Hello. Notesnook is an end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote. I wanted to self-host a Notesnook sync server really badly, but I'm a noob. So, I worked hard on it and came up with this noob-proof tutorial on how to set up a Notesnook sync server with local file storage, getting inspiration from the provided docker-compose in the repository. That's my way of giving back to the self-hosting community. I hope it can help some people. *** ## Overview This guide will help you set up a self-hosted instance of [Notesnook](https://github.com/streetwriters/notesnook-sync-server) using Docker Compose. --- ## Prerequisites - **Linux server** with Docker and Docker Compose installed. - **Domain name** with the ability to create subdomains. - Basic understanding of terminal commands. - Ports **5264**, **6264**, **7264**, **8264**, **9090** and **9009** available. Or you can change them but take good note of your changes. --- ## 1. Directory Structure Setup Create the required directories: ``` # Create data directories mkdir -p /srv/Files/Notesnook/db mkdir -p /srv/Files/Notesnook/s3 mkdir -p /srv/Files/Notesnook/setup ``` --- ## 2. Configuration Files ### 2.1. Environment File Create the `.env` file: ``` cd /srv/Files/Notesnook/setup nano .env ``` Add the following content (modify the values accordingly): ``` # Instance Configuration INSTANCE_NAME=My Notesnook DISABLE_SIGNUPS=false NOTESNOOK_API_SECRET=your_secure_api_secret_here # SMTP Configuration SMTP_USERNAME=your_email@domain.com SMTP_PASSWORD=your_smtp_password SMTP_HOST=smtp.your-server.com SMTP_PORT=587 # Public URLs (replace domain.com with your domain) AUTH_SERVER_PUBLIC_URL=https://auth.domain.com/ NOTESNOOK_APP_PUBLIC_URL=https://notes.domain.com/ MONOGRAPH_PUBLIC_URL=https://mono.domain.com/ ATTACHMENTS_SERVER_PUBLIC_URL=https://files.domain.com/ # MinIO Configuration MINIO_ROOT_USER=admin MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_secure_password_here ``` --- ### 2.2. Docker Compose File Create the `docker-compose.yml` file: ``` nano docker-compose.yml ``` Paste the following content: ``` x-server-discovery: &server-discovery NOTESNOOK_SERVER_PORT: 5264 NOTESNOOK_SERVER_HOST: notesnook-server IDENTITY_SERVER_PORT: 8264 IDENTITY_SERVER_HOST: identity-server SSE_SERVER_PORT: 7264 SSE_SERVER_HOST: sse-server SELF_HOSTED: 1 IDENTITY_SERVER_URL: ${AUTH_SERVER_PUBLIC_URL} NOTESNOOK_APP_HOST: ${NOTESNOOK_APP_PUBLIC_URL} x-env-files: &env-files - .env services: validate: image: vandot/alpine-bash entrypoint: /bin/bash env_file: *env-files command: - -c - | required_vars=( "INSTANCE_NAME" "NOTESNOOK_API_SECRET" "DISABLE_SIGNUPS" "SMTP_USERNAME" "SMTP_PASSWORD" "SMTP_HOST" "SMTP_PORT" "AUTH_SERVER_PUBLIC_URL" "NOTESNOOK_APP_PUBLIC_URL" "MONOGRAPH_PUBLIC_URL" "ATTACHMENTS_SERVER_PUBLIC_URL" ) for var in "$${required_vars[@]}"; do if [ -z "$${!var}" ]; then echo "Error: Required environment variable $$var is not set." exit 1 fi done echo "All required environment variables are set." restart: "no" notesnook-db: image: mongo:7.0.12 hostname: notesnook-db volumes: - /srv/Files/Notesnook/db:/data/db - /srv/Files/Notesnook/db:/data/configdb networks: - notesnook command: --replSet rs0 --bind_ip_all depends_on: validate: condition: service_completed_successfully healthcheck: test: echo 'db.runCommand("ping").ok' | mongosh mongodb://localhost:27017 --quiet interval: 40s timeout: 30s retries: 3 start_period: 60s initiate-rs0: image: mongo:7.0.12 networks: - notesnook depends_on: - notesnook-db entrypoint: /bin/sh command: - -c - | mongosh mongodb://notesnook-db:27017 < /dev/tcp/127.0.0.1/9000' || exit 1 interval: 40s timeout: 30s retries: 3 start_period: 60s setup-s3: image: minio/mc:RELEASE.2024-07-26T13-08-44Z depends_on: - notesnook-s3 networks: - notesnook entrypoint: /bin/bash env_file: *env-files command: - -c - | until mc alias set minio http://notesnook-s3:9000/ ${MINIO_ROOT_USER:-minioadmin} ${MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD:-minioadmin}; do sleep 1; done; mc mb minio/attachments -p identity-server: image: streetwriters/identity:latest ports: - 8264:8264 networks: - notesnook env_file: *env-files depends_on: - notesnook-db healthcheck: test: wget --tries=1 -nv -q http://localhost:8264/health -O- || exit 1 interval: 40s timeout: 30s retries: 3 start_period: 60s environment: <<: *server-discovery MONGODB_CONNECTION_STRING: mongodb://notesnook-db:27017/identity?replSet=rs0 MONGODB_DATABASE_NAME: identity notesnook-server: image: streetwriters/notesnook-sync:latest ports: - 5264:5264 networks: - notesnook env_file: *env-files depends_on: - notesnook-s3 - setup-s3 - identity-server healthcheck: test: wget --tries=1 -nv -q http://localhost:5264/health -O- || exit 1 interval: 40s timeout: 30s retries: 3 start_period: 60s environment: <<: *server-discovery MONGODB_CONNECTION_STRING: mongodb://notesnook-db:27017/?replSet=rs0 MONGODB_DATABASE_NAME: notesnook S3_INTERNAL_SERVICE_URL: "http://notesnook-s3:9000/" S3_INTERNAL_BUCKET_NAME: "attachments" S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID: "${MINIO_ROOT_USER:-minioadmin}" S3_ACCESS_KEY: "${MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD:-minioadmin}" S3_SERVICE_URL: "${ATTACHMENTS_SERVER_PUBLIC_URL}" S3_REGION: "us-east-1" S3_BUCKET_NAME: "attachments" sse-server: image: streetwriters/sse:latest ports: - 7264:7264 env_file: *env-files depends_on: - identity-server - notesnook-server networks: - notesnook healthcheck: test: wget --tries=1 -nv -q http://localhost:7264/health -O- || exit 1 interval: 40s timeout: 30s retries: 3 start_period: 60s environment: <<: *server-discovery monograph-server: image: streetwriters/monograph:latest ports: - 6264:3000 env_file: *env-files depends_on: - notesnook-server networks: - notesnook healthcheck: test: wget --tries=1 -nv -q http://localhost:3000/api/health -O- || exit 1 interval: 40s timeout: 30s retries: 3 start_period: 60s environment: <<: *server-discovery API_HOST: http://notesnook-server:5264/ PUBLIC_URL: ${MONOGRAPH_PUBLIC_URL} networks: notesnook: ``` --- ## 3. Docker Images Preparation Pull all required images to avoid timeout issues: ``` cd /srv/Files/Notesnook/setup docker pull mongo:7.0.12 docker pull minio/minio:RELEASE.2024-07-29T22-14-52Z docker pull streetwriters/identity:latest docker pull streetwriters/notesnook-sync:latest docker pull streetwriters/sse:latest docker pull streetwriters/monograph:latest docker pull vandot/alpine-bash ``` or just ``` cd /srv/Files/Notesnook/setup docker compose pull ``` --- ## 4. Deployment Start the services: ``` cd /srv/Files/Notesnook/setup docker compose up -d ``` --- ## 5. Service Verification ### 5.1. Check Container Status ``` docker compose ps ``` Expected status: - **Running containers**: - `notesnook-db` - `notesnook-s3` - `identity-server` - `notesnook-server` - `sse-server` - `monograph-server` - **Completed containers** (should show `Exit 0`): - `validate` - `initiate-rs0` - `setup-s3` ### 5.2. Check Logs ``` docker compose logs ``` ### 5.3. Test MinIO Access Visit: `http://your-server:9009/` --- ## 6. Reverse Proxy Configuration with Nginx and SSL **Enable WebSockets Support for:** notes.domain.com (port 5264) - For real-time synchronization events.domain.com (port 7264) - For real-time notifications **Enable Cache Assets for:** mono.domain.com (port 6264) - For optimizing public notes loading ### Step 1: Install Certbot ```bash sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install certbot python3-certbot-nginx ``` ### Step 2: Obtain SSL Certificates ```bash sudo certbot --nginx -d auth.domain.com -d notes.domain.com -d events.domain.com -d mono.domain.com ``` ### Step 3: Modify Nginx Configuration Use the following example configurations for each subdomain: ```nginx # Auth Server - Basic (no cache/websocket needed) server { listen 80; server_name auth.domain.com; return 301 https://$host$request_uri; } server { listen 443 ssl; server_name auth.domain.com; ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/auth.domain.com/fullchain.pem; ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/auth.domain.com/privkey.pem; include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf; ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem; location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:8264/; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; } } # Notes Server - With WebSocket server { listen 80; server_name notes.domain.com; return 301 https://$host$request_uri; } server { listen 443 ssl; server_name notes.domain.com; ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/notes.domain.com/fullchain.pem; ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/notes.domain.com/privkey.pem; include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf; ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem; location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:5264/; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade; proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade"; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_read_timeout 3600; proxy_send_timeout 3600; } } # Events Server - With WebSocket server { listen 80; server_name events.domain.com; return 301 https://$host$request_uri; } server { listen 443 ssl; server_name events.domain.com; ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/events.domain.com/fullchain.pem; ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/events.domain.com/privkey.pem; include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf; ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem; location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:7264/; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade; proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade"; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_read_timeout 3600; proxy_send_timeout 3600; } } # Monograph Server - With Cache server { listen 80; server_name mono.domain.com; return 301 https://$host$request_uri; } server { listen 443 ssl; server_name mono.domain.com; ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/mono.domain.com/fullchain.pem; ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/mono.domain.com/privkey.pem; include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf; ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem; location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:6264/; proxy_cache_use_stale error timeout http_500 http_502 http_503 http_504; proxy_cache_valid 200 60m; add_header X-Cache-Status $upstream_cache_status; expires 1h; add_header Cache-Control "public, no-transform"; } } ``` --- ## 7. Useful Commands ### Service Management ``` # View real-time logs docker compose logs -f # View logs for specific service docker compose logs [service-name] # Restart specific service docker compose restart [service-name] # Stop all services docker compose down # Update services docker compose pull docker compose up -d ``` --- ## 8. Maintenance ### 8.1. Backup Regularly backup these directories: - `/srv/Files/Notesnook/db/` (MongoDB data) - `/srv/Files/Notesnook/s3/` (MinIO data) - `/srv/Files/Notesnook/setup/.env` (Configuration) ### 8.2. Updates To update all services: ``` cd /srv/Files/Notesnook/setup docker compose pull docker compose down docker compose up -d ``` --- ## 9. Troubleshooting ### Common Issues: #### Service won't start - Check logs: `docker compose logs [service-name]` - Verify port availability. - Check directory permissions. - Verify environment variables. #### Database Connection Issues - Ensure MongoDB replica set is initialized. - Check MongoDB logs: `docker compose logs notesnook-db`. #### Storage Issues - Verify MinIO credentials. - Check MinIO logs: `docker compose logs notesnook-s3`. #### Email Not Working - Verify SMTP settings in `.env`. - Check identity-server logs. --- ## Security Notes - Change default passwords in `.env`. - Use strong passwords for MinIO and API secret. - Keep your `.env` file secure. - Regularly update all services. - Enable HTTPS on your reverse proxy. - Consider implementing `fail2ban`. - Regularly monitor logs for suspicious activity. --- ## Support If you encounter issues: - Check the logs. - Visit the [Notesnook GitHub repository](https://github.com/streetwriters/notesnook). - Join the [Notesnook Discord](https://discord.gg/5davZnhw3V) for support.