Introduction

My PKM app enables the storage, structuring, and retrieval of information/knowledge. It supports text, images, files, videos, internal links, tags and search. Ideal for learning, research, work procedures, and personal note structuring. Built with Spring Boot 3.3, React 18 and Elasticsearch.

Screenshots

Installing a development server (Windows)

I'll walk you through setting up both the backend and frontend server on a Windows machine. You'll have a fully functional PKM app ready for use or for development.

Prerequisites

This guide assumes a clean Windows installation. If you prefer a new virtual machine, go here and come back later. We will be using the Chocolatey package manager. If you don't have Chocolatey installed, follow the instructions on the Chocolatey installation page.

Step 1: Install Required Software

Open PowerShell as an Administrator and run the following commands to install the necessary software:

choco install openjdk --version=21.0.2 -y
choco install nodejs --version=20.15.1 -y
choco install git docker-desktop -y

Step 2: Set Up Docker

Ensure Docker Desktop is running on your machine. We will use Docker to run a MySQL server.

Step 3: Configure Environment Variables

This configuration allows the backend and frontend to communicate correctly. Add these user environment variables:

Variable Name	Value
PKMS_API_KEY	(choose any value)
PKMS_MYSQL_PORT	3306
PKMS_MYSQL_DATABASE	ta3lim
PKMS_MYSQL_USERNAME	ta3lim
PKMS_MYSQL_PASSWORD	ta3lim
PKMS_PUBLIC_API	http://localhost:8080
PKMS_PUBLIC_URL	http://localhost:3000

if you have any older Java version installed, verify the system environment variable Path and ensure jdk-21 is at the top.

Step 4: Create directories for data storage:

mkdir c:\dumps
mkdir c:\uploads

Step 5: Set Up MySQL with Docker

Run the MySQL Docker container:

docker run -p 3306:3306 --name mysql -d container-registry.oracle.com/mysql/community-server:9.0 --character-set-server=utf8mb4

Retrieve the generated MySQL root password:

docker logs mysql 2>&1 | Select-String -Pattern "ROOT PASSWORD"

Log into the MySQL container and configure the database:

docker exec -it mysql mysql -uroot -p

Enter the temporary password retrieved earlier and then run these commands inside the MySQL console:

ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'root';
CREATE SCHEMA ta3lim;
CREATE USER 'ta3lim'@'%';
ALTER USER 'ta3lim'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'ta3lim';
GRANT ALL ON ta3lim.* TO 'ta3lim'@'%';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 6: Set Up the Backend Server

Clone the backend repository and start the backend server:

git clone https://github.com/JeroenAdam/ta3lim-backend
cd ta3lim-backend
./mvnw spring-boot:run

Step 7: Set Up the Frontend Server

Launch a separate PowerShell window and clone the frontend repository:

git clone https://github.com/JeroenAdam/my-personal-knowledge-management-system
cd my-personal-knowledge-management-system

Edit App.js to set the apiKey to the value you chose for PKMS_API_KEY.

Install the necessary dependencies and start the frontend server:

npm install
npm start

Step 8: Access Your PKM App

Go to http://localhost:3000. You can now start adding notes, uploading images, etc.

Congratulations!

Your PKM app is now set up and ready.

Optional: Elasticsearch integration

To get the search bar working, you'll need to set up your own Elasticsearch server. After that, create a role and generate an API key with both these commands:

curl -u elastic:password -X PUT "http://localhost:9200/_security/role/notes_role" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
  "cluster": ["all"],
  "indices": [
    {
      "names": ["notes"],
      "privileges": ["read", "write", "view_index_metadata"]
    }
  ]
}'

curl -u elastic:password -X POST "http://localhost:9200/_security/api_key" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
  "name": "notes_api_key",
  "role_descriptors": {
    "notes_role": {
      "cluster": ["all"],
      "index": [
        {
          "names": ["notes"],
          "privileges": ["read", "write", "view_index_metadata"]
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}'

Next, edit App.js and set elasticsearchUrl, then set elasticsearchApiKey to the value returned by the last command.

For setting up the backend, add these user environment variables:

Variable Name	Value
ELASTIC_URL	http://localhost:9200
ELASTIC_USER	elastic
ELASTIC_PASSWORD	password

The notes index will be automatically created on first startup.

Optional: Automatic Backups

For automatic backups, you can use megatools. This requires a free mega.nz account and works out-of-the-box with MySQL 9 locally installed (not Docker) on Windows. It is disabled by default but can be enabled by adding the necessary environment variables.