6 co-exists because 1Password 4 only supports WebSockets in the stable channel. The 1Password extension for Chrome prefer Native Messaging first, regardless of what 1Password versions you're running, which means it will always pick 1Password 6.

    We have a new 1Password 4.6 beta update out that enables Native Messaging support but it is not yet optimized. If you install the beta update in 1Password 4, you can then go to the Help menu > Advanced > Use Native Messaging Protocol. This switches the 1Password extension to use 1Password 4's Helper.

    When you want to use 1Password 6 for your 1Password extensions, you go to 1Password 6's main window > Settings > Options > Advanced and check the box next to Enable Native Messaging for Chrome.

  • Ragnar_Kon
    Ragnar_Kon
    Community Member

    Just to update this in case anyone is crazy enough to try the same thing I did...

    I had it working to some extent. As long as 1Password 4 launched after 1Password 6, it worked fine.

    Unfortunately, the latest update to 1Password 4 (4.6.2.624) seems to have added the Native Messaging Protocol that @MikeT spoke of above (thanks for the write-up @MikeT , it was helpful), and now the workaround that was working before is spotty at best.

    Furthermore, I noticed that 1Password 6 no longer automatically grabs new passwords from local vaults. It did at one point earlier in the beta, but now it seems to cache the vaults elsewhere. Makes sense I suppose since local vaults aren't supported. But regardless, that was pretty much the nail in the coffin for 1Password 6 for me. I have since uninstalled 1Password 6 and moved back entirely to 1Password 4.

    The GUI on 1Password 4 is absolutely showing its age, and you can't have multiple vaults open at once. But... I guess ultimately a fully functioning yet-outdated version of 1Password is better than a version that (in my eyes) is missing core functionality.

  • AGAlumB
    AGAlumB
    1Password Alumni

    Thanks for your honest feedback on this. I'm glad that 1Password 4 has everything you need, and we'll keep working on 1Password 6 so it gets there as well.

  • wkleem
    wkleem
    Community Member

    Just to update this in case anyone is crazy enough to try the same thing I did...

    I had it working to some extent. As long as 1Password 4 launched after 1Password 6, it worked fine.

    Unfortunately, the latest update to 1Password 4 (4.6.2.624) seems to have added the Native Messaging Protocol that @MikeT spoke of above (thanks for the write-up @MikeT , it was helpful), and now the workaround that was working before is spotty at best.

    Furthermore, I noticed that 1Password 6 no longer automatically grabs new passwords from local vaults. It did at one point earlier in the beta, but now it seems to cache the vaults elsewhere. Makes sense I suppose since local vaults aren't supported. But regardless, that was pretty much the nail in the coffin for 1Password 6 for me. I have since uninstalled 1Password 6 and moved back entirely to 1Password 4.

    1Password v6.5 for Windows does, if you can put up with an older 1Password 6 version.

    The GUI on 1Password 4 is absolutely showing its age, and you can't have multiple vaults open at once. But... I guess ultimately a fully functioning yet-outdated version of 1Password is better than a version that (in my eyes) is missing core functionality.

    For a lack of a better solution, without adding Mac and iOS into this mess, with Apple devices handling local and 1Password.com vaults much better, no.

  • AGAlumB
    AGAlumB
    1Password Alumni

    1Password v6.5 for Windows does, if you can put up with an older 1Password 6 version.

    Dropbox sync isn't supported in 1Password 6, and due to changes in their API it can't work going forward anyway.

    For a lack of a better solution, without adding Mac and iOS into this mess, with Apple devices handling local and 1Password.com vaults much better, no.

    Indeed, 1Password for Mac and iOS have supported local vaults for years, so we don't have to add that (and related features) there at this point.

  • wkleem
    wkleem
    Community Member

    @brenty,

    I am sticking with 1Password.com only because I had an exceptional deal with Teams Pro otherwise I would have gone back to v4 while 1Password v6 settles down.

  • AGAlumB
    AGAlumB
    1Password Alumni

    Ah, that makes sense. Cheers! :)

  • wkleem
    wkleem
    Community Member

    Hi

    As if I need another reason to stick with 1Password 4 :( , but I cannot add attachments to 1Password 6 (tried with my Mac 1Password License key) using Drag and Drop. Yet.

  • wkleem
    wkleem
    Community Member

    Yeah.

  • AGAlumB
    AGAlumB
    1Password Alumni

    Please see my reply there and let me know if that helps.

This discussion has been closed.