Paperless-ng

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Paperless-ng

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What's your objective? Running the container as DMS? It uses OCRmyPDF as it's core and adds functionality to index the documents content in a database and combines it with a UI.

Though, if it's just about the "I want my pdf's to be OCRd, so I can copy/paste it's content", a user in the german Synology forum created an spk package that wrapps OCRmyPDF.

The documentation clearly is work in progress, as getting to the setup instruction wasn't straight forward and the required files are not linked within the setup description.

Setup: Setup — Paperless-ng 0.9.10 documentation
Note: the docker-compose files referenced in 2) can be found here: jonaswinkler/paperless-ng. The env_file referenced in the compose files can be found here: jonaswinkler/paperless-ng . Make sure both files are located in the same folder.

The easy route would be to directly modify and use one of the provided docker compose configurations and the env_file, the harder route would be to "translate" the configuration from the docker compose configuration and the env_file to the Synology UI.

Good luck!
 
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Paperless-ng seems newer and in constant development. I was also thinking of trying papermerge.
 
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Currently I scan all of my business documents into a basic folder structure and rename the files to something descriptive including the vendor name, document name, and date: Walmart - Invoice 123123 - 12-23-19. What does using one of these document managers gain me over just using file explorer? I wasn't aware they existed until this thread.
 
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Currently I scan all of my business documents into a basic folder structure and rename the files to something descriptive including the vendor name, document name, and date: Walmart - Invoice 123123 - 12-23-19. What does using one of these document managers gain me over just using file explorer? I wasn't aware they existed until this thread.
Example, looking for a specific phrase in any of your documents between a specific date period, that are tagged as ‘invoice’ or ‘wife’.

Might give this paperless-nextgen a go to compare it side by side with Mayan
 
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There are a few options. Paperless-ng, papermerge, teedy, docspell and of course mayan.
There is some discussion here:
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Paperless-ng seems to have the best support so far.
Here is one guide I've found. It doesn't use postgres db but sqlite. Postgres seems to be suggested as better.
 
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Example, looking for a specific phrase in any of your documents between a specific date period, that are tagged as ‘invoice’ or ‘wife’.

Might give this paperless-nextgen a go to compare it side by side with Mayan
do you even bother renaming the scans or just load them with tags? Does the software start to recognize the scans via OCR and rename them for you?
 
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do you even bother renaming the scans or just load them with tags? Does the software start to recognize the scans via OCR and rename them for you?
Paperless-ng has this feature. Not sure if it renames files but it will tag them based on previous tags. But I did not see it in action. You can check the features on the paperless-ng git homepage.
 
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I just installed it on my 216+II using docker compose. Works perfectly using postrgresql compose file.
Here are the quick steps:

  1. Download docker compose files from the release page. At the moment of writing the version I used is this:

    the file is called
    paperless-ng-0.9.11-dockerfiles.tar.xz
  2. Extract the files on your computer and rename docker-compose.postgres.yml to docker-compose.yml and modify the files to your needs. I do not like to use volumes but local folders mounted in the docker/paperless-ng folder I will create. I'm attaching mine .yml file. Feel free to use it. I changed the host port and paths to point to my local folders
  3. Modify the .env files to your need as well
  4. Make the folder on your Synology docker/paperless-ng and copy the .yml and .env files to it.
  5. Make the folders inside docker/paperless-ng folder which correspond to volumes from your modified docker-compose.yml file. In my case I had to make: docker/paperless-ng/consume, docker/paperless-ng/data and others you can see from the example file.
  6. Enable SSH, login via putty (or other ssh client tool of your choice), execute sudo -i to become root and go to docker/paperless-ng folder.
  7. Execute docker-compose up -d and wait for the main container to become healthy
  8. After the all the containers are up and main container is healthy create the superuser account by executing this command:
    docker-compose run --rm webserver createsuperuser
    This will let you choose you superuser username and password. The password you can change later.
That's it. Now you can access the webserver on the port you chose and play around.

BTW this is seen as a stack in Portainer but because it is not created from portainer it can't be managed there. I guess this docker-compose file can be easily translated to portainer template.
 

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  • docker-compose.zip
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I just installed it on my 216+II using docker compose. Works perfectly using postrgresql compose file.
Here are the quick steps:

  1. Download docker compose files from the release page. At the moment of writing the version I used is this:

    the file is called
    paperless-ng-0.9.11-dockerfiles.tar.xz
  2. Extract the files on your computer and rename docker-compose.postgres.yml to docker-compose.yml and modify the files to your needs. I do not like to use volumes but local folders mounted in the docker/paperless-ng folder I will create. I'm attaching mine .yml file. Feel free to use it. I changed the host port and paths to point to my local folders
  3. Modify the .env files to your need as well
  4. Make the folder on your Synology docker/paperless-ng and copy the .yml and .env files to it.
  5. Make the folders inside docker/paperless-ng folder which correspond to volumes from your modified docker-compose.yml file. In my case I had to make: docker/paperless-ng/consume, docker/paperless-ng/data and others you can see from the example file.
  6. Enable SSH, login via putty (or other ssh client tool of your choice), execute sudo -i to become root and go to docker/paperless-ng folder.
  7. Execute docker-compose up -d and wait for the main container to become healthy
  8. After the all the containers are up and main container is healthy create the superuser account by executing this command:
    docker-compose run --rm webserver createsuperuser
    This will let you choose you superuser username and password. The password you can change later.
That's it. Now you can access the webserver on the port you chose and play around.

BTW this is seen as a stack in Portainer but because it is not created from portainer it can't be managed there. I guess this docker-compose file can be easily translated to portainer template.
Nice one. This can be added as a Tutorial in the Resource section:
 
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Nice one. This can be added as a Tutorial in the Resource section:
Done!

Please let me know if you think some more info could be added, change formatting or similar.
 
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Done!

Please let me know if you think some more info could be added, change formatting or similar.
Well...

I read through the tutorial. It seems a bit above newbie level but it looks like something I'd really like to learn.

How do you extract the tar.xz file? Are you editing the file on your computer or through your NAS? I saw the paperless documentation mentions using docker-compose, but I cannot find compose in the list of packages available in DSM Package Center?

Why are you going through all of the extracting of files and composing and such when there is a paperless-ng image available in docker already? One of the main things I use my NAS for is scanning and preserving business documents, so I'd really like to figure this out.

1609970163133.png
 
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using docker-compose, but I cannot find compose in the list of packages available in DSM Package Center?
docker-compose is a part of the Docker CLI. So you have it if you have Docker installed, you just need to initiate it from the command line (SSH)
Why are you going through all of the extracting of files and composing and such when there is a paperless-ng image available in docker already?
Because some users like to use it that way and this is a process that's Docker specific, not Synology Docker specific.
 
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Because some users like to use it that way and this is a process that's Docker specific, not Synology Docker specific.
What benefits are gained via the docker compose method? For rookies like myself, is there something that won't work using the existing image in docker? I tried loading it up, but probably missed a setting somewhere. It shows as running in docker, but when I try accessing it via something like 192.168.1.14:2900 where 2900 is the port I point the package too, it will not open anything.
 
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For rookies like myself, is there something that won't work using the existing image in docker?
Synology docker ui in some cases is not enough to get a container up and running. Also with a compose file you can have a one stop shop for all your stacks (multiple containers that are connected/related to each other).
 
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Synology docker ui in some cases is not enough to get a container up and running. Also with a compose file you can have a one stop shop for all your stacks (multiple containers that are connected/related to each other).
I managed to get paperless up and running via the existing docker image, but I cannot login. I'm assuming I need to login via ssh to create the superuser discussed in the tutorial. I have managed to SSH into my NAS, but I don't know where to go from here. Any chance you know the commands to get to the docker image and then into creating the superuser?

Just to make sure we are starting from the same point, below is where I'm at in ssh:
1610046140028.png
 
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Also, I should add that I did not follow the tutorial as far as the docker compose instructions. unpacking the files and editing them are outside my capability right now. I figured I'd try and see if I could get the existing docker image to work and go from there. I don't know if that changes your response much.
 
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!!!!! I got in!!!! After much googling and trial and error (I might have accidentally launched the nukes in North Dakota, I'm not sure), I managed to get a superuser created and have accessed Paperless in the browser. I believe the below is what finally got me in, but I'm not 100% sure.

So now that I'm in, is there any problem with continuing to use the pre-built docker image, or is there a good reason that I would want to compile my own container? Remember, just figuring out how to connect to the container via SSH was a big jump for me.

1610071096667.png

-- post merged: --

Of course, now that I'm in it won't work. I believe that is is probably looking for those consume folders and stuff that were set up using the other method. I had assumed that once I had it open there'd be a place in the application to select the folders I wanted to use. Any suggestions?
 
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