diff --git a/packages/app-cli/tools/populateDatabase.ts b/packages/app-cli/tools/populateDatabase.ts
index b791b9cbb..7bbfbbd0d 100644
--- a/packages/app-cli/tools/populateDatabase.ts
+++ b/packages/app-cli/tools/populateDatabase.ts
@@ -90,12 +90,12 @@ const main = async () => {
 	// run the scripts (faster)
 	await execCommand2(['npm', 'run', 'build']);
 
-	const focusUserNum = 400;
+	const focusUserNum = 0;
 
 	while (true) {
 		let userNum = randomInt(minUserNum, maxUserNum);
 
-		if (Math.random() >= .7) userNum = focusUserNum;
+		if (focusUserNum && Math.random() >= .7) userNum = focusUserNum;
 
 		void processUser(userNum);
 		await waitForProcessing(10);
diff --git a/packages/server/schema.sqlite b/packages/server/schema.sqlite
index 1dc95da07..de0102caa 100644
Binary files a/packages/server/schema.sqlite and b/packages/server/schema.sqlite differ
diff --git a/packages/server/src/app.ts b/packages/server/src/app.ts
index eafb0c312..00aedccfe 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/app.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/app.ts
@@ -282,8 +282,12 @@ async function main() {
 		await setupAppContext(ctx, env, connectionCheck.connection, appLogger);
 		await initializeJoplinUtils(config(), ctx.joplinBase.models, ctx.joplinBase.services.mustache);
 
-		appLogger().info('Migrating database...');
-		await migrateLatest(ctx.joplinBase.db);
+		if (config().database.autoMigration) {
+			appLogger().info('Auto-migrating database...');
+			await migrateLatest(ctx.joplinBase.db);
+		} else {
+			appLogger().info('Skipped database auto-migration.');
+		}
 
 		appLogger().info('Starting services...');
 		await startServices(ctx.joplinBase.services);
diff --git a/packages/server/src/config.ts b/packages/server/src/config.ts
index 51b80014f..00c295565 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/config.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/config.ts
@@ -10,16 +10,36 @@ interface PackageJson {
 const packageJson: PackageJson = require(`${__dirname}/packageInfo.js`);
 
 export interface EnvVariables {
+	// ==================================================
+	// General config
+	// ==================================================
+
 	APP_NAME?: string;
+	APP_PORT?: string;
+	SIGNUP_ENABLED?: string;
+	TERMS_ENABLED?: string;
+	ACCOUNT_TYPES_ENABLED?: string;
+	ERROR_STACK_TRACES?: string;
+	COOKIES_SECURE?: string;
+	RUNNING_IN_DOCKER?: string;
+
+	// ==================================================
+	// URL config
+	// ==================================================
 
 	APP_BASE_URL?: string;
 	USER_CONTENT_BASE_URL?: string;
 	API_BASE_URL?: string;
 	JOPLINAPP_BASE_URL?: string;
 
-	APP_PORT?: string;
+	// ==================================================
+	// Database config
+	// ==================================================
+
 	DB_CLIENT?: string;
-	RUNNING_IN_DOCKER?: string;
+	DB_SLOW_QUERY_LOG_ENABLED?: string;
+	DB_SLOW_QUERY_LOG_MIN_DURATION?: string; // ms
+	DB_AUTO_MIGRATION?: string;
 
 	POSTGRES_PASSWORD?: string;
 	POSTGRES_DATABASE?: string;
@@ -27,6 +47,13 @@ export interface EnvVariables {
 	POSTGRES_HOST?: string;
 	POSTGRES_PORT?: string;
 
+	// This must be the full path to the database file
+	SQLITE_DATABASE?: string;
+
+	// ==================================================
+	// Mailer config
+	// ==================================================
+
 	MAILER_ENABLED?: string;
 	MAILER_HOST?: string;
 	MAILER_PORT?: string;
@@ -36,27 +63,16 @@ export interface EnvVariables {
 	MAILER_NOREPLY_NAME?: string;
 	MAILER_NOREPLY_EMAIL?: string;
 
-	// This must be the full path to the database file
-	SQLITE_DATABASE?: string;
+	SUPPORT_EMAIL?: string;
+	SUPPORT_NAME?: string;
+	BUSINESS_EMAIL?: string;
+
+	// ==================================================
+	// Stripe config
+	// ==================================================
 
 	STRIPE_SECRET_KEY?: string;
 	STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET?: string;
-
-	SIGNUP_ENABLED?: string;
-	TERMS_ENABLED?: string;
-	ACCOUNT_TYPES_ENABLED?: string;
-
-	ERROR_STACK_TRACES?: string;
-
-	SUPPORT_EMAIL?: string;
-	SUPPORT_NAME?: string;
-
-	BUSINESS_EMAIL?: string;
-
-	COOKIES_SECURE?: string;
-
-	SLOW_QUERY_LOG_ENABLED?: string;
-	SLOW_QUERY_LOG_MIN_DURATION?: string; // ms
 }
 
 let runningInDocker_: boolean = false;
@@ -69,7 +85,8 @@ function envReadString(s: string, defaultValue: string = ''): string {
 	return s === undefined || s === null ? defaultValue : s;
 }
 
-function envReadBool(s: string): boolean {
+function envReadBool(s: string, defaultValue = false): boolean {
+	if (s === undefined || s === null) return defaultValue;
 	return s === '1';
 }
 
@@ -99,8 +116,9 @@ function databaseConfigFromEnv(runningInDocker: boolean, env: EnvVariables): Dat
 	const baseConfig: DatabaseConfig = {
 		client: DatabaseConfigClient.Null,
 		name: '',
-		slowQueryLogEnabled: envReadBool(env.SLOW_QUERY_LOG_ENABLED),
-		slowQueryLogMinDuration: envReadInt(env.SLOW_QUERY_LOG_MIN_DURATION, 10000),
+		slowQueryLogEnabled: envReadBool(env.DB_SLOW_QUERY_LOG_ENABLED),
+		slowQueryLogMinDuration: envReadInt(env.DB_SLOW_QUERY_LOG_MIN_DURATION, 10000),
+		autoMigration: envReadBool(env.DB_AUTO_MIGRATION, true),
 	};
 
 	if (env.DB_CLIENT === 'pg') {
diff --git a/packages/server/src/migrations/20211027112530_item_owner.ts b/packages/server/src/migrations/20211027112530_item_owner.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8d17cfedf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/server/src/migrations/20211027112530_item_owner.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import { Knex } from 'knex';
+import { DbConnection } from '../db';
+
+export async function up(db: DbConnection): Promise<any> {
+	await db.schema.alterTable('items', (table: Knex.CreateTableBuilder) => {
+		table.string('owner_id', 32).defaultTo('').notNullable();
+	});
+
+	await db.raw(`
+		UPDATE items
+		SET owner_id = user_items.user_id
+		FROM user_items
+		WHERE user_items.item_id = items.id
+	`);
+
+	await db.schema.alterTable('items', (table: Knex.CreateTableBuilder) => {
+		table.string('owner_id', 32).notNullable().alter();
+	});
+}
+
+export async function down(db: DbConnection): Promise<any> {
+	await db.schema.alterTable('items', (table: Knex.CreateTableBuilder) => {
+		table.dropColumn('owner_id');
+	});
+}
diff --git a/packages/server/src/models/ItemModel.ts b/packages/server/src/models/ItemModel.ts
index 0dfa4db38..85c2c0172 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/models/ItemModel.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/models/ItemModel.ts
@@ -579,6 +579,7 @@ export default class ItemModel extends BaseModel<Item> {
 
 		if (isNew) {
 			if (!item.mime_type) item.mime_type = mimeUtils.fromFilename(item.name) || '';
+			if (!item.owner_id) item.owner_id = userId;
 		} else {
 			const beforeSaveItem = (await this.load(item.id, { fields: ['name', 'jop_type', 'jop_parent_id', 'jop_share_id'] }));
 			const resourceIds = beforeSaveItem.jop_type === ModelType.Note ? await this.models().itemResource().byItemId(item.id) : [];
diff --git a/packages/server/src/routes/api/items.test.ts b/packages/server/src/routes/api/items.test.ts
index b40261733..427c49be4 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/routes/api/items.test.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/routes/api/items.test.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ describe('api_items', function() {
 		expect(item.jop_type).toBe(ModelType.Note);
 		expect(!item.content).toBe(true);
 		expect(item.content_size).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+		expect(item.owner_id).toBe(user.id);
 
 		{
 			const item: NoteEntity = await models().item().loadAsJoplinItem(itemId);
diff --git a/packages/server/src/services/database/types.ts b/packages/server/src/services/database/types.ts
index 678f24dc4..f744c0154 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/services/database/types.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/services/database/types.ts
@@ -145,19 +145,6 @@ export interface ShareUser extends WithDates, WithUuid {
 	status?: ShareUserStatus;
 }
 
-export interface Item extends WithDates, WithUuid {
-	name?: string;
-	mime_type?: string;
-	content?: Buffer;
-	content_size?: number;
-	jop_id?: Uuid;
-	jop_parent_id?: Uuid;
-	jop_share_id?: Uuid;
-	jop_type?: number;
-	jop_encryption_applied?: number;
-	jop_updated_time?: number;
-}
-
 export interface UserItem extends WithDates {
 	id?: number;
 	user_id?: Uuid;
@@ -257,6 +244,20 @@ export interface Event extends WithUuid {
 	created_time?: number;
 }
 
+export interface Item extends WithDates, WithUuid {
+	name?: string;
+	mime_type?: string;
+	content?: Buffer;
+	content_size?: number;
+	jop_id?: Uuid;
+	jop_parent_id?: Uuid;
+	jop_share_id?: Uuid;
+	jop_type?: number;
+	jop_encryption_applied?: number;
+	jop_updated_time?: number;
+	owner_id?: Uuid;
+}
+
 export const databaseSchema: DatabaseTables = {
 	sessions: {
 		id: { type: 'string' },
@@ -307,21 +308,6 @@ export const databaseSchema: DatabaseTables = {
 		updated_time: { type: 'string' },
 		created_time: { type: 'string' },
 	},
-	items: {
-		id: { type: 'string' },
-		name: { type: 'string' },
-		mime_type: { type: 'string' },
-		updated_time: { type: 'string' },
-		created_time: { type: 'string' },
-		content: { type: 'any' },
-		content_size: { type: 'number' },
-		jop_id: { type: 'string' },
-		jop_parent_id: { type: 'string' },
-		jop_share_id: { type: 'string' },
-		jop_type: { type: 'number' },
-		jop_encryption_applied: { type: 'number' },
-		jop_updated_time: { type: 'string' },
-	},
 	user_items: {
 		id: { type: 'number' },
 		user_id: { type: 'string' },
@@ -428,5 +414,21 @@ export const databaseSchema: DatabaseTables = {
 		name: { type: 'string' },
 		created_time: { type: 'string' },
 	},
+	items: {
+		id: { type: 'string' },
+		name: { type: 'string' },
+		mime_type: { type: 'string' },
+		updated_time: { type: 'string' },
+		created_time: { type: 'string' },
+		content: { type: 'any' },
+		content_size: { type: 'number' },
+		jop_id: { type: 'string' },
+		jop_parent_id: { type: 'string' },
+		jop_share_id: { type: 'string' },
+		jop_type: { type: 'number' },
+		jop_encryption_applied: { type: 'number' },
+		jop_updated_time: { type: 'string' },
+		owner_id: { type: 'string' },
+	},
 };
 // AUTO-GENERATED-TYPES
diff --git a/packages/server/src/utils/types.ts b/packages/server/src/utils/types.ts
index 4a6cbfb50..d66d04fcf 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/utils/types.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/utils/types.ts
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ export interface DatabaseConfig {
 	asyncStackTraces?: boolean;
 	slowQueryLogEnabled?: boolean;
 	slowQueryLogMinDuration?: number;
+	autoMigration?: boolean;
 }
 
 export interface MailerConfig {