[SOLVED] docker-compose installation of TriliumNext fails with trilium-py

[richb-hanover]

Description

I'm new to the Trilium ecosystem but pretty familiar with Docker. I used a docker-compose.yml to start a Trilium server but then I recognized that project was in maintenance mode, and modified the file (Example 1 below) to use the current TriliumNext Dockerhub container. This worked fine: I could connect via the web GUI and the macOS client. (Trilium server running on Raspberry Pi 5, Ubuntu 24.04. Other Docker containers work fine on that host.)

I wanted to export my notes from Joplin, so I dumped them to a folder of *.md files, then used trilium-py to import (Example 2 below). But that failed, as described in Nriver/trilium-py#49. I ultimately found a workaround (let the Python script ask the macOS client to import the files).

My requests/questions:

1. The Trilium Server documentation for Docker does not give an example docker-compose.yml file. I wish it did: I find that editing a local copy of that file and then simply using docker compose up -d to be a much easier mechanism for running a server.
2. The Trilium Server docs do talk about setting up a separate macvlan for local network access. Is that necessary? (I only want to use the server on my local subnet. I was able to use the web GUI and macOS client without the macvlan.)
3. As noted in that trilium-py issue, my Python script would not connect directly to my Trilium server at raspberrypi-address:8080 (but it worked using the client.) There was some speculation that a proxy setting might need to be adjusted. What changes might be needed (if any) to the docker-compose.yml to make this work as documented?

Even though I'm happy (I was able to import my notes), I would like to improve the documentation for future folks. What other troubleshooting information could I provide? Many thanks.

Example 1 - docker-compose.yml

name: notes
services:
  trilium:
    image: triliumnext/notes:v0.91.6
    hostname: trilium
    container_name: trilium
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - /app/trilium/data:/home/node/trilium-data
    ports:
      - 8080:8080

Example 2 - trilium-py script

'''
Import markdown files into Trilium

See: https://github.com/Nriver/trilium-py?tab=readme-ov-file#import-from-joplin
'''

from trilium_py.client import ETAPI

# server_url = 'http://192.168.253.158:8080' DON'T USE THE SERVER ADDRESS
server_url = 'http://127.0.0.1:37840' # USE THE CLIENT TO DO THE HEAVY LIFTING

token = 'XXXXXXXX='
ea = ETAPI(server_url, token)

res = ea.upload_md_folder(
    parentNoteId="root",
    mdFolder="~/Downloads/JoplinFiles",
    ignoreFolder=['_resources', ],
)

TriliumNext Version

0.91.6

What operating system are you using?

Other (specify below)

What is your setup?

Local + server sync

Operating System Version

Ubuntu 24.04 for server; macOS 15.3 and Firefox web browser

Error logs

No response

[richb-hanover]

PS I am willing to test any new docker-compose.yml or other suggestions. I won't be adding any new notes in Trilium for a week or so, and can easily blow away the installation and restart the Docker container and re-import the notes. Thanks!

[pano9000]

You can find an example file here:
https://github.com/TriliumNext/Notes/blob/develop/docker-compose.yml

[richb-hanover]

Do you think this docker-compose.yml file will solve the trilium-py problem I had? Thanks

[richb-hanover]

@pano9000 Interim report - I no longer believe this is a docker-compose/trilium-py problem, but it's being caused by my Python IDE. I will report a final result soon.

[eliandoran]

@richb-hanover , kindly let us know if you managed to find a solution.

[richb-hanover]

Thanks for reminding me. I had to track down two potential failure points to learn which was biting me.

The problem turned out to be that PyCharm IDE (PyCharm 2024.3.3 (Community Edition)) does not seem to permit an outbound connection to the TriliumNext server on the local network. (I still don't know why - I have asked over on their support forum.)

Running the script with python3 trilium.py from the command line works fine. (Both the web GUI and the Trilium macOS app continue to work fine, as well.)

I conclude that the docker-compose file (listed above in the original post) works as desired. I am marking this as closed and solved. Thanks.