Move Affinity to a new Computer

[D.VE]

Since there is still no export/sync option: Is there any HowTo about moving everything to a news Computer (in my Case Mac)? All settings, assets, shortcuts etc... 

thanks

[walt.farrell]

You can copy the directory that contains all those files. This FAQ tells you the location: 

 

(I assume it's from one Mac to another.)

[D.VE]

Hmmm... I'm using Homebrew... Can't find the settings here... 

[walt.farrell]

33 minutes ago, D.VE said:

Hmmm... I'm using Homebrew

Sorry, no idea what that means in the context of the Affinity applications. As far as I know they aren't installed via Homebrew.

[D.VE]

Is there any other way to export and import everything (settings, assets etc)?

[GarryP]

If you have installed the software via a non-official installation method – e.g. Homebrew – then there’s a good chance that you won’t get any official help with this, and you should probably be explicit about it, up-front, when you ask for help so people know that you have a non-standard set-up before they start to give advice.

[walt.farrell]

58 minutes ago, D.VE said:

Is there any other way to export and import everything (settings, assets etc)?

No.

[R C-R]

7 hours ago, D.VE said:

I'm using Homebrew...

Can you explain why you are using this instead of one of the normal methods of installing/transferring the Affinity apps onto your new computer?

[D.VE]

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

Can you explain why you are using this instead of one of the normal methods of installing

 

A package Manager >IS< a normal method of installing software.

it makes you life soooo much easier (normally). I can install all the software I need on a new mac within minutes.

[R C-R]

2 minutes ago, D.VE said:

A package Manager >IS< a normal method of installing software.

it makes you life soooo much easier (normally). I can install all the software I need on a new mac within minutes.

Can you explain more about how using Homebrew allows you to install all the (application?) software you need on a new Mac in just a few minutes? Where is there or how does one create a package for any of the Affinity apps?

In particular, how could that include all the Affinity per user shortcuts, settings, Studio presets, assets, propcol files, user created brushes, etc.?

[v_kyr]

9 hours ago, D.VE said:

Hmmm... I'm using Homebrew... Can't find the settings here... 

• https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/affinity-photo
• https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/affinity-designer
• https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/affinity-publisher

[R C-R]

3 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

• https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/affinity-photo
• https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/affinity-designer
• https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/affinity-publisher

Do any of those transfer/sync/whatever Affinity settings, assets, shortcuts, & so on from one Mac to another?

[v_kyr]

3 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Do any of those transfer/sync/whatever Affinity settings, assets, shortcuts, & so on from one Mac to another?

See as an example the cask file contents for APh and you will know ...

• https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-cask/blob/1d218c2be279ca46a5fcda38c269fd1365c51c18/Casks/a/affinity-photo.rb
• https://docs.brew.sh/Cask-Cookbook#stanza-zap

It's just meant to get the recent Affinity apps installed via Homebrew and not to transfer/move settings between computers!

[R C-R]

6 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

It's just meant to get the recent Affinity apps installed via Homebrew and not to transfer/move settings between computers!

That's what I thought, but I do not see any advantage to it vs. using the normal (& supported!) methods of installing the Affinity apps. It does not seem any faster, nor does it seem to offer any other benefit I can think of, so I'm still wondering why anyone would want to go that route.

[v_kyr]

32 minutes ago, R C-R said:

That's what I thought, but I do not see any advantage to it vs. using the normal (& supported!) methods of installing the Affinity apps. It does not seem any faster, nor does it seem to offer any other benefit I can think of, so I'm still wondering why anyone would want to go that route.

You don't seem to know much about it, thus you better inform yourself about it, so what it does as a package manager and how it does all the stuff it offers etc.

[R C-R]

34 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

You don't seem to know much about it, thus you better inform yourself about it, so what it does as a package manager and how it does all the stuff it offers etc.

What I was asking for here in this forum was simply for a little help with understanding how specifically Homebrew is in some way more beneficial or better than using the provided & supported ways of installing the Affinity products.

I have no interest in any other aspect of Homebrew. It is not something I need or want on my Mac. There are a number of reasons for that but I do not want to get into that here since it will just take this further off topic, which as I understand it is still about the best way to migrate settings, assets, shortcuts, & so on from one Mac to another.

[v_kyr]

2 minutes ago, R C-R said:

... was simply for a little help with understanding how specifically Homebrew is in some way more beneficial or better than ... I have no interest in any other aspect of Homebrew. It is not something I need or want on my Mac.

Then there is also no need to discuss this any further, as Homebrew offers quite a lot as a package manager (... does some quite tricky tasks behind the curtains) and also since one can't explain in just a few words it's features/advantages and overall workflow here.

[R C-R]

Just now, v_kyr said:

Then there is also no need to discuss this any further, as Homebrew offers quite a lot as a package manager (... does some quite tricky tasks behind the curtains) and also since one can't explain in just a few words it's features/advantages and overall workflow here.

It should be easy enough for someone to say here if it does or does not have any features to migrate Affinity settings, assets, shortcuts, & so on from one Mac to another.

A simple "yes, it does" or "no, it does not" will suffice.

[v_kyr]

19 minutes ago, R C-R said:

It should be easy enough for someone to say here if it does or does not have any features to migrate Affinity settings, assets, shortcuts, & so on from one Mac to another.

I've already told you in my first post above! ...

Quote

... and not to transfer/move settings between computers!

 

[R C-R]

1 minute ago, v_kyr said:

I've already told you in my first post above! ...

Which is exactly why in my reply to that asked how specifically it could be faster or in any other way better to use Homebrew for anything associated with installing or transferring settings of the Affinity apps.

If nothing else, Homebrew has to be installed on a new Mac before it can be used to install anything else, so isn't it just an unneeded extra thing to do if one just wants to install the minimum necessary to use apps whose makers have their own installers?

[thomaso]

On 12/15/2023 at 12:10 AM, D.VE said:

Is there any HowTo about moving everything to a news Computer (in my Case Mac)? All settings, assets, shortcuts etc... 

"Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode. If you have two Mac computers with USB, USB-C, or Thunderbolt ports, you can connect them so that one of them appears as an external hard disk on the other. This is called target disk mode."
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchlp1443/mac

"Transfer to a new Mac with Migration Assistant. – Use Migration Assistant to copy all of your documents, apps, user accounts and settings to a new Mac from another computer."
https://support.apple.com/102613

 

6 hours ago, D.VE said:

A package Manager >IS< a normal method of installing software.

it makes you life soooo much easier (normally). I can install all the software I need on a new mac within minutes.

In this thread you ask for transferring data that have already been installed + modified and thus differ from an initial installer package, right?

[D.VE]

17 hours ago, R C-R said:

Can you explain more about how using Homebrew allows you to install all the (application?) software you need on a new Mac in just a few minutes?

I have one script that installs my software... I copy/paste it into a terminal window and at the end I have installed (almost) everything. 

And for Affinity this may be trivial but there is software (especially nerd stuff for programming) that has a lot of dependencies. If you want to run application A you first need extension B, for extension B you first need the libraries X, Y and Z and so on... If you are using a package manager you don't have to think about that.

Also the software is easy removed without residues and I can update (almost) every piece of software on my computer with just one command

Summary:

• Easy install
• Easy uninstall
• Easy update
• No worries about dependencies

 

[R C-R]

3 hours ago, D.VE said:

I have one script that installs my software...

OK, but about how long does it take to run the script to install everything, start to finish? Isn't everything being downloaded from the web from somewhere, so isn't the time it takes to finish highly dependent on the speed of the internet connection & the responsiveness of the server(s)?

EDIT: To be clear about why I'm asking this, I assume that the old Mac already had all these apps installed, that you have stored your script somewhere on the web so you can download it to the new Mac, & that among the first things you do when you get the new one is to configure it for your internet connection, & download & install Homebrew & the script.

If all this is true, how does the time it takes to do all that and once that is done you transfer your per user Affinity stuff to the new Mac compare to the time it takes to use one of the methods @thomaso mentioned above?

[D.VE]

3 hours ago, R C-R said:

how long does it take to run the script to install everything, start to finish?

About 10 Minutes, and I can do other stuff in parallel...

How long would you take to download and install about 40 applications? 

[R C-R]

6 minutes ago, D.VE said:

About 10 Minutes, and I can do other stuff in parallel...

You must have a very fast Internet connection!