DockVault Desktop 0.2.0-preview.3 (unsigned preview)

The third preview of DockVault Desktop: your DockVault vault on the desktop, with two-way folder sync for Standard vaults. It fixes two problems on the setup screen: a vault on the same computer that answers over plain http was reported as having an untrusted certificate, and a server name in a non-Latin script was shown in its encoded form.

This is an unsigned preview. The installers are not code-signed yet, so Windows and macOS warn before the first launch:

• Windows shows "Windows protected your PC". Choose More info, then Run anyway.
• macOS says Apple could not verify that DockVault is free of malware, and does not open it (the app is signed ad hoc but not notarized). Close the message, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, and choose Open Anyway next to the line about DockVault. On macOS 14 and earlier you can instead Control-click the app and choose Open.
• Linux shows no warning.

Downloads

System	File
Windows (x64), installer	DockVault-0.2.0-preview.3-win-x64.exe
Windows (x64), portable	DockVault-0.2.0-preview.3-win-x64-portable.exe
macOS, Apple silicon	DockVault-0.2.0-preview.3-mac-arm64.dmg
macOS, Intel	DockVault-0.2.0-preview.3-mac-x64.dmg
Linux (x64), AppImage	DockVault-0.2.0-preview.3-linux-x86_64.AppImage
Linux (x64), Debian and Ubuntu	DockVault-0.2.0-preview.3-linux-amd64.deb

The Windows installer asks nothing and needs no administrator rights: it installs for the current user under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\dockvault-desktop and starts DockVault when it finishes. The portable build installs nothing and keeps its own data beside the .exe.

Already running an earlier preview? Install this over it. The Windows installer never removes the app's saved settings, even when uninstalling.

What changed since preview.2

• A server that answers without HTTPS is no longer reported as having an untrusted certificate. The setup screen and Troubleshoot now say that the server answered but not over HTTPS. For a server on this computer (localhost, 127.0.0.1, ::1) typed without http:// or https://, the app tries plain http on the same port and, if a DockVault server answers, uses it and says so. Plain http is still accepted only for a server on this computer; a server anywhere else must offer HTTPS. A real certificate problem (self-signed, expired, wrong name) is still reported as one, and there is still no way around it.
• Server names in any script. A name such as τεστ is shown as typed in the file transfer field, and the app connects to its ASCII form (xn--qxa2abc). Where you confirm which server you are trusting (the checks on the setup screen, the switch-server prompt, the sync walk-through and the Computers window), a non-ASCII name is shown with its ASCII form beside it, and a name that mixes scripts or uses look-alike punctuation is shown in ASCII only, so a look-alike cannot pass for the name you meant. An address saved by an earlier preview keeps working unchanged.

Before you start

• A DockVault vault server. Folder sync needs vault 0.27.0 or later.
• Your server's address (https; plain http is accepted only for the same computer), and its file transfer (SFTP) address, which on a standard install is your server's name on port 2322. The setup screen suggests it as you type the server's address, checks both before saving anything, and explains any problem in plain words. It never offers a way around a certificate or host key it cannot verify.

What was tested

Before anything was published, the release pipeline started the app from each installer on its own platform: Windows x64, macOS on Apple silicon, macOS on Intel (natively), and Linux, from both the installed .deb and the AppImage. The changes are covered by the unit tests (1,305) and by the setup-screen, Troubleshoot, sync walk-through and Computers-window checks, which run the real app windows; all passed on this exact release. The setup screen was also checked live against a vault served over plain http on the same computer and against a server with a self-signed certificate.

Known issues

• If a large file is still being copied into a synced folder when a sync starts, that folder can stop with Repair sync. Repair, from the tray, finishes it; nothing is deleted, and where a file differs in both places both copies are kept.
• When a synced folder goes missing while the Computers window is open, its Find the folder… button appears after Refresh.

DockVault Desktop is free software under the AGPL-3.0-only license, and its source is in this repository.