Read only database with local+server instalation on the same machine

[rami-shalhoub]

Description

Problem

I have been using local+server installation on the same machine for a while to be able to access the notes from my phone, recently (i think after the latest update 0.97.2) whenever I want to open the notes locally it doesn't open, and when I open it from the terminal i get this error:

A JavaScript error occurred in the main process
Uncaught Exception:
SqliteError: attempt to write a readonly database
    at Database.pragma (/usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/node_modules/better-sqlite3/lib/methods/pragma.js:10:27)
    at /usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:805:2916
    at /usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:1:231
    at /usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:805:3417
    at /usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:1:231
    at /usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:808:1497
    at /usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:1:231
    at /usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:1366:4034
    at /usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:1:231
    at /usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:1426:11032
A JavaScript error occurred in the main process
Uncaught Exception:
Error: EACCES: permission denied, open '/home/rami/trilium-data/log/trilium-2025-08-19.log'

When I turn on the container the trilium application opens but it keeps giving a toast attempt to write a read only database then it throws is error:

A JavaScript error occurred in the main process
Uncaught Exception:
SqliteError: attempt to write a readonly database at /usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:805:1214
at wX (/usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:805:1591)
at C_e (/usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:805:1204)
at Object.NRi [as upsert] (/usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:805:115)
at sqliteTransaction.<anonymous> (/usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:27:2556)
at sqliteTransaction (/usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/node_modules/better-sqlite3/lib/methods/transaction. js:65:24)
at Object.HRi [as transactional] (/usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:805:1970)
at b7e.save (/usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:27:2531)
at Object.kLi [as setOption] (/usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:1366:3359)
at T7e (/usr/lib/trilium/resources/app.asar/main.cjs:35:4217)

But editing the notes from the server is feasible without any error

I am using this image ghcr.io/triliumnext/trilium:v0.98.0 with Podman, I tried with Docker but it is the same problem, so I don't think it is the issue
I used this command to run the container
podman run -d -p 0.0.0.0:1234:8080 -v ~/trilium-data:/home/node/trilium-data ghcr.io/triliumnext/trilium:v0.98.0

Solution

Because the container has a storage at ~/trilium-data I suspected that the application (local installation) is trying to access it instead of /home/rami/.local/share/trilium-data where its actual database is, which I think it is what is happening because when I change the directory name the application opens and works witout any problems, so what i rerun the container with the new directory name to become:
podman run -d -p 0.0.0.0:1234:8080 -v ~/trilium-data-server:/home/node/trilium-data ghcr.io/triliumnext/trilium:v0.98.0
and all works perfeclty

Fixes

I suggest either updating the wiki for the serve installation, or updates the Trilium app to solve the wrong directory access problem when dual installation (local + server)

Side question

When backing up the database on the server installation, the backup file is still stored in the container and not in the local storage ~/trilium-data, shouldn't is be stored there?

TriliumNext Version

0.97.2

What operating system are you using?

Ubuntu

What is your setup?

Local + server sync

Operating System Version

Ubuntu 24.04.3

Error logs

No response

[dosubot[bot]]

The "attempt to write a readonly database" and EACCES errors happen because both your local and server (container) Trilium installations are trying to access the same data directory at the same time. SQLite, which Trilium uses for its database, doesn't support concurrent write access from multiple processes—this leads to file locking and permission issues, especially when one process is running inside a container with different user permissions than your local user. That's why changing the directory for one of the installations resolves the problem: each instance gets its own database and file locks, avoiding conflicts and permission errors (source).

For your backup question: Trilium stores backups in a "backup" folder inside the data directory it is running from. In container/server mode, this means backups go wherever the container's data directory is mapped (e.g., /home/node/trilium-data/backup). If you mount a host directory (like ~/trilium-data) to /home/node/trilium-data in the container, backups should appear in ~/trilium-data/backup on your host. If you don't see them there, double-check your volume mount and permissions (source). There isn't a separate environment variable just for backup location; it's always relative to the main data directory (source).

Best practice is to always use separate data directories for local and server installations on the same machine to avoid these conflicts. The Docker documentation and data directory wiki have more details on configuring this.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[dosubot[bot]]

The "readonly database" error happens because both your local and server (container) Trilium instances are trying to access the same data directory at the same time. Trilium doesn't have built-in logic to prevent this kind of conflict—if both processes point to the same directory (like ~/trilium-data), you can get permission errors or database locks, especially with SQLite, which isn't designed for concurrent multi-process access. Changing the container's data directory (for example, to ~/trilium-data-server) solves the problem by making sure each instance uses its own separate storage, avoiding these conflicts (Trilium wiki: Data directory).

For your backup question: in server/container setups, backups are always stored inside the data directory that Trilium is running from. If you mount a host directory (like ~/trilium-data) to /home/node/trilium-data in the container, backups will appear in that host directory. If you don't mount a volume, backups stay inside the container and are lost if the container is removed (Trilium wiki: Data directory). There's no separate environment variable for backup location—it's always relative to the data directory.

Recent documentation updates clarify these behaviors, but there isn't yet a warning or automatic handling for dual local+server setups. It would be helpful to add a note to the wiki or a startup warning about this scenario (Docker install docs PR).

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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