Trilium fails to access existing volume path in WSL2 Docker (ENOENT: no such file or directory)

[dominic248]

Description

Hello Trilium Team,

I'm facing a directory access issue when trying to run Trilium via Docker in a WSL2 environment on Windows using Docker Desktop.

Issue:
Trilium throws the following error during startup:
Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, mkdir '/home/dms24/trilium-data'

NOTE:

• The specified TRILIUM_DATA_DIR path does exist in WSL (/home/dms24/trilium-data).
• Other self-hosted apps (e.g., Linkding, KaraKeep) using the same volume path works without any issues.

Environment:

• Windows 11 + WSL2 (Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS)
• Docker Desktop with WSL integration enabled
• Trilium image: triliumnext/notes:latest
• docker-compose.yml file:

  services:
    trilium:
      image: triliumnext/notes:latest 
      restart: unless-stopped
      environment:
        - TRILIUM_DATA_DIR=/home/dms24/trilium-data
      ports:
        - '8001:8080'
      volumes:
        # Unless TRILIUM_DATA_DIR is set, the data will be stored in the "trilium-data" directory in the home directory.
        - ${TRILIUM_DATA_DIR:-~/trilium-data}:/home/node/trilium-data
        - /etc/timezone:/etc/timezone:ro
        - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
  

### TriliumNext Version

0.95.0

### What operating system are you using?

Windows

### What is your setup?

Local (no sync)

### Operating System Version

Windows 11 Pro Version-24H2 Build-26100.4349

### Error logs

```No USER_UID specified, leaving 1000

No USER_GID specified, leaving 1000

node:fs:1364

  const result = binding.mkdir(

                         ^


Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, mkdir '/home/dms24/trilium-data'

    at Object.mkdirSync (node:fs:1364:26)

    at Upe (/usr/src/app/main.cjs:1:43307)

    at _bn (/usr/src/app/main.cjs:1:42202)

    at /usr/src/app/main.cjs:1:43473

    at /usr/src/app/main.cjs:1:231

    at /usr/src/app/main.cjs:6:4990

    at /usr/src/app/main.cjs:1:231

    at /usr/src/app/main.cjs:805:2768

    at /usr/src/app/main.cjs:1:231

    at /usr/src/app/main.cjs:805:3417 {

  errno: -2,

  code: 'ENOENT',

  syscall: 'mkdir',

  path: '/home/dms24/trilium-data'

}


Node.js v22.16.0

No USER_UID specified, leaving 1000

No USER_GID specified, leaving 1000

node:fs:1364

  const result = binding.mkdir(```

[perfectra1n]

Yes, but the path /home/dms24/trilium-data doesn't exist within the container, which is why the container is saying that it can't find the directory.

When you added:

    environment:
      - TRILIUM_DATA_DIR=/home/dms24/trilium-data

You modified the container's environment to have TRILIUM_DATA_DIR set to /home/dms24/trilium-data, which is why the container is saying it can't find it. It's trying to read from that exact directory within the container, as you modified the environment variable of the container. Don't set that.

This line:

${TRILIUM_DATA_DIR:-~/trilium-data}:/home/node/trilium-data

Is reading from the process that starts the Docker Compose stack, so you'd need to have TRILIUM_DATA_DIR set at that time when running it, which is what I assume you're trying to do. See the attached screenshot.

The above image, and me setting the environment variable and having it work as I assume you expect, is with this docker-compose.yml:

services:
  trilium:
    image: triliumnext/notes:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - '8001:8080'
    volumes:
      # Unless TRILIUM_DATA_DIR is set, the data will be stored in the "trilium-data" directory in the home directory.
      - ${TRILIUM_DATA_DIR:-~/trilium-data}:/home/node/trilium-data
      - /etc/timezone:/etc/timezone:ro
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro

[perfectra1n]

Or instead of relying on environment variables (which is where I believe you're confused), swap out:

    volumes:
      # Unless TRILIUM_DATA_DIR is set, the data will be stored in the "trilium-data" directory in the home directory.
      - ${TRILIUM_DATA_DIR:-~/trilium-data}:/home/node/trilium-data

for

    volumes:
      # Unless TRILIUM_DATA_DIR is set, the data will be stored in the "trilium-data" directory in the home directory.
      - /home/dms24/trilium-data:/home/node/trilium-data

For a total docker compose file of:

services:
  trilium:
    image: triliumnext/notes:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - '8001:8080'
    volumes:
      # Unless TRILIUM_DATA_DIR is set, the data will be stored in the "trilium-data" directory in the home directory.
      - /home/dms24/trilium-data:/home/node/trilium-data
      - /etc/timezone:/etc/timezone:ro
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro

[dominic248]

Hi @perfectra1n,

The last solution you provided worked perfectly for me — thank you!

services:
  trilium:
    image: triliumnext/notes:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - '8001:8080'
    volumes:
      # Unless TRILIUM_DATA_DIR is set, the data will be stored in the "trilium-data" directory in the home directory.
      - /home/dms24/trilium-data:/home/node/trilium-data
      - /etc/timezone:/etc/timezone:ro
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro

It seems there may be an issue with how environment variables are handled in this project when set using the SET command or defined in the Docker Compose file. Using a direct path instead resolved the problem.

I hope the Docker installation steps in the official docs get updated by the repo maintainers: Docker Steps and Docker Compose file

Thanks again for your help!

[perfectra1n]

I’m not sure what you mean by an issue with the “set” command? The “set” command is how environment variables are managed in Fish shell, so in the screenshot I’m setting the appropriate environment variable, that is then passed to the Docker Compose command as a result of being “set”.

There isn’t an issue with how Trilium reads environment variables, you were setting environment variables of the container when you thought you were providing it to the Docker Compose command.