Joplin install on a new machine

Support
1

OS: MacOSX 10.15.4 Catalina
Joplin: 1.0.195

I have been using Joplin for a while. Recently I turned on encryption.
All sync-ed up and working fine on the first Mac laptop.

Now, I installed Joplin on a new Mac laptop and performed a Synchronize.
Everything appears as Encrypted as expected,

Screen Shot 2020-03-26 at 11.22.46 AM

but the question is:
if I enable encryption on this new machine (with the same password of course) will it decrypt the notes or will it attempt to encrypt the already encrypted notes?

Thank you

2

No. Do not enable encryption on the second machine. Under encryption settings you should now have a master key shown with an empty password field. This is the master key you created using your first client (check the IDs - they should be the same). This master key was downloaded with the sync to the new client. Into this field enter the password you used when setting up encryption on your first client.

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3

thanks @dpoulton!
So, right now I am not seeing that field in the Ecryption section of Settings:

Screen Shot 2020-03-26 at 12.30.35 PM
Screen Shot 2020-03-26 at 12.30.35 PM896Ă—517 45.6 KB

But I can also see that resources are still being downloaded:
Screen Shot 2020-03-26 at 12.30.16 PM

I’ll check again after all the resources finish downloading and update this thread.
Thanks

4

Yes you have to let the first sync of your new client fully complete. At some point a message will appear on the main screen telling you you have a master key that needs a password (or something like that). It seems that the key has not synced yet.

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5

hi @dpoulton, sync has finished, but I still don’t have the Password field in the Encryption section of settings

Screen Shot 2020-03-27 at 6.31.31 AM

Tried to quit/restart, same thing.
Please advise.

6

I must admit I have never seen this happen before.

After syncing the second client you should see a message like this:

password

And clicking on the link should give you this option to enter the password:

masterkey
masterkey1005Ă—127 4.37 KB

I notice in your previous post that when you connected the second client the decryption staus shows a lot of decrypted files which seems odd.

client_enc_status

Did the first client fully complete its sync after E2EE was enabled?

Suggestions

  • On client 1 backup all your notes to a Joplin JEX file.
  • Quit client 2 so Joplin is not running
  • Re-sync client 1
  • Wait for completion
  • Start and re-sync client 2
  • Wait for completion

If this does not work you could try

  • Quit client 2 so Joplin is not running
  • Re-encrypt client 1 (using the Joplin re-encrypt function)

reencrypt
reencrypt829Ă—304 10.5 KB

  • Wait for completion
  • Start and re-sync client 2
  • Wait for completion

If neither of these get you the password prompt I can only suggest is using this forum to reach out to a dev who is familiar with the internal functions of the E2EE system because it seems that something is not completing properly.

EDIT: I have seen another post where @laurent has asked how the user managed to run Joplin on Catalina. I am not a mac user so it may be helpful if some else here can confim that E2EE is possible on Catalina?

7

thanks @dpoulton, I’ll try the sequence you are suggesting and report back.
re: “Did the first client fully complete its sync after E2EE was enabled?” Yes, I triple-checked to make sure I don’t start anything on client 2 until that was completed.

8

Good news! After following your suggested steps, client 2 finally showed the Password dialog, and I was able to enter it. All items are now fully synchronized and decrypted on both clients.
Thanks so much @dpoulton for your help! :beers:

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