Backup and Restore instead of initial sync?

LordJyrgen67 · 2024-01-18T17:12:14.518Z

Hello together,

Imagine I have a huge number of notes and notebooks imported into the Joplin client on my desktop power machine. I have joplin cloud activated and succeeded with the initial sync. So everythting is uploaded to Joplin cloud.

Now I install another Joplin client on a laptop.
I expect just enabling the sync will take a large amount of time.

So I think about making a Joplin-backup into a single JEX file on the desktop machine and to import this single JEX file into the joplin client on the laptop.
And finally enable the sync on my laptop.

What will happen??
a) Sync finds everything is synced. Nothing to do. Everything is fine.
b) Sync starts duplicating the notes from the laptop onto the desktop machine and vice versa. I finally have doubled all of my notes.
c) Sync finds something unexpected and stops. No sync will be performed for the future.
d) Something totally different.

Has anyone outside ever done something like that?

Yours,
Jyrgen

JackGruber · 2024-01-18T19:36:53.360Z

I don't think this will work.
If I am correct, new IDs are assigned during import, so every note and the resources would be available twice on the sync target.

KC_20CY · 2024-03-03T15:38:25.061Z

@JackGruber /@LordJyrgen67

Following the development of another thread, the information in this thread caught my attention and reflects my worse concern, so I need to be sure if below quote is true and I hope not. Hope someone who knows shed some light.

JackGruber:

I don't think this will work.
If I am correct, new IDs are assigned during import, so every note and the resources would be available twice on the sync target.

dpoulton · 2024-03-03T16:54:30.110Z

KC_20CY:

so I need to be sure if below quote is true

It is true. The imported notes will all have new IDs and will be treated as new notes. You will duplicate all your notes on the sync target and so end up with two lots of notes in your client.

KC_20CY · 2024-03-06T14:07:52.316Z

dpoulton:

It is true. The imported notes will all have new IDs and will be treated as new notes. You will duplicate all your notes on the sync target and so end up with two lots of notes in your client.

Hi there, thanks for your input. Following a related situation in another recent thread discussion, below are scenarios that I pictured:

Scenario 1, If I am in a situation of this thread subject, and I import data from my local backup file and deleted all data on Dropbox cloud storage and sync everything new up to Dropbox, in such case, nothing will be repeated, would this work?

Scenario 2, can I uninstall/re-install my Joplin app, import data from backup file, while all my notes are under one giant folder tree, I can just change the folder name of top folder, and then start the sync, and then deleted everything synced form Dropbox, in this way, even though my notes are temporarily repeated, but I can easily identify the notes synced down from cloud and delete all of them. Would this work?

I have a feeling that scenario 1 is making more sense if both of them works though.

dpoulton · 2024-03-06T14:45:52.936Z

You are asking the same questions about reinstalls in two separate threads. Please just stick with one... This one, your one.

A Joplin situation that top-ranking tags are missing Support

BTW, I just noticed that in my Joplin app, the described tag problem occurs not only top-ranking section but "a few other places I happened to check on" in the whole tag system. Am I looking at a strong odds to freshly uninstall and install the whole Joplin app? I have backup file reserved, I can import the backup file within 30 minutes, but, perhaps, you happen to know that does "Reupload local data to sync target" overwrite the cloud copy maybe (I am trying my best to find any possibility oth…

KC_20CY · 2024-03-06T15:06:38.523Z

dpoulton:

You are asking the same questions about reinstalls in two separate threads. Please just stick with one... This one, your one.

I wanted to reply to you This One and migrate and merge similar expression to this one also, but I just receive the notification of your reply in another one. Anyway, thanks for the heads up.

KC_20CY · 2024-03-06T17:00:10.915Z

A Joplin situation that top-ranking tags are missing

2 - Reset ALL local data

However if you really want to "reset" your local client you can do the below and it will reset everything.

Fully QUIT Joplin. File > Quit

Rename the folder C:\Users\Username.config\joplin-desktop to something like C:\Users\Username.config\joplin-desktop-old

Start Joplin

Joplin will create a new joplin-desktop folder and a new local database within that folder. It will be as if Joplin was just installed, with no plugins, no customisation and only the default "Welcome to Joplin" notes. Joplin will not be connected to the sync server (Dropbox).

Delete the welcome notes if you want to.

Go to the sync settings in Joplin and connect the client to Dropbox just as you did before.

Let the client pull down all the notes. If you have a lot of notes and many large attachments this will take some time.

Do not delete C:\Users\Username.config\joplin-desktop-old until you are happy all is working correctly.

3 - As option 2 but with an uninstall / reinstall

Between steps 2 and 3 above, uninstall and reinstall Joplin

You now have a fresh Joplin install with a fresh copy of your note data from your sync server. Whether this fixes your problem with tags is another matter.

This part of provided suggestions are pretty helpful. I am still in the process of digesting them. Do you have any insight in regard to the scenario 1 that I mentioned in this thread?

KC_20CY:

Scenario 1, If I am in a situation of this thread subject, and I import data from my local backup file and deleted all data on Dropbox cloud storage and sync everything new up to Dropbox, in such case, nothing will be repeated, would this work?

I am trying to avoid the time waiting for cloud-to-local sync time because I have 25000+ notes, I stored my notes in a complicated folder tree following specific ontologically taxonomic method/directive, and the cloud-to-local sync only conveyed me the folder tree at the ending time of three-days sync process, which means, I practically can not access the taxonomic resources during the wait.

dpoulton · 2024-03-06T18:06:40.648Z

KC_20CY:

Do you have any insight in regard to the scenario 1 that I mentioned in this thread?

It depends what you are trying to fix, the server or the client.

Scenario 1 would work but it is the sort of thing you have to do when you have had a problem with the sync server. It will not avoid the time taken to transfer the data. In fact in this case you will be sending the data to the sync server. Most Internet connections are asymmetric and upload at a speed that is far far slower than they download. In my case the upload speed is a tenth of the download speed so an upload would take ten times longer. Also if you clear the data from the server you will clear the data from all clients. As you will have more than one client connected to the sync server you will have to sync the others again afterwards as well. If you have 3 clients, that's downloading 25,000 notes and their attachments three times.

Clearing the sync server is something you do not do unless you are certain that is where the problem is and you really, really have to.

I have never had to use it but the advanced option to re-upload the client data may avoid any impact on other connected clients but it will not avoid the need to upload everything.

If you think that you are having problems with a client and you want to reset it and start again the methods I mentioned in your other post will only affect the one client and, if you have asymmetric network speeds, the download will be faster.

KC_20CY · 2024-05-15T01:42:46.926Z

Wheel of fate
For the record, after a recent update to the newest version (2.13.15 to 2.14.20) on 20240513 19:31 for solving synchronization incomplete issue, the action triggered the wheel of fate again (in which I could not start up Joplin properly), and now I have to roll back to an unspoken earlier version of desktop Joplin.

And still, I never once reach the place where my desktop Joplin and Android Joplin completely synced since day 1 I used Joplin app.