Tool is back up-and RUNNING!
Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 6:09 am
Hey guys! I got this tool back up and running. The reason it went down is because Garmin increased their security shortly after the ransomware event in 2021. Although I was able to get the tool running, I don't want it to get banned again. My guess is that lots of people were using the tool (and possibly even bots were trying to fill in log-in credentials) - which likely got my tool banned from the Garmin Servers.
To prevent overuse of the tool, I did the following:
<hr>
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
FOR HISTORICAL PURPOSES, I'M INCLUDING THIS POST FROM October 19, 2021:
This tool is currently not working.
Hey guys -
I'm sorry to say that as of June 2021, this tool stopped working. The reason it stopped working is twofold:
1) I was employing a "hack" where my tool could pretend to be a browser and thereby be able to transfer your Garmin activities to Strava.
2) Garmin got hacked in 2020, and as a result, they really amped up their security so that the method I had been using no longer works.
I haven't invested a lot of time in this tool because it already exists (kind of). Also, there is not a huge demand for this feature. You can have Garmin auto-transfer your activities to Strava in your Strava or Garmin settings. Of course, the reason I wrote the tool in the first place was so I could easily transfer ONLY the files that I wanted; the problem with the auto-transfer is that EVERYTHING Gets transferred. My partial workaround for this is that I have Strava make all new activities private by default. That way, if I'm doing testing with a Garmin device, it won't automatically show up on my feed and annoy my followers. Of course, I still need to remember to go back and delete the activity from Strava later (and from my diabetes management apps that also sync with Strava... ugh).
I'd rather develop other parts of the tool, but if I see a lot of demand (like responses to this thread), I may get motivated to connect Garmin to Strava via GOTOES the "right way." I have already applied (and been approved) to develop for Garmin - but getting all of the permissions swapped back-and-forth is really tricky with Garmin (by comparison, it is much easier with Strava). At this point, it seems like a lot of work that will only benefit a tiny minority of my users. I'm very sorry if you are one of those users. I hope this message helps explain why it has been sitting there since June. I also did spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to rewrite the "hack" to do it the wrong way again. It seemed easier than doing it the Garmin way... but of course, it would be vulnerable to breaking again in the future.
That's all for now...
To prevent overuse of the tool, I did the following:
- Only opened the tool to donors. This means that bots, and random people can't get to the log in page to flood Garmin with log in requests. Only verified donors can access the tool. This means a much smaller pool of users.
- Added rate-limiting. Even donors / registered users will only be able to generate 4 requests every 5 minutes. This prevents my server from overwhelming Garmin with requests. Most people can get everything done with 2 requests (the first request to see their list of activities, and the second request to copy the selected activities to Strava). If 4 requests isn't enough for you, simply wait 5 minutes and try again.
<hr>
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
FOR HISTORICAL PURPOSES, I'M INCLUDING THIS POST FROM October 19, 2021:
This tool is currently not working.
Hey guys -
I'm sorry to say that as of June 2021, this tool stopped working. The reason it stopped working is twofold:
1) I was employing a "hack" where my tool could pretend to be a browser and thereby be able to transfer your Garmin activities to Strava.
2) Garmin got hacked in 2020, and as a result, they really amped up their security so that the method I had been using no longer works.
I haven't invested a lot of time in this tool because it already exists (kind of). Also, there is not a huge demand for this feature. You can have Garmin auto-transfer your activities to Strava in your Strava or Garmin settings. Of course, the reason I wrote the tool in the first place was so I could easily transfer ONLY the files that I wanted; the problem with the auto-transfer is that EVERYTHING Gets transferred. My partial workaround for this is that I have Strava make all new activities private by default. That way, if I'm doing testing with a Garmin device, it won't automatically show up on my feed and annoy my followers. Of course, I still need to remember to go back and delete the activity from Strava later (and from my diabetes management apps that also sync with Strava... ugh).
I'd rather develop other parts of the tool, but if I see a lot of demand (like responses to this thread), I may get motivated to connect Garmin to Strava via GOTOES the "right way." I have already applied (and been approved) to develop for Garmin - but getting all of the permissions swapped back-and-forth is really tricky with Garmin (by comparison, it is much easier with Strava). At this point, it seems like a lot of work that will only benefit a tiny minority of my users. I'm very sorry if you are one of those users. I hope this message helps explain why it has been sitting there since June. I also did spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to rewrite the "hack" to do it the wrong way again. It seemed easier than doing it the Garmin way... but of course, it would be vulnerable to breaking again in the future.
That's all for now...