Access PWSafe store on OneDrive
Hi
I am using PasswordSafe on several Windows devices accessing a shared password store that is saved on OneDrive. Would I be able to access it from the ios version, assuming I have OneDrive app install on my iPhone?
Cheers - Ran
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Hi Ran,
Very good question, I have been meaning to write a support article on this subject. Let's get the details
sorted out here, and I'll convert that into an article afterwards.On iOS, pwSafe supports accessing external safes, which are safes stored in another app (like OneDrive) that are accessed through the File Provider of that app, similar to how the Files app can access those files.
Note: these safes will not appear on the main screen of the pwSafe app, to access an external safe tap the
'+' button bottom right. pwSafe will remember the last three external safes accessed for easy re-opening.You can also open the safe from the Files app:
- Open Files app
- Select OneDrive from Locations and browse to your .psafe3 file there
And this flow can be automated using a Shortcut
So, that's a 'Yes'.
There are some things you need to be aware of:
- If you access your safe on Windows platform too (as most OneDrive users do), it is best to disable this option in Password Safe (on Windows):
Manage / options / Backups tab / create intermediate backups (.ibak) before saving
This is needed because this option creates a new file on every change, which does not work well with Apple platforms as that invalidates all references iOS keeps to the safe.
If you need good backups, consider enabling the pwSafe Cloud (https://pwsafe.app/pwsafecloud/)
- Do not try to open the safe from within the OneDrive app, that will make a copy (unsynced).
- The OneDrive File Provider sometimes returns a "Not supported" error on unlocking the safe. We have not yet pinpointed when this error is returned. It looks related to locking on Windows that is forwarded to the OneDrive app. Any further insights in this are much appreciated.
- The quality of the iOS OneDrive app is not the best (a quick Google search will show less friendly worded statements..).
To illustrate: open the iOS One Drive app on your phone showing the contents of a directory. On your Windows device add or remove a file in that directory and notice that the OneDrive app on iOS does not update until you force it to.
This causes delays in synchronization back-and-forth as pwSafe depends on the OneDrive app to perform the sync. Delays of 5 to 15 minutes have been reported.
As an alternative, consider storing your safe on iCloud Drive and synchronizing that to your Windows devices as explained in this article.
Please let me know your findings so I can wrap everything up in a new support article,
Richard.
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Thanks very much for a thorough reply. I took the plunge and got the IoS app. so far:
- Navigation is straightforward and I can open Onedrive and fine the safe- I am constantly getting the “not supported” message. This could be due to the state of my OneDrive syncronisation locking the file in a way that the IoS app cannot handle. - I did disable intermidiate backups but this made no difference to this issue.
- there is contradiction in the details above. you start by saying you can open the file by using the OneDrive app and browsing to the file, and then few steps below there is a note saying Don't Do That :)…
- as a test I copied the safe to dropbox and could open it successfully. I think my OneDrive sync is struggling at the moment, and it's good to have an alternative. I'll look at the iCloud option you mentioned above as well.
thanks again, your help is very much appreciated.Ran
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Interesting that you get the “not supported” constantly. Could you try a restart of your device to see if that makes any difference?
In my test environment I have seen this message once. It disappeared after uninstalling and re-installing the OneDrive app (the first idea that crossed my mind) and I've never seen it since (despite trying a lot of ways to reproduce it). One user reported similar success although the issue resurfaced for him after several months, this time to stay.
I am very much interested in to what is causing this, once I can reproduce the issue in my test environment I can work on a workaround.
As to the contradiction: the first option is to “Open Files app”, not the OneDrive app. So, opening your safe is best done either from the pwSafe app itself, or by opening the Files app and tapping your safe there. Just don't try doing that from within the OneDrive app.
Richard.
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Ah, the Files app. sorry, I failed to make the distinction between the Files and OneDrive apps - my bad.
Also, I found one of my Windows devices with 2 instances of PWSafe running and closed one. and rebooted anther Windows device (I have a few - please don't judge me) that OneDrive was playing up on, and now I can open the safe from OneDrive on my phone. I noticed that Windows app is creating a .plk file that is open while the app is in use - could this be related to the issue.
In any case, things are working for now.
Many thanks for your help - Ran
PS. is there a way to clear the last opened file list? - or make it so the app only remembers the last one opened?
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That is valuable input, thanks! So that seems to confirm that the Windows devices somehow cause the OneDrive app to generate the “not supported” error.
The .plk file is not used by pwSafe on iOS. pwSafe asks iOS for access to the .psafe3 file, iOS forwards that request to the OneDrive app. Presumably, the .psafe3 has some kind of lock enabled causing the unsupported error. I while study the source code of the Windows version to see which locking strategy is used.
As for clearing the last opened file list: pwSafe will remember the last 3 external safes opened. There is no mechanism to clear that last (apart from deleting and reinstalling the app). This has been requested multiple times so will probably come in a future update :-)
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