laneolson

Note: Wow, I just realized that Dropbox has the ability to retrieve previous versions of files through the web interface. This pretty much renders the post below useless, but nonetheless I’m going to leave it here because I believe the message is still important. One backup is never enough!

This weekend I had somewhat of an unsettling experience with Dropbox. Typically I keep my KeePass database stored within Dropbox so that it is automatically synchronized between all of my computers. I’ve felt quite confident that, because the file is synchronized to multiple computers, it is safe from being lost in the event of a hard drive failure or the like. I do make backups of the file but only around every month or so. I’m sure there are others that probably do the same thing as I do and I have a warning for those people… Backup your vital files (like password databases) somewhere else besides on the cloud. Here’s why:

I logged onto my computer late Friday night from my laptop. I decided I was going to login to one of my blogs and start writing a new article. Upon logging on I saw that faithful message from Dropbox in my notification area, “2 new files were synchronized successfully”. I proceeded to fire up KeePassX and type in my password and was greeted with the following error:

“The structure of the current database file is invalid. This can either happen if the user-supplied composite key is invalid or if the file is corrupted.”

At first, I had thought that I entered my password wrong. So I tried again, typing more carefully this time. Same error. Then I thought maybe there was an issue with my key file, so I restored one from backup and tried again. Same error. I’m sitting in front of my laptop in disbelief, wondering what the hell I’m going to do if I can’t access the hundreds of password in that file… some of which have no method of recovery. I ran downstairs and logged into my computer there only to see the same “2 new files were synchronized successfully” notification. CRAP! Had I been thinking I would have disconnected the network cable to make sure the files couldn’t synchronize. Of course I was getting the same error on that computer. I had only one other computer that my dropbox synchs to, and that computer is always on. I knew that all of those files were going to give me the same error. I still had a backup from a few weeks ago, but some critical passwords had changed that I would be unable to retrieve.

This story isn’t all bad though. I was able to google the error and find a Repair Instructions for my KeePass database that got it back up and running. However, this could’ve ended a lot worse. I’d probably have a hard time explaining to my boss that I can’t do my job because I lost my passwords. Lesson learned. Everytime I make a critical password change in my database, I back it up twice to two different secure locations where I’m confident that these files will be safe. It is a little bit of a pain to do, but is absolutely worth it if I am ever faced with a similar situation where I cannot repair the database.

I really hope this brings light to anyone who keeps important data synchronized in the cloud via Dropbox or other services. Just because your files are copied onto multiple computers does not mean that they are safe from corruption or data loss. Make a backup. Do it now.