Joplin Note Taking App - Sync Setup with Cloud S3 Object Storage

What’s Joplin?

Joplin is an awesome note taking app that ticks all the right boxes:

1. It’s FOSS: Joplin is free and open source
2. Markdown Support: It utilizes markdown for note-taking, providing a clean and efficient writing format.
3. Versatile Syncing Options: Joplin offers multiple ways to sync notes between devices, including official cloud options and self-hosting.
4. Cross-Platform Sync Availability: It’s officially available on all platforms.
5. Minimal Design: With a minimal design, Joplin minimizes distractions

Syncing Joplin across devices

There are many ways to sync Joplin; some options include Joplin Cloud (official), Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, and hosting your own Joplin Cloud instance. The one that I prefer is using S3 Object Storage from Oracle Cloud , as I already have a free account with a 10Gig limit.

Joplin also offers the option to encrypt notes before syncing. Please check here for more information

Joplin Sync Setup using S3 Object Storage (Cloud)

• Before setting up syncing, you need to set up an S3 Object Storage bucket and gather a few things:
  1. S3 bucket name
  2. S3 Object storage URL
  3. S3 Region id
  4. Access and secret keys to access your S3 bucket
• Go to your S3 Object Storage provider, in my case, Oracle, and create an S3 bucket. Note down the bucket name/id. Alternatively, you can host your own S3 Object Storage
  • In Oracle, go to Object Storage and Create Bucket.
• Some providers offer an S3 Object Storage URL directly from their portal. However, in my case, I had to manually obtain the bucket namespace and region and fill them into the following URL:
  • I got my <bucketnamespace> from Tenancy details and <region> from account details.

https://<bucketnamespace>.compat.objectstorage.<region>.oraclecloud.com

• The S3 region id should be available somewhere on the provider’s portal; otherwise, reach out to the provider for it.
• Create access and secret keys to access your S3 storage from the provider’s portal.
  • I created mine from going to Profile settings -> Customer Secret Keys (on left of the settings page).
• Now, input those details you obtained into Joplin
  • Go to Tools -> Options -> Synchronization
  • Set the Synchronization Target as S3 (Beta)
  • Furnish the details.
• For OCI (Oracle) S3 Object Storage, enable Force path style
  • Experiment with enabling and disabling Force path style and clicking Check synchronization configuration. One of those should work if everything is correct, as shown below.

• Click Apply

Enable Encryption - Optional

For those concerned about privacy, enable Encryption!. Follow these steps:

• Go to Tools -> Options -> Encryption
• Click Enable Encryption and enter a touch and secure Master Password twice.
• Note down the Master Password along with S3 storage details and apply it on other machines you want to sync.

References

• Joplin S3 Sync Documention