Import & export
Your drives, groups and schedules can be saved to a single encrypted file, a vault, and restored from it — on this computer after a reinstall, or on another one, Windows or Mac.
Exporting
Press Export Drives on the dashboard, or Ctrl+E.
- Enter a passphrase, then enter it again to confirm.
- Choose a folder.
Helix writes a .helixvault file there. A NAS share is a fine place for it.
The vault holds your NAS passwords. It is encrypted with AES-256-GCM under a key derived from your passphrase with PBKDF2-SHA512, so it is only as strong as the passphrase. Choose a long one, and do not lose it — there is no way to open a vault without it.
Importing
Press Import Drives, or Ctrl+I, pick the .helixvault file and enter the passphrase it was exported with. The drives are added to the account you are signed in to.
- A drive whose letter you already have a drive on is skipped.
- A drive whose letter is in use by something else on this computer — a USB stick, another mapping — is skipped.
- A drive whose letter is already mapped to that same share is imported. That is the usual state after a reinstall: the Windows mappings survived, and the vault brings back the records that describe them.
- A group whose name you already have is skipped. Its members are matched by letter, so a group naming a drive you already had points at that drive.
- A schedule you already have — same group, action, time and days — is skipped, as is one whose group is not in the vault or on this computer.
- If nothing could be imported, Helix says so rather than reporting success.
- A wrong passphrase or a damaged file imports nothing.
What travels
| In the vault | Not in the vault |
|---|---|
| letter, share name and NAS address | settings and theme |
| username and password | the audit log and storage history |
| Connect automatically, Reconnect at Windows sign-in, Connect using the server name | your Helix account and recovery key |
| away address | |
| Wake-on-LAN hardware address | |
| home network pin | |
| groups, by name and member letters | |
| schedules, including whether each is switched off |
The home network pin is the router's hardware address, which is just as valid on another computer on the same network, so pinned drives stay pinned after a restore.
An away address or hardware address that is not valid is dropped on import rather than failing the drive.
Vaults written before groups and schedules travelled still import. A vault written by this version cannot be opened by an older Helix, which reports it as invalid — update first.
Moving between Windows and macOS
A vault exported on one platform imports on the other. On a Mac, a drive's letter becomes a folder under ~/Helix Drives, and the Windows-only switches are kept but have no effect.
Moving to a new computer
- Export a vault on the old computer.
- Install Helix on the new one and register an account.
- Import the vault.
- Set your preferences. Your groups and schedules came across with the drives.