How to Install Actual Budget with Docker on Debian/Ubuntu#

Actual Budget is a free open-source web budgeting app. Similar tools include Mint and YNAB (You Need a Budget). This easy guide will show you how to set up Actual Budget on Debian or Ubuntu using Docker, so you can get your budgeting app up and running quickly.

Actual Budget#

Download Actual Budget:

mkdir ~/docker
cd ~/docker
git clone https://github.com/actualbudget/actual-server.git actualbudget
cd actualbudget

Docker#

Add 127.0.0.1: before the port in docker-compose.yml:

ports:
  - "127.0.0.1:5006:5006"

Start Actual Budget Docker containers:

docker compose up -d

Reverse Proxy#

Install Caddy:

sudo apt install caddy

Open Caddyfile:

sudo nano /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

Update Caddyfile:

example.com {
  route /cash* {
    uri strip_prefix /cash
    redir https://cash.{host}{uri}
  }
}

cash.example.com {
  reverse_proxy localhost:5006
}

Restart Caddy:

sudo systemctl restart caddy

Go to Actual Budget at https://cash.example.com or at https://example.com/cash if you prefer using a subpath.

Make sure to use a strong password and stop your Actual Budget when it’s not in use. This will help reduce the risk of unauthorized access.

Stop Actual Budget:

docker compose down

Start Actual Budget:

docker compose up -d