Obsidian-LiveSync: Self-Hosted (*mostly)

Self-hosted Obsidian sync using CouchDB on Proxmox LXC container, secured with Tailscale VPN and end-to-end encryption.

Proxmox VM / Container Host

I have Proxmox VE 9.1 running on an old (circa 2013) laptop. It has USB 3 ports, but only USB 2 seems to work for booting from a thumb drive. SHA256SUM: 6d8f5afc78c0c66812d7272cde7c8b98be7eb54401ceb045400db05eb5ae6d22

sequenceDiagram
    actor USER as Operator
    participant HP as HP Envy<br/>Laptop<br/>

    USER->>HP: Boot Proxmox 9.1.1<br/>ISO (USB 2)
    create participant PVE as pve1 Host
    HP->>PVE: Create pve1 host

    USER->>PVE: root password
    PVE->>PVE: Generate SSH host keys
    PVE->>PVE: Get DHCP lease (192.168.x.y)
    PVE->>PVE: Start web UI
    PVE->>USER: Installation complete

apache-couchdb container

After flailing around trying to figure out CouchDB, I re-discovered Proxmox VE Scripts, especially apache-couchdb.

sequenceDiagram
    actor USER as Operator
    participant PVE as pve1 Host
    participant CS as Proxmox VE<br/>Scripts

    USER->>PVE: ssh root@pve1

    USER->>PVE: curl /ct/apache-couchdb.sh |<br/>bash
    PVE->>CS: GET /ct/apache-couchdb.sh
    CS->>PVE: apache-couchdb.sh
    PVE->>PVE: Download Debian LXC image
    PVE->>PVE: pct create ...

    create participant CT as apache-couchdb
    PVE->>CT: apt install couchdb
    create participant DBA as admin
    CT->>DBA: create admin user
    CT->>USER: admin password, Erlang Cookie

Sync from workstation to CouchDB

obsidian-livesync has a nifty "everything in 1 URL" setup mechanism, but I only found docs for doing it on fly.io.

More flailing: after I installed the plugin, I couldn't find the setup wizard. It turns out: I neglected to turn it on.

Then I puzzled over which usernames and passwords are for what. Eventually, I passed the wizard's connection test, and all was well.

sequenceDiagram
    actor USER as Operator
    participant BLD as obsidian<br/>Desktop
    participant DBA as admin
    participant CDB as couchdb<br/>

    DBA->>CDB: Configure CORS<br/>for Obsidian
    DBA->>CDB: Create dckb-obsidian user
    DBA->>CDB: Create dckb database
    create participant dckb as dckb<br/>database
    CDB->>dckb: create
    DBA->>CDB: grant dckb-obsidian<br/>roles on dckb DB

    USER->>BLD: enable LiveSync plugin
    USER->>BLD: Test CouchDB connection
    BLD->>dckb: Test CouchDB connection
    BLD->>dckb: Initial sync

Mobile Sync

To expose CouchDB for mobile use, I used the Proxmox Tailscale add-on, since I've used tailscale before. Maybe I'll find a more open alternative in due course, but that's for another day.

I tweaked the CouchDB host in Obsidian on my workstation to the tailscale 100.x.y.z address, and then I let it generate a handy setup URI.

sequenceDiagram
    actor USER as Operator
    participant BLD as obsidian<br/>Desktop
    participant PVE as pve1<br/>(Proxmox Host)
    participant CT as apache-couchdb CT
    participant ANDR as Obsidian<br/>mobile
    participant TAIL as Tailscale<br/>Network

    Note over PVE,CT: Expose CouchDB via Tailscale
    Note over USER,PVE: not shown: Proxmox VE<br/>scripts
    USER->>PVE: add-tailscale-lxc.sh
    PVE->>CT: Install Tailscale
    PVE->>CT: Reboot container
    CT->>TAIL: tailscale up<br/>(authenticate)

    Note over BLD,ANDR: Sync Workstation via Tailscale
    BLD->>TAIL: tailscale up (authenticate)
    USER->>BLD: set LiveSync URL to tailscale addr
    BLD->>CT: Test CouchDB connection
    BLD->>BLD: Generate setup URI

    Note over ANDR,CT: Sync Mobile
    ANDR->>TAIL: Install Tailscale app<br/>& authenticate
    BLD->>ANDR: setup URI<br/> (manual)
    ANDR->>CT: Initial sync

    Note over BLD,ANDR: Ongoing Sync
    loop Live Sync
        BLD->>CT: Push file changes (chunks)
        CT->>ANDR: Pull changes via _changes feed
        ANDR->>CT: Push file changes (chunks)
        CT->>BLD: Pull changes via _changes feed
    end

Originally appeared as a comment on obsidian + livesync for personal notes.