Actual¶

License: MIT

This guide is tested with Actual 26.4.0 on Uberspace v8.0.74. We can't guarantee it to work with newer versions.

Actual is a local-first personal finance tool. It is open-source, written in NodeJS, it has a synchronization element so that all your changes can move between devices without any heavy lifting.

Note

For this guide you should be familiar with the basic concepts of:

Prerequisites¶

Your website domain or subdomain ( port 5006 ) needs to be setup up:

[isabell@moondust ~]$ uberspace web backend add isabell.uber.space port 5006

Installation¶

Install actual in your home:

[isabell@moondust ~]$ npm install --location=global @actual-app/sync-server

Make sure the data folder exists:

[isabell@moondust ~]$ mkdir -p $HOME/actual-data

Service¶

Create a service to run actual permanently in the background:

[isabell@moondust ~]$ uberspace service add actual $HOME/.local/bin/actual-server --env ACTUAL_DATA_DIR=$HOME/actual-data

Updates¶

Note

Check the changelog regularly or subscribe to the project’s Github release feed with your favorite feed reader to stay informed about new updates and releases.

The actual server can be updated with a simple command.

[isabell@moondust ~]$ npm update -g @actual-app/sync-server

To update, stop the service using systemctl --user stop actual, run the npm update command mentioned above, then start the service again using systemctl --user start actual.