https://homelab.surajdhakre.xyz/tags/raspberry-pi/Recent content in Raspberry-Pi on Suraj's HomelabHugoen-usSat, 01 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://homelab.surajdhakre.xyz/blog/setting-up-joplin-server-on-raspberry-pi/Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://homelab.surajdhakre.xyz/blog/setting-up-joplin-server-on-raspberry-pi/<h2 id="why-self-host-joplin">Why self-host Joplin?</h2> <p>Joplin Cloud costs money, and I don&rsquo;t love my notes sitting on someone else&rsquo;s server. The Pi was already running 24/7 anyway, so spinning up a sync server was a natural fit. Total cost: ₹0/month.</p> <p>The alternatives I considered:</p> <table> <thead> <tr> <th>Option</th> <th>Why I skipped it</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Joplin Cloud</td> <td>Paid, data on third-party servers</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Nextcloud sync</td> <td>Too heavy for a 2GB Pi just for notes</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Dropbox/OneDrive</td> <td>Works but sync conflicts are painful</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Self-hosted Joplin Server</td> <td>✅ Free, fast, full control</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2 id="stack">Stack</h2> <ul> <li><strong>Joplin Server</strong> — the official sync backend (Docker)</li> <li><strong>PostgreSQL 15</strong> — note storage and metadata (Docker)</li> <li><strong>nginx</strong> — reverse proxy with SSL termination</li> <li><strong>Bash script</strong> — automated daily <code>pg_dump</code> backups</li> <li><strong>Tailscale</strong> — remote access from anywhere</li> </ul> <h2 id="prerequisites">Prerequisites</h2> <ul> <li>Raspberry Pi 4B running headless Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit)</li> <li>Docker and Docker Compose installed</li> <li>A domain or local hostname for nginx (e.g., <code>joplin.home.lan</code>)</li> </ul> <h2 id="step-1--docker-compose-setup">Step 1 — Docker Compose setup</h2> <p>Create a working directory:</p>