"The sync target needs to be upgraded.."

Support
1

About synchronization

Hello everyone, Joplin is a great product, but I have one problem.

Every few days I get a message that "The sync target needs to be upgraded.." and the program forces me to reboot it manually. This upsets me, I would like that this inscription was not.

  1. Why do we need a reload mechanism for synchronization? I can't figure it out myself, maybe somewhere you can read more about the synchronization mechanism?
  2. What can be done to automate the reboot? I just want to use it, I don’t overload Joplin manually)

Please write your thoughts about it. I will be very grateful to you

Using Joplin on 4 PCs on Ubuntu 20.04 with WebDAV sync

Thank you!

2

It shouldn't be doing that in normal operation, can you provide version information and logs as per the support template?

3

Thanks for the reply. I can't find information about the correct filing of logs and the Joplin version. Could you give me a link about this so that I send the logs correctly

PS I can post joplin-desktop/log.txt but it takes 54 MB (3 MB in a zip archive)

4

When you create a new support post there is a pre-formatted message with the following:

For other support queries please indicate:

  • The version you are using. LATEST VERSION is not a version number!
  • If it is a sync issue, please let us know what you are syncing with.
  • If you report a problem with upgrading, please let us know both versions (from/to).
  • If you report a problem with the editor, please tell us which editor you are using (WYSIWYG/Markdown).
  • The operating system you are using.

If you can also please provide a log, as described here: https://joplinapp.org/debugging

Posts that do not at least state the version number and operating system will not be answered.

You can get the version info from Help > About Joplin

If the logs are too big to upload then you can snip the section around where you get the issue and indicate what timestamp we should be looking at.

5
  • Jopplin 2.8.8
  • pCloud WebDav
  • Ubuntu 20.04 4PC, sometimes Windows 11

The problem started on an earlier version (v2.7.15) and stretches to the current one (all clients have upgraded to (v2.8.8)

log 04.07.2022.zip (19.1 KB)
In the morning, this also happened again, I attach the log of the current client for that day

6

It seems like there are a whole bunch of errors relating to accessing the target.
It is worth noting that Joplin currently doesn't support PCloud.

Your best bet might be to reset your sync target.
i.e.

  • Back up everything (JEX exports from Joplin or install the simple backup plugin), back up your joplin-desktop dir.
  • Rename/move your existing Joplin sync target folder on your WebDAV so you have a new, empty Joplin folder
  • Pick a "master" client to use which has everything up to date (and you have backed up) and then in Tools > Options > Synchronisation > Show advanced settings use Re-upload local data to sync target to "push" your local data up. You probably also want to turn the Synchronisation interval to Disabled whilst you do this.

Also probably best to keep your other devices offline or at least not have Joplin running whilst you do this.
Once it has been done you will want to use the other button on those clients in the same menu Delete local data and re-download from sync target (or just rename/move your local profile and start over).

As it is pCloud though there is a possibility you will run into other issues that people have reported with them, I don't know the specifics but I believe it relates to a faulty WebDAV implementation,

7

Thanks for the tips. I will do everything you wrote and write here about the results.

pCloud is a free service with WebDAV. Can you recommend an analogue?

8

Generally the only "good" free services tend to be the ones with large corporate backing and infrastructure - OneDrive and Dropbox (and OneDrive is a problem in its own way due to API changes).

There have been so many stories of bad free NextCloud and WebDAV providers who have severe limits on what their free tiers are capable of (for example limited number of calls per day, database locking issues etc.).
I originally used a free NextCloud provider but had so many problems and ended up hosting my own NextCloud on a Raspberry Pi which is what I'm still using whilst I get a proper server set up to host my own Joplin Server instance.

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9

I tried everything on the advice of Daurexa, no, unfortunately the next morning, the same inscription "The synctarget needs to be upgraded.."
Now I think it's the pCloud service itself, I'll try OneDrive (5GbFree) or DropBox (3Gb Free). This is a pleasant surprise for me, I thought they didn't have free tariffs.
Thanks to Daurexa :handshake: for the help. It will be interesting to look at the behavior of the database in OneDrive b DropBox services, I will write here about the results.

PS And yet I am haunted by the inscription "The synctarget needs to be upgraded.." what did it mean? What is Joplin trying to do?

10

Usually this is when Joplin is trying to upgrade the sync target from an older version to a new one, often to add new items into the metadata. I'm not sure why it would be showing when created fresh from a local client though.

11

7 days since I use OneDrive instead of pCloud. There are no problems. So I admit WebDAV in pCloud is incompatible with Joplin synchronization, do not use it. Thanks for the help.

2 Likes
12

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