Cannot change data directory location

[dravadhis]

Trilium Version

0.50.2

What operating system are you using?

Ubuntu

What is your setup?

Local (no sync)

Operating System Version

Ubunutu 20.04 LTS

Description

So I want to change the data directory location for my Trilium desktop setup. I followed the instructions as given in the documentation. However the data directory location is still not changing.

The exact steps I perform are:

1. Make sure trilium is not running. (If it is running, I close it completely)
2. In a terminal, I run the command: export TRILIUM_DATA_DIR=home/<usr_name>/<some_path>.
3. I then quit the terminal. Now I start Trilium.

However the data directory value doesn't change.

I have performed a similar change successfully on a Windows setup (Windows 10 Home, Trilium Desktop Local with No sync) by following the last comment in this discussion.

My final aim is that I should be able to use the same trilium-data folder for my Windows and Ubunutu dual-boot setup.

[sigaloid]

After step 2 and before step 3, can you try running echo $TRILIUM_DATA_DIR?

[dravadhis]

I did try echo TRILIUM_DATA_DIR and 'env | grep TRILIUM' after step 2 and before 3. The value was set correctly. I have tried different location values, updating, reinstalling but nothing seemed to work.

[sigaloid]

If you edit the trilium.desktop file, you can add the environment variable before the trilium invocation.

1. sudo nano /usr/share/applications/trilium.desktop
2. Edit the line that says Exec=trilium %u
3. Add env TRILIUM_DATA_DIR=*dir* before trilium like so:
4. Exec=env TRILIUM_DATA_DIR=/tmp/asdf trilium %U
5. Ctrl + X, Y, Enter to save
   That environment variable will then be loaded when launching Trilium.

[zadam]

You write:

In a terminal, I run the command: export TRILIUM_DATA_DIR=home/<usr_name>/<some_path>.
I then quit the terminal. Now I start Trilium.

But that's not how env. variables work in Linux - if you close the terminal, the env. variable you've set and exported disappears. To be active, you need to start trilium from terminal where you exported the variable.

Alternatively you can set and export the variable in e.g. .bashrc file.

[dravadhis]

Ok so I first followed what @zadam mentioned. (It completely slipped my mind that env. variables set using export disappear on closing the terminal). So I started a new terminal, set the variable as required, inspected its value using env | grep TRILIUM and then started trilium from the same terminal. It was still not changed.

Next I set the variable permanently in the .bashrc file. This also didn't work.

Finally I went ahead with what @sigaloid said. Still got no success.

[sigaloid]

What happens if you launch it directly from the terminal (env var before trilium)? Try that, see if it changes it, if not there might be an error message of help.

[dravadhis]

What happens if you launch it directly from the terminal (env var before trilium)? Try that, see if it changes it, if not there might be an error message of help.

This worked just now.

[dravadhis]

How should I make this permanent? Starting with the env variable everytime is a bit annoying (though I'll still do it if there's no solution. The app is just that good ;)).

[dravadhis]

Ok so I started Trilium today morning and realised that it's now working with TRILIUM_DATA_DIR value set to what I want.
So I performed a test.

1. I first backed up my trilium-data folder. Then I deleted the TRILIUM_DATA_DIR environment variable from the .bashrc file and uninstalled trilium.
2. Then I installed Trilium (0.50.3) and set the TRILIUM_DATA_DIR in .bashrc file to point at my backed up copy of trilium-data dir. However the data directory value didn't change.
3. So I started a new terminal and launched Trilium directly from the terminal with env var before Trilium as mentioned by @sigaloid previously.

What happens if you launch it directly from the terminal (env var before trilium)? Try that, see if it changes it, if not there might be an error message of help.

4. The directory value was changed. Then I quit Trilium and started it again in a normal way (directly from the Application Menu). Surprisingly the data directory value was updated. I was now able to start Trilium normally with the updated value.

I don't know why it worked this way, but I think listing the steps might help someone facing a similar problem.

Thanks @sigaloid @zadam for your help. Although the above is a roundabout method, it's worth it for an application as good as Trilium.

[Nriver]

env is used for single command, it's a one-off, only affect one line.
export will change the environment variable for you whole terminal session. If you close the terminal, it goes away.

.bashrc is the file that will be loaded automatically when you open a new terminal. So, if you put export TRILIUM_DATA_DIR=home/<usr_name>/<some_path> to the end of your .bashrc file. The setting should be available for every new terminal session now.