I’m about to do a clean install on a new Mac. Is it advisable to transfer the DTPO preferences from the old to the new, and if so, is it just a matter of copying the old plist file? Or am I better off doing it manually?
Copying the .plist works.
Doing what manually?
Thanks. By “doing it manually”, I meant creating Preferences from scratch - toolbar, other choices.
I’ve always preferred to create the preference.plist from scratch. Over time the file grows as it maintains info for all the databases ever used, and I’ve always felt that a new file eliminates the chance of any residual corruption. For the same reason I’ve never used any migration tools to move from an old drive to a new one. It takes me more time to set up everything new, but the install is clean and I can reevaluate what I need, and don’t need, during the process.
I aree with Greg - on both points, actually. A “clean” install should be, well… clean. 
Is there any recommended script (Apple script?) which takes care of back-up of key Devonthink settings.
Specifically I am concerned with Global preferences, global smart groups, smart rules etc. As the number of these things grow over time I am concerned in preserving them.
(So far I was backing up whole
but lately realized that e.g. a massive OCR engine file was part of that backup as well … which is well not ideal.)
Ideally it would be great to have this run as a weekly script.
Just as an example, this is what I mean e.g. with Alfred’s preferences:
One button solution would be indeed desirable but may be there is already some smart script to do that which could be packaged with DT scripts?
Thanks for your help.
No, there is no such script available.
Why don’t you set an exception for the ABBYY folder in your backup software?
My backups use Mac Time Machine and auto include the files for the Devonthink settings
My backups using Mac Time Machine auto include the files for the Devonthink settings
As is expected. And nicely Time Machine should hard link the contents of the ABBYY folder since the largest item is unchanging.
However, @jooz hasn’t reported what backup software in use and whether it supports exclusions.
Why don’t you set an exception for the ABBYY folder in your backup software?
Yes I did by now after I decided to look inside of this folder 
My backups using Mac Time Machine auto include the files for the Devonthink settings
Yes I hope by now my TM backup as well as Arq include them too. But this required search on the forum to trace this down and then configuration of the backup solution. Which I find a bit too complex for such a critical step.
what backup software in use and whether it supports exclusions.
Personally I use both TM for local as well as Arq for remote backup. In both cases, but especially, for remote backup I try to be efficient and not to backup what I do not want ($$$).
I would formulate my point in the following way for the considerations of the Devon team:
a) as a bare minimum it would be perfect to get an integrated script with DT3 by the makers of the software, which can take care of all the necessary folders for the backup of the programme (+configuration of global setting). User cannot be expected to trace down multiple forum threads to understand this (it is not user friendly I would claim and is connected with risks of making a mistake / ignoring some important folder / or using backup for files which user did not want to backup e.g. ABBYY engine files)
b) as an ideal solution it would be perfect to include one button in global preferences allowing user to specify a location for a backup and get this addressed in a regular fashion (e.g. by starting of the app)
By providing a) or b) multiple threads and questions on that topic will not appear again on this forum as the solution for this critical part will be baked it - namely backup of the configuration of the app and its critical settings.
As user gets along with the app and more and more stuff get backed into it (smart rules, reminders, you name it) the risk of losing all this is just too big - this is where I am finding myself right now, hence my question initially. I get your point of “TM gets this backed-up with everything else” but what if I do not want use TM and want to back this up into Dropbox/Gdrive/PutYouFavTool
User cannot be expected to trace down multiple forum threads to understand this (it is not user friendly I would claim and is connected with risks of making a mistake / ignoring some important folder / or using backup for files which user did not want to backup e.g. ABBYY engine files)
You’re right that a user shouldn’t be required to do such searches on our forums as… this is not in our wheelhouse. Backup, as we’ve explained many times before (including on our blog and in the documentation), is the responsibility of the user. So searching here for why certain backups do or don’t happen is beyond our application scope.
The choices you make in backups are entirely your own. If you don’t want to use Time Machine or Arq or Carbon Copy Cloner, etc., it is up to you to create and administer your own backups in your own way. (PS: Some of us in-house do just that with individual time-tested procedures.)
2 Likes
Backup, as we’ve explained many times before (including on our blog and in the documentation), is the responsibility of the user. So searching here for why certain backups do or don’t happen is beyond our application scope.
That is understood and is not really the point I was raising. Probably I was not able to express myself. To re-iterate my point is not about specific backup system or why some backup is not happening. My point is about an automated and secure way of backing up the configuration of the application itself not user’s data. Currently (my understanding) is that I need to search a couple of forum posts to understand which files I need to backup for that and then to find a way how I can do that. The point above is about automating that process for the user. I think we all agree that backup is a critical part of the application.
I’m not sure if it’s just your phrasing but if I read this sentence at face value, no I wouldn’t agree with it.
Backups are a critical part of safe computing.
Backup is not a part of the application itself. Many applications have no backup functions built into them. And DEVONthink does have a manual function to create compressed archives of its databases.
And again, the specific user resources you are wanting to get backed up are already backed up when using a basic backup tool like Time Machine. And Carbon Copy Cloner could accomplish what you’re wanting to do more precisely.
1 Like
A couple of additional thoughts:
Backup is not a part of the application itself. Many applications have no backup functions built into them. And DEVONthink does have a manual function to create compressed archives of its databases.
If we want to go down the path of comparison (which I think is not necessary as we are talking about specific app) but just as an example, critical applications like Photoshop, Alfred, Keyboard Maestro allow for backup of the configuration / metadata.
And DEVONthink does have a manual function to create compressed archives of its databases.
Absolutely. But again if you look on my question, I am not speaking about user’s data but rather about configuration data like reminders, global smart groups and smart rules and do not see a reason why DT cannot include a backup of configuration data as well.
And again, the specific user resources you are wanting to get backed up are already backed up when using a basic backup tool like Time Machine.
This assumes that user is using a TM which you cannot assume. Secondly for a remote backup (e.g. Arq) I need to tell it which folders I want to get backuped. I do not backup everything on HDD as this makes no sense. But I want to have a backup of critical data e.g. configuration data. I actually came across this topic by an incident as I started reading about how to migrate DT to a new machine on this forum.
Also, searching for “backup” in the help docu there is not a single sentence about importance of running additional backup on the configuration data. It might be worth pointing to a forum there.
Worst-case scenario is (not mine as I have all the measures now but just hypothetical): laptop dies, TM backup is corrupt and remote backup did not include ~ library and all 1000 smart rules and reminders in DT3 are gone
I think what might satisfy you is if in the “DEVONthink Handbook” it was documented the folder(s) holding your preferences which you can then do a “super” backup as you see fit. Meantime those folder(s) are known and discussed here so many times.
If you are concerned of the risk of the ability of Apple’s TimeMachine to do its job, take that up with Apple. Best to do the 3-2-1 Backup method, and even more if you feel like it. And remember to test those backups on a schedule which matches your risk tolerance.
1 Like
it was documented the folder(s) holding your preferences which you can then do a “super” backup as you see fit
IMHO, that would be great, yes, hence my suggestion above.
Apple’s TimeMachine
No, I am not concerned with Apple or TM; as mentioned above I am concerned with backup of my configuration data for DT3 as I see its importance increasing for me over time. Again, i am not speaking about satisfaction or anything but think doing a good thing for community reporting my experience and concerns on this forum to make this (great) software even greater. I am not claiming I have the truth - just describing the situation and observations.
And no, I am not speaking about user data, TM backups or any specific backup software at all. I am specifically speaking about configuration data backup of one specific app - DT3.
Meantime those folder(s) are known and discussed here so many times.
How do we know that they are known? For example, I have been using this app for 3 or 4 years now but just discovered about “these known folders” actually only by chance while reading this and some similar threads. Do we expect that every user of the application is doing an extensive search on a forum “to know this”? What about “unknown unknowns” i.e. user who does not know that she/he needs to know about it?