Obsidian LiveSync Self-Hosted on Synology

obsidian-livesync-synology.md

Intro

obsidian-livesync is an Obsidian plugin, which allows you to Synchronize your Obsidian vault between devices, using a CouchDB database.

Synology NAS devices offer Docker support, which is a convenient way to host your CouchDB.

Setup the CouchDB container on Synology

Pre-requisites

1. Create a directory for your Docker data (e.g. /volume1/docker/obsidian-couchdb)
2. Create a user with permissions to that directory - put them in the users group
3. Get the UID and GID for the user. See: https://mariushosting.com/synology-find-uid-userid-and-gid-groupid-in-5-seconds/
4. Upload your local.ini (example below)

Optional step

Although it is not required, I would highly recommend fronting your CouchDB with a reverse proxy and SSL.

mariushosting has a tutorial, so I will not create another one. https://mariushosting.com/how-to-install-nginx-proxy-manager-on-your-synology-nas/

Docker config in Synology task

The below docker command can be executed via a task, as mariushosting usually does.

1. Open the Control Panel
2. Open Task Scheduler from the Control Panel
3. Click the "Create" button
4. Choose Scheduled Task ➡️ User-defined script
   1. General tab
      1. Task: Install CouchDB
      2. User: root
   2. Schedule
      1. Run on the following date
         1. leave as today's date
         2. Do not repeat
      2. Time
         1. leave everything default
      3. Task settings
         1. Run command - put the command below in
      4. Click "Ok"
   3. If the task is checked, un-check it
   4. Highlight the task
   5. Click the "Run" button

docker run -d \
-e COUCHDB_USER=XXXXXXX \
-e COUCHDB_PASSWORD=XXXXXX \
-e PUID=XXXX \
-e PGID=XXX \
-v /volume1/docker/obsidian-couchdb/local.ini:/opt/couchdb/etc/local.ini \
-v /volume1/docker/obsidian-couchdb/data:/opt/couchdb/data \
-p 5984:5984 \
--restart always \
couchdb

local.ini

[couchdb]
single_node=true
max_document_size = 50000000

[chttpd]
require_valid_user = true
max_http_request_size = 4294967296

[chttpd_auth]
require_valid_user = true
authentication_redirect = /_utils/session.html

[httpd]
WWW-Authenticate = Basic realm="couchdb"
enable_cors = true

[cors]
origins = app://obsidian.md,capacitor://localhost,http://localhost
credentials = true
headers = accept, authorization, content-type, origin, referer
methods = GET, PUT, POST, HEAD, DELETE
max_age = 3600

Configure the LiveSync plugin

1. Input the URL for your CouchDB
2. Use the credentials you put into the Docker configuration
3. Choose an arbitrary name for your database

References

obsidian-livesync documentation

https://github.com/vrtmrz/obsidian-livesync/blob/main/docs/setup_own_server.md

Has anyone successfully gotten this to work with HTTPS? I've configured my CouchDB to work with both HTTP (port 5984) and HTTPS (port 6984), and testing by going to the URI in a web browser works and gives me the same JSON payload back, but Livesync can't connect on HTTPS when I try https://host:6984.

Has anyone successfully gotten this to work with HTTPS? I've configured my CouchDB to work with both HTTP (port 5984) and HTTPS (port 6984), and testing by going to the URI in a web browser works and gives me the same JSON payload back, but Livesync can't connect on HTTPS when I try https://host:6984.

I was able to get it working through Nginx Proxy Manager. Do you have a legit SSL certificate for the hostname?

Does it also work with Obsidian on IOS? Can I use this to sync between my computers and my iPad?

Yes

Has anyone successfully gotten this to work with HTTPS? I've configured my CouchDB to work with both HTTP (port 5984) and HTTPS (port 6984), and testing by going to the URI in a web browser works and gives me the same JSON payload back, but Livesync can't connect on HTTPS when I try https://host:6984.

I was able to get it working through Nginx Proxy Manager. Do you have a legit SSL certificate for the hostname?

It's a self-signed cert on a server not exposed to the outside world, going straight to the CouchDB.

Has anyone successfully gotten this to work with HTTPS? I've configured my CouchDB to work with both HTTP (port 5984) and HTTPS (port 6984), and testing by going to the URI in a web browser works and gives me the same JSON payload back, but Livesync can't connect on HTTPS when I try https://host:6984.

I was able to get it working through Nginx Proxy Manager. Do you have a legit SSL certificate for the hostname?

It's a self-signed cert on a server not exposed to the outside world, going straight to the CouchDB.

Interestingly, I was able to connect to the http port just fine from my iPhone, though there are warnings that say this shouldn't work.

Has anyone successfully gotten this to work with HTTPS? I've configured my CouchDB to work with both HTTP (port 5984) and HTTPS (port 6984), and testing by going to the URI in a web browser works and gives me the same JSON payload back, but Livesync can't connect on HTTPS when I try https://host:6984.

I was able to get it working through Nginx Proxy Manager. Do you have a legit SSL certificate for the hostname?

It's a self-signed cert on a server not exposed to the outside world, going straight to the CouchDB.

Interestingly, I was able to connect to the http port just fine from my iPhone, though there are warnings that say this shouldn't work.

You will have a hard time using a self-signed cert. You're better off using a LetsEncrypt certificate.