Enjoy the detours!

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Today I did an update of my paperless-ngx installation. Unplanned. 😅

I logged into my Synology DSM and saw that there was an update for the Redis image. Like always, I started the update and went on. Later that Day, I wanted to upload some files, but I got an 500: Error. I've searched the web and found that there could be an error with Redis.

First, I thought that this could be an issue with file permissions. Because I tried, for the first time, uploading an PDF via the share button on my Phone. But then it also failed while uploading a normal image of a Document. So I started my investigation.

First, I found this error message in the Redis logs: WARNING Memory overcommit must be enabled! Without it, a background save or replication may fail under low memory condition.. Did a small search and found some shell command for sysctl which didn't help. Because in this Redis image, there is no sysctl installed. This was one of the commands:

sudo sysctl -w vm.overcommit_memory=1

If set to 1, it is enabled. Mine was set to 0. Without sysctl installed, it looked that there was no way to set it. So I searched again. With no luck.

Then I thought maybe I could just restart the Redis container, but this also leaded into nothing.

So maybe I just could re-use the instructions (Link to a German Synology Forum), I've used to install paperless-ngx.

There were 4 commands I simply run again.

cd /volume1/docker/paperlessngx/config
sudo docker-compose pull
sudo docker-compose run --rm webserver createsuperuser
sudo docker-compose up -d

This helped. In some way. The downside was, that it reinstalled everything and also deleted the database. Luckily, I could restore all my files from the File system. The only thing I needed to add again were tags. For the next time, I should make a real backup with the document_exporter from paperless-ngx. (Second time I need to do this. https://bruegge.dev/paperless-ngx, maybe I should not postpone it for too long. 😅)

In the End, I have no solution to the initial problem. Just solved it accidentally by updating my installation and lost my database.

This post is also more or less a documentation for future-me, if I come to this point again. 👍

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https://100daystooffload.com/

To get a better start with my blog, I will try the #100DaysToOffload challenge. I see it as a doable challenge because of the loose restrictions. But I need to force me to not overthink it. Just write when I feel to.

An example of overthinking is: I need 100 Posts in 365 Days, his will be around 2 Posts a week. Which raises questions like “do I have so much to say that it will last for 100 Days?”.

Currently, I'm not used to writing at all. Which triggers a bit of fear in me. This sets my moot into something I don't like. It will be better to think about it like there are days when I will write more posts and days when I don't need to think of writing at all. I need to keep the pressure low. I also don't want to plan posts in advance, just to fill the gaps.

My goal with this challenge is to build a habit of putting my thoughts into text, so anybody can read, and we can talk about them. I've tried writing in silence by writing a dev log and a diary, but I got demotivated quite fast, and I stopped writing. My learning here was, that I enjoyed writing itself, but not in silence.

This thinking is working so far perfect for my mastodon posts. I enjoy just posting when I feel to. I hope this will work for this blog too.

Furthermore, I like the fact, when you think about a topic and have no idea how to write more than a sentence about it. And when you start writing, it grows more and more. Like this post. Initially, I thought about writing just one paragraph, and now I keep adding more because I have new ideas of what I can say about it. I had the same experience while writing my dev log and diary. Each day the posts getting longer and longer.

Let's see where this goes and if I can keep the motivation for this challenge.

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Found the “1 Commit per Day” Idea in this Video:

For me, it sounds a bit like the Book The One Thing: https://www.amazon.de/dp/1848549253/. Haven't read it yet, but it is on my list. Or Atomic Habits: https://www.amazon.de/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-English-ebook/dp/B01N5AX61W

This “rule” is interesting regarding a side project. Like writing a book, where you write 1 sentence per day. After a year, you have 365 sentences and maybe a short-story or the first chapter of your book. So if you write 1 commit per day, no matter what, you make progress on your side project even if it is a change in your README.md.

My first try on a similar rule was to do something on my side project for at least 30 minutes each day. But i never “found” time for it. Because I have to force me to do something for at least 30 minutes. That is a massive blocker in my head. Same for planing my day or week in advance in my calendar. Where I need to put my To-dos into the calendar and add specific time blocks to block time. Maybe it could work for me, but with a Family, it will take more time to manage these blocks and move them around instead of just doing something from my To-dos.

What I like more, is to just start and see where it is going. Like this blog post. I started writing this post about the Video but then, it is growing more and more. Something I didn't plan to do. For me, it is easier to just start and not force me to plan it. For example, I planned to write at least 1 mastodon post per day, but this is not working for me. Instead, I write, when I feel to. Clearly this results in fewer post, but who cares as long as I feel good about it. Same with this blog. I planned to write at least 1 post per week. Sadly, it feels like a burden, and I would rather not do something that is a burden if I have control over it.

In the end, I'm happy with how this post turned out. A bit self-reflective, that's what I was hoping for, will come out, when I start writing more. :)

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After my old paperless-ngx installation went out of date because the old docker image wasn’t updated anymore, I needed an alternative.

Found it quick. This article in German explains it quite good: https://www.synology-forum.de/threads/paperless-ngx-dms-via-docker-auf-dem-nas.124614/page-12#post-1068063.

Sadly, I've got an error while installing the Postgres Database.

django.db.utils.OperationalError: could not translate host name "db" to address: Name or service not known

So yeah, the Database was not running, and I postponed it to look deeper because I had no time.

Months later, finally today, I had time to look into it. The reason the Database was not running, was of another error. 🎉 There were conflicts with /var/lib/postgresql/data. So I deleted the folder and try&error'ed my way through it, but with no success.

I was thinking of giving up and trying another way, or just using paid hosting. But then, I had the idea to just rename the links to /var/lib/postgresql/data. From the config changed this part:

- ../pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data2
- /volume1/docker/paperlessngx/exportpostgres:/var/lib/postgresq/data2/backup

From data to data2. Just to test. This worked and I'm happy now. :) Currently, I'm importing my old scanned documents. Sadly, I need to add new tags. I missed making a backup from the old installation, but I see it also as a new, fresh start. :)

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