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Recovering data from v4 and v5 encrypted VFSs ​

As explained on our developers' blog, starting from Syncplify Server! version 6 we had to change the way encrypted VFSs work, because the old way (v4 and v5) could no longer be considered fully safe. It was not a lighthearted decision, but it had to be taken.

What does this mean for customers who used encrypted VFSs in v4 or v5 and now wish to upgrade to v8, for its new features, speed and stability?

Fear not. We developed a small tool, mentioned in the blog article, that greatly helps with the transition.

One important detail first: encrypted VFSs cannot be imported from a v4 or v5 backup into v8, and as a result the user profiles that use them cannot be imported either. After the upgrade, those VFSs and user profiles are missing.

Here is how to recover access to the data stored in the old encrypted VFSs:

  1. Download the DiskAES256Decrypt.zip archive and extract it into a directory of your choice on the machine or VM where the contents of the encrypted VFSs are stored.
  2. Run it, and decrypt the contents of each old v4 or v5 encrypted VFS into a fresh, empty folder (one per VFS).
  3. In your new Syncplify Server! v8, create a new encrypted VFS for each old one. Every new VFS must point to an empty folder.
  4. In your new Syncplify Server! v8, create the user profiles that use the new encrypted VFSs by hand.
  5. With an SFTP client, sign in as those users and upload the contents of the decrypted (clear text) folders again. Syncplify Server! v8 encrypts every file as it is uploaded.

This is a one time operation. Once done, you are good to go for the entire life of your Syncplify Server! v8 and of every future version.