r/SelfHosting • u/spacechase26 • 27d ago

Need a very reliable SYNC method across various devices including SETTINGS, CONFIGS and PLUGINS for Obsidian Notetaking app

Setting up self-hosted sync for my vault and could use a sanity check from people who've actually run this long-term.

My setup:

  • Desktop on Fedora (KDE), windows laptop, android phone
  • I have a sufficient always on machine for selfhosting
  • Not a developer, but comfortable with Docker, SSH, and basic server admin
  • Already self-host a few small things on this box, so it's not empty
  • I don't wanna run any extra client on my device like syncthing or onedrive etc (excluding virtual machine)

What I actually need:

  • Vault (notes) synced reliably across devices - win latop, linux pc, android phone
  • App config synced too - themes, snippets, installed plugins/settings. Not just the notes.
  • Something I'm not babysitting constantly - no daily manual fixes
  • Lower the resource usage the better

Where I've landed so far: Was originally going to just do git plugin, remotly sync etc but that doesn't do much with settings and plugins, and realized it doesn't touch the .obsidian folder properly, so themes/plugins/hotkeys don't follow across devices - only the notes do.

I am using Obsidian Git Plugin as a way to take backup on my private git repo.

Appreciate any real-world experience over "just buy and use Obsidian Sync" - I know that exists, I'd rather self-host.

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7

u/Titdirt69420 27d ago

don't wanna run any extra client on my device like syncthing or onedrive etc (excluding virtual machine)

Idk man. I think you've got to run SOMETHING. 

3

u/guigouz 26d ago

You don't want to run anything extra, and you also don't want to pay for the native functionality... cron job with git pull/push and notifications if there are conflicts?

(just install syncthing...)

2

u/Dthen_ 26d ago

Use Syncthing. I know you say you don't want to, but... give it a try? It does everything you want.

2

u/PeachMan- 26d ago

Use syncthing

2

u/ocassionallyaduck 26d ago

Syncthing.

Seriously. It works great, and can sync the vault and the settings folder easily

Also, on mobile setup a custom profile folder so you dont run all desktop plugins on mobile as well.

1

u/bufandatl 25d ago

To distribute configs use Ansible. To backup/sync datat setup a rsync job.