Joplin

Deploy Joplin, an open source note-taking application that stores notes in Markdown and synchronizes them across multiple devices through services like Nextcloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, Joplin Cloud, or Joplin Server.

1. Deploy Joplin

Estimated deployment time: 10–15 minutes

Follow the deployment instructions from the Get started section to configure the app, deploy it, and verify software installation.

For information on the app-specific configurations, see the Configuration options section.

Base distribution and plan

Supported distribution: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Recommended plans: All plan types and sizes can be used.

Configuration options

Configure the required options to deploy your instance. For additional customization, add advanced options.

The table maps the Cloud Manager UI fields to their corresponding API/CLI keys (stackscript_data) required for automated deployments.

StackScript ID: 985380

UI field	API/CLI key	Description
Required options
Limited sudo user	`user_name`	Your preferred username for the limited sudo user entered without any capital letters, spaces, or special characters. When adding a limited sudo user, the user is created with a strong generated password for your new Linode instance, and the account is assigned to the `sudo` group, which provides elevated permissions when running commands with the `sudo` prefix. Note: For easier and more secure access with the sudo user, add an account SSH key for the Cloud Manager user during deployment and select that user as an `authorized_user`. Their SSH pubkey will be assigned to both the root and limited user.
Email address (for the Let's Encrypt SSL certificate)	`soa_email_address`	Your email address to use for generating the SSL certificate.
Advanced options
Disable root access over SSH	`disable_root`	Applies to a limited sudo user. To block the root user from logging in over SSH, select Yes. Defaults to No. Note: When you disable the root user from logging in over SSH and don't provide a valid Account SSH Key assigned to the `authorized_user`, you can still switch to the root user. To do that, log in as root via the Lish console and run `cat /home/$USERNAME/.credentials` to view the generated password for the limited sudo user.
Linode API token	`token_password`	Applies to a custom domain. The Linode API token if you want to use Linode’s DNS Manager to manage DNS records for your custom domain. Follow Manage personal access tokens to get your token on your account with `Read/Write` access to `Domains`. If you provide the token along with the subdomain and domain, the installation attempts to create DNS records via the Linode API. If you don't provide the token, you need to manually configure your DNS records through your DNS provider and point them to the IP address of the new instance.
Subdomain	`subdomain`	Applies to a custom domain. The subdomain you want to use, like `blog` for `blog.example.com`. Use it only if you specify a Domain.
Domain	`domain`	Applies to a custom domain. The domain name you want to use, like `example.com`. Use it only if you specify a Linode API token.
Optional data exporter add-ons	`add_ons`	An option to include add-ons for your deployment. Possible values are: none (default) newrelic node_exporter mysqld_exporter

Notes:

After the app deployment completes, the password for your limited sudo user is generated and stored in the /home/$USERNAME/.credentials file, along with application-specific passwords. Log in to your instance as root through the Lish console or SSH, then run cat /home/$USERNAME/.credentials to view the password.

You can automatically configure a custom domain (optional) during deployment. To do that:

Configure your domain to use Linode’s name servers via your registrar. See Configure your domain's authoritative name servers for details.

Once you complete that, specify the Linode API token, subdomain, and domain for the app in Cloud Manager or via API/CLI/Terraform.

Use API, CLI, or Terraform

In addition to deploying the app to a new Linode instance via Cloud Manager, you can also use the Linode API, CLI, or Terraform. When running the operation, you need to provide the StackScript ID, supported Linux distribution, and app-specific fields along with the standard Linode deployment configurations.

Note: Generate a personal access token to authenticate your API, CLI, or Terraform requests.

curl --location 'https://api.linode.com/v4/linode/instances' \
    --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    --header 'Accept: application/json' \
    --header 'Authorization: Bearer abc123def456hij789klm' \
    --data-raw '{
        "region": "us-east",
        "type": "g6-standard-2",
        "image": "linode/ubuntu24.04",
        "label": "my-joplin-one-click-app",
        "root_pass": "@C0mpl3x#P@ssw0rd",
        "stackscript_id": 985380,
        "stackscript_data": {
            "user_name":"jsmith",
            "soa_email_address":"jsmith@example.com"
        }
    }'

linode-cli linodes create \
    --region us-east \
    --type g6-standard-2 \
    --label my-joplin-one-click-app \
    --image linode/ubuntu24.04 \
    --root_pass @C0mpl3x#P@ssw0rd \
    --stackscript_id 985380 \
    --stackscript_data '{"user_name":"jsmith", "soa_email_address":"jsmith@example.com"}'

resource "linode_instance" "my-linode" {
    region         = "us-east"
    type           = "g6-standard-2"
    label          = "my-joplin-one-click-app"
    image          = "linode/ubuntu24.04"
    root_pass      = "@C0mpl3x#P@ssw0rd"
    stackscript_id = 985380
    stackscript_data = {
        "user_name"         = "jsmith"
        "soa_email_address" = "jsmith@example.com"
    }
}

2. Access the Joplin Server

The Joplin server dashboard lets you manage your account, add other users, and perform various administration tasks.

Before using your new Joplin instance to take notes, first log in to the admin dashboard and update your profile.

Open your web browser and navigate to the custom domain you entered during deployment or your Linode instance’s rDNS domain, such as 192-0-2-1.ip.linodeusercontent.com. You can also use the instance’s IPv4 address, though the connection will not be encrypted. See Manage IP addresses on a Linode for details on viewing IP addresses and rDNS.
On the login page, enter admin@localhost as the Email and admin as the Password. Then click Login.
On the Joplin Admin page, update the default administrator profile immediately. Set a secure password and a valid email address.
Then click the Change it now link in the warning banner or navigate to http://[domain]/users/me.
Once you're redirected to the Profile page, enter your full name, the email address you want to use, and a new secure password. Then click Update profile to apply the changes.
To confirm your new email address, navigate to http://[domain]/admin/emails or click the Admin menu item and select Emails.
Select the email with the Confirm your new Joplin Server account email subject. Click the Confirm email link within the email.

Use the Joplin app

To start using Joplin:

Download and install the Joplin app on the device you want to use. See the Joplin Download page.
Open the app and choose Synchronise or navigate to Preferences > Synchronisation.

If the Sync Wizard screen opens, close it as you'll configure custom settings for your new server.
Select Joplin Server (Beta) under the Synchronization target dropdown.
Enter the Joplin Server URL, which is the custom domain specified during deployment or your instance's rDNS value.
Use the Joplin admin email address and password you configured when updating your profile.
Click Check synchronisation configuration to verify you have the correct settings.
Once settings are verified, click Apply to save them.

You can now start creating notes. Your changes will automatically be stored on your new Joplin Server instance and synchronized between all of your devices.

Additional resources

For more information about the installed packages, see the official documentation.

Joplin Documentation

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Note that we can't vouch for the accuracy or timeliness of externally hosted resources.