Recover Time Machine password from keychain

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Recover Time Machine password from keychain

I'm trying to recover my Time Machine password. It was saved in my keychain, so obviously I forgot it. Now I'm on a new mac (the last one was stolen), and all passwords (internet, wi-fi...) have been correctly downloaded from iCloud so I thought I would be able to get it from Keychain Access. Unfortunately, I don't see anything related to encrypted external HDDs.

It is possible that these passwords are never uploaded to iCloud. I haven't found any definite answer anywhere. Do you know anything about it?

If they are on iCloud, where can I find them?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch,Early 2015), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Jul 13, 2015 2:02 PM

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Answer 1

John_ J

Level 1

70 points

Jul 13, 2015 2:12 PM in response to gumatu

See previous instructions on how to view keychained items in Keychain Access.

Once in Keychain Access, simply use the Spotlight Search Filed to search for "Time Machine".

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Answer 2

gumatu Author

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Jul 13, 2015 2:27 PM in response to John_ J

I tried searching for "Time Machine" but nothing showed up. Same result searching for my disk name.

Can you confirm that Time Machine passwords are backed up in iCloud?

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Answer 3

John_ J

Level 1

70 points

Jul 17, 2015 7:14 AM in response to gumatu

I personally don't use the iCloud Keychain service. A little researching indicates that TimeMachine backup passwords are not backed up. According to Apple:

iCloud Keychain keeps your Safari website usernames and passwords, credit card information, and Wi-Fi network information up to date across all of your approved devices that are using iOS 7.0.3 or later or OS X Mavericks v10.9 or later.

iCloud Keychain can also keep the accounts you use in Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and Messages up to date across all of your Mac computers. If you sign in to Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, or any other accounts in Internet Accounts on OS X Mavericks, iCloud can push those accounts to your Mac computers as well.

Is your TimeMachine backup disc directly connected to your computer or over a network?

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Answer 4

gumatu Author

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Jul 17, 2015 10:59 AM in response to John_ J

Yes, my Time Machine is directly connected through USB.

It seems then that Keychain stores Time Machine passwords but iCloud Keychain doesn't back them up.

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Answer 5

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,684 points

Jul 17, 2015 12:52 PM in response to gumatu

Do you have any other copies of the home folder from the old Mac? The keychain is kept in your home/Library/Keychains, you could recover it from any other copies you may have?

I'm afraid iCloud keychain is not a backup service, it is designed to sync the passwords across devices, but not all data is synced.

The kind is 'encrypted volume password' for disks within Keychain Access, try that as a search too.

I guess the only other option you have is to start making a list & trying passwords you may have used! I'm pretty sure that OS X creates a tough password suggestions when you setup the disk as encrypted so it is impractical to break by brute force, sorry.

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Answer 6

John_ J

Level 1

70 points

Jul 17, 2015 2:03 PM in response to gumatu

gumatu,

That sounds correct to me as far as iCloud Keychain not backing up TimeMachine passwords.

With the TimeMachine drive mounted, you should be able to modify permissions in such a way as to grant your admin account access to it's contents.

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Answer 7

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,684 points

Jul 17, 2015 3:09 PM in response to John_ J

John_ J wrote:

gumatu,

That sounds correct to me as far as iCloud Keychain not backing up TimeMachine passwords.

With the TimeMachine drive mounted, you should be able to modify permissions in such a way as to grant your admin account access to it's contents.

If the volume is encrypted it won't mount to access the ACL's or permissions. Doing that in a Time Machine backup is not advisable either.

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