Add another Mac

Each Mac on your account holds the key to your synced data, so a new Mac can’t get it just by signing in. A Mac you already use approves it, after you’ve checked that both Macs show the same 6-digit code. The code is how you know the request really came from the Mac in front of you and not from someone else.

You need the new Mac and a Mac that’s already set up, both with Cloak Proxy open. If you don’t have another Mac to hand, use your Recovery Kit instead.

Approve a new Mac

1. On the new Mac, open Settings › Cloud, click Get Personal Cloud… and sign in with the same email, as in Get started. Give it a name you’ll recognize in This computer.

   Because your account already has computers, the sheet changes to Approve this Mac and waits: “Waiting for your other computer…”.

2. On a Mac you already use, open Cloak Proxy › Settings… › Cloud. A sheet says “MacBook Air” wants to join your Personal Cloud account, with the time of the request and its approximate country.

   If you aren’t signing in on that computer right now, click Deny.

3. Click Compare Codes. A code appears under Does “MacBook Air” show this code?

4. On the new Mac, the same 6 digits appear. Compare them with the other Mac’s, digit by digit. If they match, click Codes Match. The new Mac then says “Approve on your other computer to finish.”

5. On the Mac you already use, click Codes Match: Approve.

6. On the new Mac, the sheet moves on to Restore this Mac: choose what comes onto it and click Restore. See Restore this Mac below.

The new Mac now appears under Settings › Cloud › Devices on every computer on your account. It doesn’t need a Recovery Kit of its own: the kit you saved on your first Mac works for the whole account.

Only approve when the codes match

Approve a request only if you started it yourself, on a computer you’re sitting at, and the two codes are the same. An approved computer can read all your synced data. If the codes differ, click Deny on the Mac you already use, and Cancel on the new one.

Why the code matters

Each code is worked out from both Macs’ keys and a random number from each Mac, and each Mac commits to its number before it sees the other’s. If anything between the two Macs swapped in a different computer, the codes on the two screens would be different. Neither Mac uses the approval until you’ve confirmed the match on it.

The Mac you already use only answers a request when you click Compare Codes, and only a few in a short time, so nobody can keep asking until a code happens to match. See Security and privacy.

Restore this Mac

A Mac that joins an account that already has data, whether you approved it from another Mac or used your Recovery Kit, gets Restore this Mac instead of Choose what syncs. It brings back everything you sync in one step.

• A list of what’s in your account, one row per type with a switch and its size, for example “142 rules in 9 folders”, your mock sets, scopes, saved queries, highlight rules and filters, and each API workspace with the folder it will go in (Change… picks another empty or new folder). Settings is a row too, off by default.
• As of: when the newest change was made, and on which Mac.
• If this Mac already has its own rules and mock sets, choose Merge with This Mac’s (both sets are kept and sync to your other Macs) or Replace This Mac’s (this Mac’s go to Removed by Sync, where you can put them back for 30 days).
• Rules and mock sets that run scripts, serve local files or redirect traffic arrive switched off until you review them. The root certificate, passwords and secret values never sync.

Click Restore, or Not Now to do it later: Settings › Cloud then shows Finish setting up Personal Cloud, and Continue… offers the restore again.

Finish setting up this Mac

After the restore, Finish setting up this Mac lists what came back (with Open in API Client for workspaces) and the few things that never sync:

Row	What to do
Trust this Mac’s certificate	Each Mac makes its own root certificate; it’s never restored. Click Install & Trust… to see HTTPS traffic.
Route traffic through Cloak Proxy	Click Turn On to turn on the macOS proxy for this Mac, as on your other one.
N items arrived switched off	They run scripts, serve local files, redirect traffic or answer requests. Review… opens them. See Review changes from another Mac.
Map Local rules point to files that aren’t on this Mac	Show lists them. Copy the files over, or edit the rules in Debugging Tools › Map Local.
Never synced: secret values and passwords	Environment secrets, Vault values, and proxy and client-certificate passwords stay on each Mac. Show Where lists the secret variables that came back empty.

Click Done when you’re finished. Help › Moving to a New Mac… describes the same steps.

When the new Mac arrives

• Rules and mock sets already on the new Mac stay. Synced ones are added next to them, and from then on both Macs share one set.
• Rules that can act on the Mac arrive switched off. Scripts, Map Local, Map Remote, DNS Spoofing, Rewrite rules, mock sets and failure scenarios that come from another Mac wait for you under Sync issues. Switch on the ones you want. See Review changes from another Mac.
• Debugging tools keep this Mac’s on/off switches. Turning on Map Local on one Mac doesn’t turn it on everywhere.
• Passwords and secret values stay behind unless you chose to sync them. See What syncs.

If it doesn’t work

Message	What happened	What to do
The request was denied on your other computer. If that wasn’t you, nothing was shared.	Someone clicked Deny on your other Mac.	Click Ask Again on the new Mac.
The request expired after 10 minutes. Ask again.	Nobody answered in time.	Open Settings › Cloud on your other Mac first, then click Ask Again.
The computer answering isn’t one of your signed-in computers. Nothing was shared.	The answer didn’t come from a computer on your account.	Click Ask Again. If it happens again, don’t approve anything and contact support.
The answering computer changed during the request, so it was stopped. Ask again. (or another “…so it was stopped” message)	The request changed after a Mac answered it. Nothing was shared.	Click Ask Again.
The request changed after this Mac answered it, so it was denied. Nothing was shared.	Shown on the Mac you already use.	Start again from the new Mac.
This Mac has answered 3 requests to join in the last 10 minutes…	Your Mac answers only a few requests at a time.	Wait a few minutes. If you didn’t ask to sign in that often, deny the request.
A request to join from “…” that this Mac answered disappeared before it was approved…	A request you answered vanished without being approved or denied.	If you didn’t cancel it, someone may be trying to join your account. Don’t approve requests you didn’t make.
Your plan allows 5 computers. Remove one in Settings › Cloud before approving another.	The account already has 5 computers.	Remove a computer you no longer use, then try again.

Nothing appears on your other Mac? Make sure it’s signed in, set up and showing Settings › Cloud. The request appears there, not in a notification.

Related

Review changes from another MacSwitch on synced rules that act on this Mac.

Remove a lost or stolen MacTake a computer off your account and change the key.

Recovery KitAdd a Mac when no other computer is around.

Security and privacyHow approval protects your account.