A few days ago I [posted on my other blog](https://srsbsns.lol/is-silverbullet-the-note-keeping-silver-bullet/) about trying out [SilverBullet](https://silverbullet.md), an open-source self-hosted web-based note-keeping app. SilverBullet has continued to impress me as I use it and learn more about its [features](https://silverbullet.md/SilverBullet@1992). It really fits my multi-device use case much better than Obsidian ever did (even with its paid sync plugin).
In that post, I shared a brief overview of how I set up SilverBullet:
> I deployed my instance in Docker alongside both a [Tailscale sidecar](/tailscale-serve-docker-compose-sidecar/) and [Cloudflare Tunnel sidecar](/publish-services-cloudflare-tunnel/). This setup lets me easily access/edit/manage my notes from any device I own by just pointing a browser at `https://silverbullet.tailnet-name.ts.net/`. And I can also hit it from any *other* device by using the public Cloudflare endpoint which is further protected by an email-based TOTP challenge. Either way, I don't have to worry about installing a bloated app or managing a complicated sync setup. Just log in and write.
I chose to deploy SilverBullet on an Ubuntu 22.04 VM in my [homelab](/homelab/) which was already set up for serving Docker workloads so I'm not going to cover the Docker [installation process](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/) here. I tend to run my Docker workloads out of `/opt/` so I start this journey by creating a place to hold the SilverBullet setup:
The documentation offers easy-to-follow guidance on [installing SilverBullet with Docker Compose](https://silverbullet.md/Install/Docker), and that makes for a pretty good starting point. The only change I make here is setting the `SB_USER` variable from an environment variable instead of directly in the YAML:
```yaml
# torchlight! {"lineNumbers":true}
services:
silverbullet:
image: zefhemel/silverbullet
container_name: silverbullet
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
SB_USER: "${SB_CREDS}"
volumes:
- ./space:/space
ports:
- 3000:3000
watchtower:
image: containrrr/watchtower
container_name: silverbullet-watchtower
volumes:
- /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
```
I used a password manager to generate a random password *and username*, and I store those in a `.env` file alongside the Docker Compose configuration. For example:
That's all that's really needed for running SilverBullet locally, but I also want to be able to access the application from any device connected to my Tailscale tailnet. So I add in a [Tailscale sidecar](/tailscale-serve-docker-compose-sidecar/#compose-configuration), and update the `silverbullet` service to share Tailscale's network:
```yaml
# torchlight! {"lineNumbers":true}
services:
tailscale: # [tl! ++:12 **:12]
image: tailscale/tailscale:latest
container_name: silverbullet-tailscale
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
TS_AUTHKEY: ${TS_AUTHKEY:?err}
TS_HOSTNAME: ${TS_HOSTNAME:-ts-docker}
TS_EXTRA_ARGS: ${TS_EXTRA_ARGS:-}
TS_STATE_DIR: /var/lib/tailscale/
TS_SERVE_CONFIG: /config/serve-config.json
volumes:
- ./ts_data:/var/lib/tailscale/
- ./serve-config.json:/config/serve-config.json
silverbullet:
image: zefhemel/silverbullet
container_name: silverbullet
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
SB_USER: "${SB_CREDS}"
volumes:
- ./space:/space
ports: # [tl! --:1 **:1]
- 3000:3000
network_mode: service:tailscale # [tl! ++ **]
watchtower:
image: containrrr/watchtower
container_name: silverbullet-watchtower
volumes:
- /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
```
That of course means adding a few more items to the `.env` file: a [pre-authentication key](https://tailscale.com/kb/1085/auth-keys), the hostname to use for the application's presence on my tailnet, and the `--ssh` extra argument to enable SSH access to the container (not strictly necessary, but can be handy for troubleshooting):
And I need to create a `serve-config.json` file to configure [Tailscale Serve](/tailscale-ssh-serve-funnel/#tailscale-serve) to proxy port `443` on the tailnet to port `3000` on the container:
```json
// torchlight! {"lineNumbers":true}
{
"TCP": {
"443": {
"HTTPS": true
}
},
"Web": {
"silverbullet.tailnet-name.ts.net:443": {
"Handlers": {
"/": {
"Proxy": "http://127.0.0.1:3000"
}
}
}
}
}
```
But what if I want to consult my notes from outside of my tailnet? Sure, I *could* use [Tailscale Funnel](/tailscale-ssh-serve-funnel/#tailscale-funnel) to publish the SilverBullet service on the internet, but (1) funnel would require me to use a URL like `https://silverbullet.tailnet-name.ts.net` instead of simply `https://silverbullet.example.com` and (2) I'm still a little wary of putting a login page on the public web.
[Cloudflare Tunnel](/publish-services-cloudflare-tunnel/) is able to address those concerns without a lot of extra work. I can set up a tunnel at `silverbullet.example.com` and use [Cloudflare Access](https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/applications/configure-apps/) to put an additional challenge in front of the login page.
I just need to add a `cloudflared` container to my stack:
To get the required `$CLOUDFLARED_TOKEN`, I have to [create a new `cloudflared` tunnel](https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/connections/connect-networks/get-started/create-remote-tunnel/) in the Cloudflare dashboard, and then I just add the generated value to my `.env` file:
Back in the Cloudflare Tunnel setup flow, I select my desired public hostname (`silverbullet.example.com`) and then specify that the backend service is `http://localhost:3000`.
