Firefly III is a self-hosted personal finance manager designed to help users gain full control over their financial data. With features like robust budgeting tools, account tracking, and flexible reporting, it empowers individuals and teams to manage their finances securely and privately. This guide will walk you through deploying Firefly III, configuring it with a reverse proxy, enabling logging, setting up automated backups, and leveraging its unique features.
Installing Firefly III
📦 Docker/Docker Compose Setup
Docker is the most straightforward way to deploy Firefly III. Below is a docker-compose.yml file that includes all necessary configurations for Firefly III, such as database setup and persistent volumes:
version: '3.7'
services:
firefly:
image: fireflyiii/firefly-iii:latest
container_name: firefly
ports:
- "8080:8080"
environment:
- APP_KEY=base64:GENERATE_YOUR_OWN_KEY
- DB_HOST=firefly_db
- DB_PORT=3306
- DB_DATABASE=firefly
- DB_USERNAME=firefly_user
- DB_PASSWORD=firefly_password
depends_on:
- firefly_db
volumes:
- firefly_data:/var/www/html/storage
restart: always
firefly_db:
image: mariadb:10.6
container_name: firefly_db
environment:
- MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=root_password
- MYSQL_DATABASE=firefly
- MYSQL_USER=firefly_user
- MYSQL_PASSWORD=firefly_password
volumes:
- db_data:/var/lib/mysql
restart: always
volumes:
firefly_data:
db_data:
Run the following commands to set up and deploy Firefly III:
mkdir firefly-iii && cd firefly-iii
nano docker-compose.yml # Paste the above content
docker-compose up -d
🚀 Manual Installation
To install Firefly III without Docker, follow these steps for a Linux-based server:
- Install PHP and Composer:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y php-cli php-fpm php-mysql unzip curl composer
- Clone the Firefly III Repository:
git clone https://github.com/firefly-iii/firefly-iii.git
cd firefly-iii
composer install --no-dev
- Configure Environment:
cp .env.example .env
nano .env
Configure database settings and generate the APP_KEY:
php artisan key:generate
- Set Up Permissions:
chmod -R 775 storage bootstrap/cache
chown -R www-data:www-data storage bootstrap/cache
- Serve Firefly III:
php artisan serve --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8080
Configuring Nginx as a Reverse Proxy
🌐 Nginx Configuration
To serve Firefly III over HTTP(S), use the following Nginx configuration file:
server {
listen 80;
server_name your-domain.com;
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:8080;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
}
}
Save this configuration to /etc/nginx/sites-available/firefly and enable it:
ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/firefly /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
nginx -t && systemctl reload nginx
🔒 SSL/TLS Setup
Secure your site with Let's Encrypt:
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com
Automate certificate renewals by adding this to your crontab:
0 3 * * * certbot renew --quiet
Logging and Debugging Firefly III
🗃️ Enabling Debug Logs
To enable debug logs, update the .env file:
APP_DEBUG=true
LOG_LEVEL=debug
Then restart the application:
docker restart firefly
📄 Viewing Logs
For Docker-based installations, view logs with:
docker logs -f firefly
For manual installations:
tail -f storage/logs/laravel.log
🛠️ Troubleshooting Common Issues
If Firefly III fails to start, check database connectivity or missing environment variables. Look for errors like Database connection refused in the logs and validate your .env configuration.
📤 Exporting Logs
To integrate with an ELK stack, forward logs via Filebeat:
sudo apt install filebeat
sudo nano /etc/filebeat/filebeat.yml
Configure filebeat.yml to monitor storage/logs/laravel.log and restart Filebeat.
Backup and Restore
🗂️ File-Based Backups
To back up Firefly III files:
tar -czvf firefly-backup.tar.gz /path/to/firefly-iii/storage
🔄 Database Backups
For Docker setups:
docker exec firefly_db mysqldump -u firefly_user -pfirefly_password firefly > firefly_db.sql
For manual installations:
mysqldump -u firefly_user -p firefly > firefly_db.sql
📅 Automated Backup Scripts
Create a scheduled backup using cron:
crontab -e
Add the following:
0 2 * * * docker exec firefly_db mysqldump -u firefly_user -pfirefly_password firefly > /backups/firefly_$(date +\%F).sql
Updating and Upgrading Firefly III
⬆️ Updating Docker Images
Pull the latest image and redeploy:
docker-compose pull
docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d
🛠️ Manual Updates
For manual installations, pull the latest code:
git pull origin main
composer install --no-dev
php artisan migrate --force
🔍 Checking for Updates
Regularly check the Firefly III repository for new releases:
git fetch
git log HEAD..origin/main
Leveraging Firefly III’s Unique Features
🔧 Enabling APIs
Enable API access in the .env file:
API_ENABLED=true
Use the Firefly III API with curl:
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" https://your-domain.com/api/v1/accounts
🌟 Advanced Configurations
Integrate with third-party tools, such as exporting data to external platforms. For example, to enable CSV exports, ensure your storage directory is writable:
chmod -R 775 storage/export
Wrapping Up
Firefly III is a powerful and flexible tool for managing personal finances with full control over your data. By following this guide, you’ve learned how to deploy, secure, and maintain Firefly III, as well as how to leverage its advanced features. Start taking full advantage of your self-hosted setup today!
