Vivaldi user saved session location in Linux

johnvarellis

I want to know the location of user saved Vivaldi sessions, so that I can make a copy of my saved session to a safe location on another PC, or on a USB stick, or in the cloud, etc.. I use Ubunt Studio and openSUSE.

The answer in this link does NOT answer my question, so please don't refer me to it
https://help.vivaldi.com/desktop/tabs/session-management/

ybjrepnfr

@johnvarellis /home/USER/.config/vivaldi-snapshot/Default/Sessions

johnvarellis

I have: /home/USER/.config/vivaldi/Default/Sessions

The session I saved was named 20230721_vivaldi_session at 5:01AM
In the Sessions folder this file does not show. Instead, a file named 2023-07-21_05_01_41.bin, created at 5:01, appears. Is there a reason the name I gave to the session file is not preserved in the Sessions folder ?

I'm adding two snapshots

This is the session I saved and it appears with the right name when I try to open it through Vivaldi

But in the Sessions folder I don't see 20230721_vivaldi_session.
Instead, I see 2023-07-21_05_01_41.bin. I don't know how to open 2023-07-21_05_01_41.bin, to see if it's the same as 20230721_vivaldi_session.

Pathduck

@johnvarellis Why would you expect the file name to be the same as the session name? A session name might contain special characters like ? / & etc, a file name cannot. These are not related. The filename is the time saved.

The mapping between session names and session files is done in sessions.json.

NOTE: Copying session files around is not supported. These are data files meant to be managed by the browser, not copied around. You can't expect this to work properly.

mib2berlin

@Pathduck
Hi I guess the OP meant this as a backup.
@johnvarellis
As mentioned, you cant copy a session file back from your backup, Vivaldi cant find it.
You can copy the whole Sessions folder back but this mess up your newer sessions.

Cheers, mib

ybjrepnfr

oh, & you're most welcome, by the way. no, don't mention it... oh wait.

npro

@Pathduck said in Vivaldi user saved session location in Linux:

A session name might contain special characters like ? / & etc, a file name cannot

Basically, this is a Winblows (everyone's favorite OS) limitation. It is not advised to use / on Linux but you could use whatever you like from inside a file manager or using some text editor.

johnvarellis

@Pathduck
The session file is the backup of my online activities (hundreds of tabs). I need to make copies of it and place it at safe places for redundancy (like on other PCs, externl hards drives, USB sticks, Cloud, etc.). If the hard drive on my current PC crashes, how do I get my tabs back up and running on another box on a freshly installed Vivaldi ? Keeping the Vivaldi session files in the designated Session folder is no good because it offers no protection against data loss.

johnvarellis

@mib2berlin
I thought the .bin files were stand alone files that I could open with Vivaldi on any other PC I wished. I didn't know I needed the whole session folder. In any account, is there a Vivaldi suggestion box where I can add this as an idea ? Sessions must be stand alone portable files for practical purposes (as a backup, for replicating the tabs on another PC, etc.)

Pathduck

@johnvarellis Sure, it's understandable. Just make sure to backup the sessions.json file as well, otherwise the .bin file is basically useless.

And suddenly the browser developers might decide to change the format of session files, and your old backups will still be useless.

How about this - use bookmarks and folders to keep track of your ongoing activities. Bookmarks are synced and easy to backup and export, will save your system memory from unused open tabs and avoid crashes from OOM issues as well as losing everything when the browser inevitably fails to retrieve a session after a crash

I thought the .bin files were stand alone files that I could open with Vivaldi on any other PC I wished.

There's no option for opening session files from disk. And if you want to mix session files from different installs it's not going to work, unless you're really good at editing JSON files manually...

ybjrepnfr

@Pathduck said in Vivaldi user saved session location in Linux:

use bookmarks and folders to keep track of your ongoing activities

oh you crazy whimsical young idealistic dreamer!

Pathduck

@ybjrepnfr Quite the contrary: To avoid disappointment, I find it's best to first lower expectations

johnvarellis

@Pathduck
Bookmark files dont preserve Tab Stacks and Workspaces, the way Sessions do.

When I use Vivaldi, it's like a Workbench. I have several Workspaces with several Tab Stacks each. This is a dynamic environment. A few months down the road, the structure os my Workspaces and Tab Stacks will be different. But every few days I want to save the ongoing structure of Workspaces and Tab Stacks and make a copy of that Session on another medium, as a backup. And if I am about to travel, I want to export my latest Vivaldi Session of Warkspaces and Tab Stacks and put it on my laptop.

I don't want Workspaces and Tab Stacks to sync online. If I have two PCs at home, I want to have two different structures of Workspaces and Tab Stacks, one on each PC. And if I am about to travel, I'd like to save the latest Vivaldi Sessions from each PC, and place it on my laptop. Then, while on travel, I can decide which of the two Vivaldi Sessions I want to open and work on.

Vivaldi Sessions should be stand alone and portable like the projects that one saves when using Inkscape or The Gimp. I there a way to suggest this to Vivaldi's development team ?

Pathduck

@johnvarellis
Vivaldi just uses Chromium's session implementation and SNSS files, with some added UI on top for saving/opening them. I believe the sessions.json file is only in Vivaldi, probably that's what allows saving/listing/opening sessions.

AFAIK, other Chromium browsers just keep a current sessions file and one backup, there's no support for saving or opening.

I'm pretty sure the team is aware of the limitations of these files and if there was time and resources to improve it they would.

You can always make a feature request, just make sure to search first so you don't create a duplicate (it will be archived).
https://forum.vivaldi.net/category/185/desktop-feature-requests

Or use this tool to find relevant requests:
https://lonmcgregor.github.io/VivaldiFeatureRequests/#tag=&req=session
There's currently 4320 feature requests for Vivaldi on desktop.

ybjrepnfr

@johnvarellis said in Vivaldi user saved session location in Linux:

Bookmark files dont preserve Tab Stacks and Workspaces, the way Sessions do

i know a way to do this, easily. it's not with vivaldi, though...

johnvarellis

@Pathduck
Yes, my experiance with Chrome, Vivaldi, Opera, Brave, and Edge, is that they stick to Chromium, which they are clones of. It was a nice surprise though, a few years ago, when I found out that I could actually save my Vivaldi sessions. No more Session Buddy.

I wonder if the Chromium people take requests for new options. Becaue if they implemented stand alone portable sessions, then the clones would also replicate this life saving feature.

Speaking of Session Buddy, I couldn't find either how to transfer such Sessions to another PC.

Anyhow, I will try the two Vivaldi related links that you sent me, to see if other people on this planet also want to see the light !!!!!