Setup Memos Note-Taking App with MySQL on Docker & S3 Storage

What is Memos?#

Memos is an open-source, privacy-first, and lightweight note-taking application service that allows you to easily capture and share your thoughts.

Memos features:#

• Open-source and free forever
• Self-hosting with Docker in seconds
• Pure text with Markdown support
• Customize and share notes effortlessly
• RESTful API for third-party integration

Self-Hosting Memos with Docker and MySQL Database#

You can self-host Memos quickly using Docker Compose with a MySQL database .

Prerequisites: Docker and Docker Compose installed

You have two options to choose MySQL or MariaDB as a Database both are stable versions and MariaDB consumes less memory than MySQL.

Memos with MySQL 8.0#

version: "3.0"

services:

  mysql:
    image: mysql:8.0
    environment:
      TZ: Asia/Kolkata
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: memos
      MYSQL_DATABASE: memos-db
      MYSQL_USER: memos
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: memos
    volumes:
      - mysql_data:/var/lib/mysql
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost"]
      timeout: 20s
      retries: 10
    restart: always

  memos:
    image: neosmemo/memos:stable
    container_name: memos
    environment:
      MEMOS_DRIVER: mysql
      MEMOS_DSN: memos:memos@tcp(mysql:3306)/memos-db
    depends_on:
      mysql:
        condition: service_healthy
    volumes:
      - ~/.memos/:/var/opt/memos
    ports:
      - "5230:5230"
    restart: always

volumes:
  mysql_data:

Memos with MariaDB 11.0#

version: "3.0"
services:
  mariadb:
    image: mariadb:11.0
    environment:
      TZ: Asia/Kolkata
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: memos
      MYSQL_DATABASE: memos-db
      MYSQL_USER: memos
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: memos
    volumes:
      - mariadb_data:/var/lib/mysql
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "healthcheck.sh", "--connect", "--innodb_initialized"]
      start_period: 10s
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 3
    restart: always

  memos:
    image: neosmemo/memos:stable
    container_name: memos
    environment:
      MEMOS_DRIVER: mysql
      MEMOS_DSN: memos:memos@tcp(mariadb:3306)/memos-db
    depends_on:
      mariadb:
        condition: service_healthy
    volumes:
      - ~/.memos/:/var/opt/memos
    ports:
      - "5230:5230"
    restart: always

volumes:
  mariadb_data:

1. Create a new file named docker-compose.yml and copy the above content.
2. This sets up a MariaDB 11.0 database service and the Memos app linked to it.
3. Run docker-compose up -d to start the services in detached mode.
4. Memos will be available at http://localhost:5230.

The configurations are:

• mysql service runs MySQL 8.0 with a database named memos-db.
• memos service runs the latest Memos images, and links to the mysql/mariadb service.
• MEMOS_DRIVER=mysql tells Memos to use the MySQL database driver.
• MEMOS_DSN contains the database connection details.
• The ~/.memos the directory is mounted for data persistence.

You can customize the MySQL password, database name, and other settings by updating the environment variables.

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Configuring S3 Compatible Storage#

Memos support integrating with S3-compatible object storage like Amazon S3 , Cloudflare R2 , DigitalOcean Spaces, etc

To use AWS S3/ Cloudflare’s R2 as object storage#

1. Create a S3/Cloudflare R2 bucket
2. Get the API token with object read/write permissions
3. In Memos Admin Settings > Storage, create a new storage
4. Enter details like Name, Endpoint, Region, Access Key, Secret Key, Bucket name and Public URL (For Cloudflare R2 set Region = auto)
5. Save and select this storage

With this setup, you can self-host the privacy-focused Memos note app using Docker Compose with a MySQL database, while integrating scalable S3 or R2 storage for persisting data.

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