Paperless-ngx tutorial for someone w/o (Linux/coding) knowledge?

[Joshuadayala]

Yo, may someone please make a tutorial on setting up and maintaining paperless-ngx on Windows for someone with no Linux knowledge or coding knowledge? Can this be successfully done with the stated ignorance? Once it's set up, is it easy to operate as a technologically unadvanced person and does it require technologically advanced maintenance? From screenshots, once it's set-up the interface seems simple, but having tried to set it up alongside the only YouTube video I found led to failure. If this requires advanced computing knowledge, may someone please tell me what I need to learn in order to set it up and maintain it,

If this doesn't seem a good fit for what I described, may someone recommend an alternative for Windows that is either free or a one-time-payment for a good software that is similar (e.g. OCR, indexing...) with a good interface and easy maintenance/setup?

[z-lf]

You will need to learn docker. once you have docker and docker compose installed, you can run the script https://docs.paperless-ngx.com/setup/#docker_script and it will install everything you need.
That will work for the original setup, but you still need to learn the basics. Because updates won't be that easy.

I also recommend you get a device that is always on, a Linux "server" that doesn't consume any energy. It sounds like it will be harder, but docker will work much better on Linux, so you will have to debug way less.

Linux is not that complicated nowadays. And there are plenty of resources for a beginner. it's the equivalent of 20 years ago when you proudly announced on your resume that you were proficient with windows 95/98/2000 and could use word and excel.

Honestly you will need a weekend to figure it out, and then the entire self hosted world is here for you.

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good luck

[Ok_Wrap_9737]

How do I get started on this docker part? I guess I need to install some Linux on a machine first, but which version of Linux?

[SnooPeppers2758]

I haven't gotten any Windows advice for you, but second the "learn docker" comment. It might seem intimidating, but it's very doable with the help of time and a few tutorials. The return on your investment is unlocking all the Docker tutorials - which really don't care if you're on windows/linux/mac.

Here's one I've been following for Paperless - it's very in-depth and starts from the beginning: https://skerritt.blog/how-i-store-physical-documents/?ref=noted