Notes server Using Turtl........................
Nick Peers carefully threads his way through the minefield of setting up and running your own Evernote alternative in the form of a Turtl server. Turtl Set up a Turtl server and use an open source alternative to Evernote
We start using the latest open source system that promises pervasive note taking and more – it’s awesome!
Note-taking tools such as Evernote can be incredibly useful, but if you’re looking for an open-source alternative then Turtl is shaping up to be a good rival. Turtl ( http://turtl.it) is a little tricker to set up, but has all the core functionality you need—it can take notes, bookmark websites and store photos and other documents. You can share notes with others, organise notes into boards (and make them easier to find with tagging and filtering) and access it on a range of devices, from computers (Windows and Mac as well as Linux) and Android phones (a standalone APK file is available for those who’d rather not use Google Play).
Your notes are stored securely in Turtl’s cloud – premium plans are in the pipeline – and thanks to the fact the encryption key is stored locally, your notes’ security is in your own hands. But here’s where Turtl goes one step further—you can run it as a server, enabling you to keep all your data stored locally, avoiding any potential data limits and limiting access to just your local network as well as making it available over the net. The instructions for doing this are a little bare, but this is where we come in. We’ll show you how to set up your PC to run Turtl as a server, then reveal how to connect to it from other computers and devices.
Turtl’s server component is written in Common Lisp, so we’ve gone with installing Clozure CL. The simplest way to install this on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS is via Subversion, open the Terminal and type: sudo apt get update sudo apt install subversion sudo svn co http://svn.clozure.com/publicsvn/openmcl/release/1.11/linuxx86/ccl
(Other builds are also available, including one for Linux ARM, FreeBSD and Solaris.) With Clozure CL installed, you next need to download quicklisp.lisp ( www.quicklisp.org/ beta) to your Downloads folder, then type the following: ./ccl/lx86cl64 --load ~/Downloads/quicklisp.lisp
When prompted, type the following (including the enclosing brackets but obviously not this bit): (quicklisp-quickstart:install) (ql:add-to-init-file)
The second line ensures Quicklisp runs with Lisp. Now type quit to exit CCL. Now we need to create scripts to allow us to easily launch CCL from the command line: sudo nano ~/ccl/scripts/ccl
Change the value CCL_DEFAULT_DIRECTORY line to the following: CCL_DEFAULT_DIRECTORY=~/ccl
Save the ccl file, close nano and then repeat for ccl64 ( sudo nano ~/ccl/scripts/ccl64 ). Once done, you need to copy both files to /usr/local/bin with sudo cp ~/ccl/scripts/ccl* /usr/local/bin Once done, you can launch CCL with the ccl64 command.
Install database
Next, you need to install RethinkDB ( www.rethinkdb.com). In the case of Ubuntu, you’ll be prompted to copy and paste the lines required to add the official RethinkDB repository before installing it. RethinkDB requires no configuration – Turtl handles all of that – so it’s time to add one last prerequisite. The Turtl server is event-driven, and this is handled by libuv, so add it by downloading the latest version (v1.9.1 at time of writing) from http://dist.libuv.org/dist, then extract the tar.gz file’s contents before opening a Terminal and entering the following commands (note, you’ll need libtool and automake installed): cd Downloads/libuvv1.9.1 sudo ./autogen.sh
sudo ./configure sudo make sudo make check sudo make install Install, configure and launch. With everything in place, it’s time to install the Turtl server itself (you’ll need git installed): cd ~ git clone https://github.com/turtl/api.git Once downloaded, a new API folder will reside in your home folder – this needs to be renamed to common-lisp: mv ~/api ~/common-lisp Next, we need to rename and edit the main config file: nano ~/common-lisp/config/config.default.lisp Hit Ctrl+o and save the file as config.lisp. You now need to edit this file to configure your server ( seetop,p75) check the box for some useful hints and tips, such as selecting local storage over a S3 server. Once done, you need to launch Rethinkdb. To do this without tying up the Terminal, use: rethinkdb --daemon Verify it’s running by opening your browser and going to localhost:8080 where you should see the RethinkDB dashboard appear. Close your browser. Next, it’s time to launch Turtl—use this each time you start the server: ccl64 --load ~/common-lisp/start.lisp
The first time this launches, you’ll see various packages being grabbed and installed, ending with the turtl package. You may then see things halt with an error about there being no external symbol named *TIME-FORMATTER* for now, type ‘Go’ and hit Enter to skip this and create the database schema. A message telling you Wookie has started will appear and your Turtl server is now up and running.
Test server
Now you need to install the Turtl application—either on the same PC or another device. Clients exist for Linux, Windows and Mac as well as Android, all of which can be downloaded from http://turtl.it. On Linux, save the TAR.BZ2 file to your Downloads folder, then open it in Nautilus and extract the folder within. Next, it’s time to install Turtl: the following assumes you’re installing the 64-bit version from the Downloads folder, and wish to install it into an apps folder inside your own home folder: cd ~/Downloads/turtl-linux64 sudo ./install.sh
Once complete, you’ll find a shortcut to Turtl on the Launcher, but you’re more likely to have success launching it direct from the command line: sudo /opt/turtl/turtl
When the app launches, start by clicking ‘Advanced settings’ and entering the IP address or URL of your server – for example, yourserver.ddns.net:8181 – then click ‘Login’. Ignore the error (clicking this basically confirms the new server). Click ‘Create an account’ and follow the prompts to create your Turtl account—as you do so, you should see messages appear in the Terminal window running ccl64 on your server, indicating the connection has been made.
From here, test your connection by creating a new photo or file attachment note. When it’s done, keep an eye on the Turtl server window – a PUT line should appear, indicating the attachment has been uploaded. If you check the folder you’ve designated as your storage, you should see an encrypted copy of the file appear, indicating your server is up and running successfully.