is it possible to backup (ie one shot export) Alfred settings (as opposed to sync) ?

[rob213]

I am only using one Mac. I am not discussing syncing 2 macs.

I read about Alfred Sync in on the support site. It states that a sync can be used as a backup which I don't understand because any catastrophic error I make in Alfred would immediately be copies to the sync file. A backup (export) on the contrary has a date/time stamp which allows me to restore.

thanks in advance for your time and help

[Stephen_C]

What I do is to create a sync file on my Mac which is backed up twice daily with my general backups: once off-site and once to an SSD with a Carbon Copy Cloner backup.

 

Stephen

[rob213]

33 minutes ago, Stephen_C said:

What I do is to create a sync file on my Mac which is backed up twice daily with my general backups: once off-site and once to an SSD with a Carbon Copy Cloner backup.

 

I understand completely and use both modalities (Dropbox and CCC). If you backup with CCC, might as well use the config files in the library which are also backed up assuming you make a clone.

Would it make sense to duplicate and add a date time stamp to the sync file ?

thank you

[Stephen_C]

21 minutes ago, rob213 said:

Would it make sense to duplicate and add a date time stamp to the sync file ?

Of course, you can do that if you wish (and, no doubt, have a workflow to do it automatically when you run the workflow—although the trick is to remember to run the workflow). It might be possible to use something like Hazel to automate backups in a similar way.

 

As I said, I'm happy merely to rely on the two backups I make daily (one early in the morning and the other late in the evening). I do also have weekly Time Machine backups—imply on the basis you can never have too many backups!

 

Stephen

[rob213]

sorry to pester you on a Sunday. I will adopt your method, and would like to know how, using the sync on a single mac, you would restore alfred settings in case of an alfred catastrophe (not a general mac catastrophe).

thank you again very much

[Vero]

@rob213 Here's what we recommend:

• Keep a Time Machine backup (or similar incremental backup) of your Mac so that you can revert to a particular point in time if needed
• If you'd like to sync, use a service that reliably maintains incremental backups too for additional safety.

If all you want to do is copy your preferences from one location to another and you're not syncing, you'll find the Alfred.alfredpreferences bundle here:

~/Library/Application Support/Alfred/

 

If you use syncing, you'll find the Alfred.alfredpreferences bundle in your sync location.

 

Keep in mind that when copying your preferences to a new Mac, you'll still need to manually activate your Powerpack and set a few locally-stored preferences (e.g. Clipboard can be enabled on one Mac, but not another) for which you can find details here:

https://www.alfredapp.com/help/advanced/sync/#not-synced

[Stephen_C]

Depnding on the backup method you use all you'd need to do is to find the backed up sync file and (having quit Alfred) overwrite the corrupt, or replace the lost, sync file with the backed up version.

 

Edit: Posted at the same time as the preceding post.

 

Stephen

Edited May 7, 2023 by Stephen_C

[rob213]

it's all clear. I will follow your suggestions. Thank you very much @Vero and @Stephen_C !!

[rob213]

Sorry : now I am confused again.

I set up the sync, although I only have one mac. Reason is that I wanted to have my preferences in dropbox.

 

I end up with 2 alfred preferences files

~DocumentsDropboxXXXXXXAlfred Preferences Sync/Alfred.alfredpreferences

~LibraryApplication SupportAlfredAlfred.alfredpreferences

 

As far as I understand, only the dropbox version is valid. The one in  library application support is a vestige ?

 

I am confused because in Keyboard Maestro, the synced file is just like an ongoing backup.  The actual preferences and macros remain in application support.

 

thank you all for your patience !

[Andrew]

Alfred will be using the preferences location shown in the Advanced prefs. Any other .alfredpreferences files you see will be unused.

 

If you'd like to return the preferences back to the default location, take the following steps:

1. Quit Alfred
2. Temporarily back up any of the .alfredpreferences files just in case something isn't done correctly (i.e. just copy them to a safe location).
3. If the prefs in Dropbox are the ones you want to use, copy them ~/Library/Application Support/Alfred/ (replacing the preferences package already there).
4. Delete ~/Library/Application Support/Alfred/prefs.json in your home folder, this file tells Alfred any custom sync location
5. Restart Alfred

From this point on, you can manually backup the Alfred.alfredpreferences in Alfred's App Support folder if this is what you were looking to achieve.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[rob213]

thank you @Andrew

[rob213]

@Andrew one last question and I shall leave you in peace

just to avoid a future confusion like the one that led to my current question: may I rename or delete ~LibraryApplication SupportAlfredAlfred.alfredpreferences if I am using the sync option in dropbox ?

thank you

[Andrew]

You can just delete the one you aren't using. Again, temporarily back it up first just in case.