Trilium Upgrade Help from 0.58.7

[ChromesDuzez]

Heyo its been a minute since I've checked back into the trilium community and its github repo. And by a minute I mean I haven't looked since I set it up in roughly 2021/2022 when I set up a server instance on my home server and then set it and forgot it. I have loved it but that being said I am still on version 0.58.7 and my homelab has really evolved since my college days and want to install a newer version of the application. I saw on the github that versions older the 0.90 ish do not have a direct upgrade path due to server syncing being different. So here is my issue. I turned off my server back in mid 2024 and I have Trilium notes app installed on my desktop and my laptop. Luckily since my server turning off my laptop hasnt taken any new notes that I care about keeping but my desktop has. So I'm looking for help upgrading both my clients and my server in a hopefully easy way to the newest version while keeping the status of my desktop's notes. I do have my server files backed up but obviously I care less about it because of having my desktop client. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[dosubot[bot]]

Hi @ChromesDuzez! I'm Dosu and I'm helping the TriliumNext team.

You can keep your desktop’s notes and rebuild the other two instances from it. The important distinction is upgrading the local database versus syncing different application versions: database upgrades happen automatically on startup, while sync requires compatible protocol versions. For your older database, the application explicitly directs you through v0.60.4 first. [[1]](https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium/blob/ec864884ba8611f5742d6fd6c63d7f6576af01b8/docs/User Guide/User Guide/Installation & Setup/Upgrading TriliumNext.md) [2]

Given that your desktop has everything you want to keep, I’d take this route:

1. Back up the desktop before changing anything. Find its data directory in About Trilium Notes, close Trilium completely, and copy that entire directory somewhere safe. It contains your database and configuration. Keep the old server and laptop disconnected during the migration. [[3]](https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium/blob/ec864884ba8611f5742d6fd6c63d7f6576af01b8/docs/User Guide/User Guide/Installation & Setup/Data directory.md)
2. Upgrade only the desktop first: 0.58.7 → 0.60.4 → current stable TriliumNext. Install original Trilium v0.60.4, launch it against your existing desktop data, and check your notes. Close it and take another directory backup before installing the current stable release. Let each version finish its database migration. You do not need a v0.90 stop just to bridge the sync protocols when rebuilding the other instances. [2] [4] [[1]](https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium/blob/ec864884ba8611f5742d6fd6c63d7f6576af01b8/docs/User Guide/User Guide/Installation & Setup/Upgrading TriliumNext.md)
3. Set up a fresh server with an empty data directory, leaving the old server files archived. Use the stable release compatible with your upgraded desktop. Leave the server uninitialized, then on the desktop set Options → Sync → Sync server → Server address and click Test sync. This uploads the desktop’s database to the new server. Wait for it to finish and verify your recent notes through the server. [[5]](https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium/blob/ec864884ba8611f5742d6fd6c63d7f6576af01b8/docs/User Guide/User Guide/Installation & Setup/Synchronization.md) [[1]](https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium/blob/ec864884ba8611f5742d6fd6c63d7f6576af01b8/docs/User Guide/User Guide/Installation & Setup/Upgrading TriliumNext.md)
4. Reinitialize the laptop from that server. Close its old app and move its old data directory aside rather than deleting it. Install the compatible current desktop release, then choose set up sync with a sync server during first-run setup. This downloads the desktop-derived notes instead of merging your stale laptop database. [[3]](https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium/blob/ec864884ba8611f5742d6fd6c63d7f6576af01b8/docs/User Guide/User Guide/Installation & Setup/Data directory.md) [[5]](https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium/blob/ec864884ba8611f5742d6fd6c63d7f6576af01b8/docs/User Guide/User Guide/Installation & Setup/Synchronization.md)

Keep the pre-upgrade desktop backup untouched: once a database is migrated, reinstalling the old application is not enough to roll back. You need the compatible backup too. [[1]](https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium/blob/ec864884ba8611f5742d6fd6c63d7f6576af01b8/docs/User Guide/User Guide/Installation & Setup/Upgrading TriliumNext.md)

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[eliandoran]

Hi @ChromesDuzez .

@dosu's answer is pretty much spot on. You need to go through v0.60.4 first and after that you can update to the latest version without an issue.

There's also the option of exporting everything and importing it into a fresh instance of the latest version, although you might lose out on some data (e.g. revision history).

[ChromesDuzez]

Just FYI @dosu all of the links in this response that path to https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium/blob/ec864884ba8611f5742d6fd6c63d7f6576af01b8 are broken with no paths on the branch giving error 404. But thanks for the automated response!

[dosubot[bot]]

Thanks for catching that, @ChromesDuzez. Sorry about the broken source links. Here are direct replacements on main that I checked:

• Upgrade guide
• Finding and copying your data directory
• Backup and restoration guide

The v0.60.4 download page also loads correctly.

You can say @dosu save this to retain the link correction for future answers.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[ChromesDuzez]

@eliandoran thank you so much for your quick response as well!