How can I save the joplin database in specific directory on Linux

Hi

From this thread I see the database can be saved somewhere else than the default location in Windows New user - just a couple questions

Does anyone know how I could achieve the same thing on Linux ie save the joplin database to a directory I choose? I cant use the portable exe version as thats for Windows

thanks

At least with a symbolic link

I’m not sure if you want to save a copy for backup or that you want Joplin to put its files somewhere else.

For the latter you can specify an alternate location by starting Joplin with the --profile command line option.

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thanks its the latter. would --profile actually move the database though?

No. It wolud create a new database at that location. So what you have to do is move the profile directory somewhere else /path/to/new/location and start joplin with --profile /path/to/new/location

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thank you, thats a clear explanation. Tonight I finally exported my 9 years of Evernote files into Joplin. Ive wanted to leave Evernote for a while but I couldnt find an alternative that ticked the right boxes - until I discovered Joplin!

@tessus Thank you! I was able to relocate my profile to a VeraCrypt volume, so the local database is always encrypted as well.
I don’t suppose you have any idea how long “eventually” is for iOS to receive the certificate and prompt for a password? Both devices have synced many many times. Everything looks perfect on the Linux client, but iOS has one new note added which is Encrypted. All the remaining notes are still on the device unencrypted, and the iOS client says encryption is disabled.

On non-Windows systems the best way is to use a symlink.

I don't follow. What does this have to do with the profile directory? And what certificate and what password? Maybe you can open a new topic or search the existing ones about encryption. I don't use encryption and I don't know the code related to it, so I'm probably the wrong person to answer that question anyway.

@tessus I did. I also posted replies on a couple other related posts but no one responded yet. I thought you may know. If not, don’t worry about it. No need for a symlink. When I deleted the 3 directories to completely remove Joplin, it broke a few pieces of it. When I attempted to reinstall, the script said it was already installed. Something remained somewhere. I analyzed the script and found where it was launching the program. I launched directly from the file manager and it replaced the item in the menu, but without an icon. I exported that to my desktop, grabbed one of the proposed new icons, and set the --profile as you suggested. That part works perfectly now. The profile resides on an encrypted volume and the icon on my desktop is much better than the blue J. Now if I can just get E2EE syncing properly, I’ll be all set. I’ll get it, with or without support. It just takes longer when I have to reinvent the wheel.
Howsecureismypassword.net says it would take a computer about 4 Billion years to crack my Dropbox password, and I have TOTP enabled, so it’s already pretty secure.

Hello,

I am a very new user (just switched to Linux for the first time a few days ago). I am running Manjaro KDE. A note taking app is a critical part of my switch over plan and I am more than happy with Joplin so far.

However, for my set-up (back-ups, syncing with syncthing, encryption, etc) I also would like to move the file location of where Joplin stores the notes / database.

I can see the advice above would solve the issue, but I am so new that I am struggling to" start joplin with --profile /path/to/new/location". I know this is basic stuff for everyone.

Can someone please assist me with the correct syntax to enter into the terminal to “start Joplin with --profile” in Manjaro KDE?

Thanks in advance.

You change into the directory where Joplin is installed:

cd ~/.joplin/

Then start it as follows:

./Joplin.AppImage --profile /path/to/new/location

You might want to add an & to the end to start it in the background.

However, if you’re not a command line person, you should change the desktop file accordingly, in which case you just have to click the desktop icon.

The file should be there: ~/.local/share/applications/appimagekit-joplin.desktop

Open it with a text editor and change the line that says Exec=..... Append the --profile /path/to/new/location

Thank you very much @tessus, very much appreciated.

I did not install the Joplin.AppImage, but built the application from the Manjaro official repository. However I am hoping this will not require a lot of change to your instructions.

I will try and confirm how I go.

Thanks again.

Thanks again for your help.

So, with my limited Linux skills I have tried the above, paired with a decent helping of googling and sweating.

One of the issues I am having is I installed and uninstalled Joplin a few times when I started (working things out newbie style), one with the appimage and ending up with the non-appimage version from the Manjaro AUR repository installed. I think the uninstalled versions left files behind, so I am a little confused converting your instructions into my situation.

However:

1 - Trying the terminal approach, I could get to "cd ~/.joplin/" but inserting "./Joplin.AppImage --profile /path/to/new/location" returned "bash: ./Joplin.AppImage: No such file or directory"

I could locate "~/.local/share/applications/appimagekit-joplin.desktop", but it didn’t look like it had been used for a while, so I think it might relate to the uninstalled appimage. I went ahead anyway and text file showed "Exec=/home/user/Applications/JoplinDesktop_" . I appended " --profile /path/to/new/location" to the end, but no change.

I do have 2 x Joplin folders located at "/home/user/.config/Joplin", but I could not locate a desktop file.

Ha, it would be nice if there was an option in the GUI! I will keep trying, but suspect I need to spend more time learning Linux before I can do a simple thing like this.

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The AUR package is not supported, so I can't help you there (I don't even know where it installs the files).

That's not going to happen, since this is not supported. However, there was an idea for a project about multiple profiles. Should that ever be implemented, you will have GUI elements for switching profiles.