diff --git a/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/Notebook.java b/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/Notebook.java
index ae448e3947f..335e524a16d 100644
--- a/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/Notebook.java
+++ b/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/Notebook.java
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ public void reloadAllNotes(AuthenticationInfo subject) throws IOException {
     if (notebookRepo instanceof NotebookRepoSync) {
       NotebookRepoSync mainRepo = (NotebookRepoSync) notebookRepo;
       if (mainRepo.getRepoCount() > 1) {
-        mainRepo.sync();
+        mainRepo.sync(subject);
       }
     }
 
diff --git a/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/repo/NotebookRepoSync.java b/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/repo/NotebookRepoSync.java
index 72087262aca..f67b71f5d6c 100644
--- a/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/repo/NotebookRepoSync.java
+++ b/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/repo/NotebookRepoSync.java
@@ -93,7 +93,8 @@ public NotebookRepoSync(ZeppelinConfiguration conf) {
     }
     if (getRepoCount() > 1) {
       try {
-        sync(0, 1);
+        AuthenticationInfo subject = new AuthenticationInfo("anonymous");
+        sync(0, 1, subject);
       } catch (IOException e) {
         LOG.warn("Failed to sync with secondary storage on start {}", e);
       }
@@ -175,12 +176,12 @@ public void remove(String noteId, AuthenticationInfo subject) throws IOException
    *
    * @throws IOException
    */
-  void sync(int sourceRepoIndex, int destRepoIndex) throws IOException {
+  void sync(int sourceRepoIndex, int destRepoIndex, AuthenticationInfo subject) throws IOException {
     LOG.info("Sync started");
     NotebookRepo srcRepo = getRepo(sourceRepoIndex);
     NotebookRepo dstRepo = getRepo(destRepoIndex);
-    List <NoteInfo> srcNotes = srcRepo.list(null);
-    List <NoteInfo> dstNotes = dstRepo.list(null);
+    List <NoteInfo> srcNotes = srcRepo.list(subject);
+    List <NoteInfo> dstNotes = dstRepo.list(subject);
 
     Map<String, List<String>> noteIDs = notesCheckDiff(srcNotes, srcRepo, dstNotes, dstRepo);
     List<String> pushNoteIDs = noteIDs.get(pushKey);
@@ -192,7 +193,7 @@ void sync(int sourceRepoIndex, int destRepoIndex) throws IOException {
       for (String id : pushNoteIDs) {
         LOG.info("ID : " + id);
       }
-      pushNotes(pushNoteIDs, srcRepo, dstRepo);
+      pushNotes(subject, pushNoteIDs, srcRepo, dstRepo);
     } else {
       LOG.info("Nothing to push");
     }
@@ -202,7 +203,7 @@ void sync(int sourceRepoIndex, int destRepoIndex) throws IOException {
       for (String id : pullNoteIDs) {
         LOG.info("ID : " + id);
       }
-      pushNotes(pullNoteIDs, dstRepo, srcRepo);
+      pushNotes(subject, pullNoteIDs, dstRepo, srcRepo);
     } else {
       LOG.info("Nothing to pull");
     }
@@ -212,7 +213,7 @@ void sync(int sourceRepoIndex, int destRepoIndex) throws IOException {
       for (String id : delDstNoteIDs) {
         LOG.info("ID : " + id);
       }
-      deleteNotes(delDstNoteIDs, dstRepo);
+      deleteNotes(subject, delDstNoteIDs, dstRepo);
     } else {
       LOG.info("Nothing to delete from dest");
     }
@@ -220,20 +221,21 @@ void sync(int sourceRepoIndex, int destRepoIndex) throws IOException {
     LOG.info("Sync ended");
   }
 
-  public void sync() throws IOException {
-    sync(0, 1);
+  public void sync(AuthenticationInfo subject) throws IOException {
+    sync(0, 1, subject);
   }
 
-  private void pushNotes(List<String> ids, NotebookRepo localRepo,
+  private void pushNotes(AuthenticationInfo subject, List<String> ids, NotebookRepo localRepo,
       NotebookRepo remoteRepo) throws IOException {
     for (String id : ids) {
-      remoteRepo.save(localRepo.get(id, null), null);
+      remoteRepo.save(localRepo.get(id, subject), subject);
     }
   }
 
-  private void deleteNotes(List<String> ids, NotebookRepo repo) throws IOException {
+  private void deleteNotes(AuthenticationInfo subject, List<String> ids, NotebookRepo repo)
+      throws IOException {
     for (String id : ids) {
-      repo.remove(id, null);
+      repo.remove(id, subject);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/zeppelin-zengine/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/repo/NotebookRepoSyncTest.java b/zeppelin-zengine/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/repo/NotebookRepoSyncTest.java
index bd13120a4a3..c768df80435 100644
--- a/zeppelin-zengine/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/repo/NotebookRepoSyncTest.java
+++ b/zeppelin-zengine/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/repo/NotebookRepoSyncTest.java
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ public void testSyncUpdateMain() throws IOException {
     assertEquals(0, notebookRepoSync.get(1,
         notebookRepoSync.list(1, null).get(0).getId(), null).getParagraphs().size());
     /* apply sync */
-    notebookRepoSync.sync();
+    notebookRepoSync.sync(null);
     /* check whether added to second storage */
     assertEquals(1, notebookRepoSync.get(1,
     notebookRepoSync.list(1, null).get(0).getId(), null).getParagraphs().size());