View source for Flatpak

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[{{URL:FP}} Flatpaks] are bundles which besides the program also contain all required libraries. Use cases:
:*If your Linux distribution is ''too old'' to offer all required libraries but has Flatpak support, you can install a ''recent released'' version of GnuCash from the '''FlatHub''' repository.
:*If a developer or a translator asks you to ''test'' their recent work, you can use a ''nightly'' version from '''our Flatpak repository'''.
Note flatpak's '''Sandbox''' concept: it uses files in
:<tt>$HOME/.var/app/org.gnucash.GnuCash/</tt> and
:<tt>$HOME/.local/share/flatpak/app/org.gnucash.GnuCash/</tt>

=Known Issues=
;Architecture: While the ''program'' <tt>flatpak</tt> supports many architectures, it appears that the ''service'' [https://flathub.org flathub.org] dropped support for new
:* <tt>i386</tt> packages sometime between September and December 2019, the release dates for GnuCash 3.7 and 3.8 respectively and
:* 32-bit ARM OS after GnuCash 4.4.
:The [[#Nightly_Test_Versions_at_gnucash.org|nightly builds on code.gnucash.org]] are <tt>x86_64</tt> only.
* We do not ship the [[Python Bindings]],
* no ''direct report printing'', but printing them to file and direct printing of checks works and 

* '''Potential loss of settings'''
:This happens when a few conditions coincide
:* On your host system you are using (or have been using) GnuCash 4.7 or older
:* You install or upgrade to flatpak GnuCash 4.5 or newer

:Under these conditions your flatpak GnuCash preferences will be reset due to changes internal to flatpak itself. We have created a fix for this in GnuCash 4.7 (native) in combination with flatpak GnuCash 4.8-1. Unfortunately this fix can only work if you have run GnuCash 4.7 (or more recent) at least once natively on your host system before running GnuCash 4.8-1 or more recent in flatpak. This is currently (at the time of the flatpak 4.8-1 release) unlikely to happen unless the user makes quite an effort. Over time this situation will improve.

:'''How to fix'''
:In case you hit this issue there are a few ways forward:
:* If you can run GnuCash 4.7+ natively on your host and you have installed GnuCash flatpak 4.8-1+
::* do run GnuCash 4.7+ natively at least once and
::* (re)move the file ''$HOME/.var/app/org.gnucash.GnuCash/config/glib-2.0/settings/keyfile''. The next time you start GnuCash flatpak it will import your preferences from your host GnuCash.
:* If you're not in a position you can run GnuCash 4.7+ natively on your host and you didn't tweak a lot of preferences
::* the easiest fix then is probably to manually go through and set the preferences you tweaked before the first time you start flatpak GnuCash 4.5 or above. They should stay set after that.
:* If you do want to restore your preferences while not able to run GnuCash 4.7+ natively on your host
::* you can run the following commands in a shell: {{Flatpak convert-pref.sh}}

:For the nitty-gritty details that causes this issue, refer to [https://bugs.gnucash.org/show_bug.cgi?id=798194 Bug 798194]

* [https://github.com/flathub/org.gnucash.GnuCash/issues/ Current list]

==Resolved==
* To use '''smart cards''':
*# At least [https://www.fosslinux.com/13357/new-flatpak-1-3-2-uses-custom-fuse-filesystem-installation-technique.htm Flatpak 1.3.2] needs to be installed on your system.
*# Because the [https://bugs.gnucash.org/show_bug.cgi?id=798326 software on our build server is to old], you have to follow the instructions in [[#Granting Access to Other Resources]].
* All ''current'' versions are '''''PSD2'' capable'''—an EU directive—of online banking via ''[[:Category:De/FinTS|FinTS]]''/''[[De/Online-Banking|Online-Banking (german)]]'' protocol.
* Current versions of GnuCash flatpak will no longer attempt to recompile all scm sources though it will continue to emit warnings about obsolete .go files: {{Flatpak_Guile_Error_Demo}}

=Flatpak Documentation=
* [https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/introduction.html Overview]
* [https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/using-flatpak.html Usage Instructions]
* [https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/flatpak-command-reference.html Command Reference]

=Installation=
You can configure many package managers like <tt>Gnome Software</tt> or KDE's <tt>Discover</tt> to at least install or update Flatpaks from Flathub, but on this page we will use the more powerful <tt>flatpak</tt> command line tool. 
The examples to install flatpak itself are written for ''Debian'' (in ''Buster'' ''Flatpak'' is already included, for ''Stretch'' and ''Jessie'' backports exist) and its derivates like ''Ubuntu''.
;Hint: For other distributions replace <tt>apt* <command></tt> by your preferred commandline software managment tool and its command, i.e. for many rpm based distributions <SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">zypper install flatpak
</Syntaxhighlight> FlatPak.org offers [https://flatpak.org/setup Instructions for several distributions].
;Annotation for the following examples: <tt>sudo</tt> is not required. <tt>flatpak</tt> is smart enough to ask on demand your desktop for the dialog like under KDE: [[File:FP-Auhentication-KDE.png]]


==Regular releases at ''flathub.org''==
You can have both the ''regular'', currently GnuCash {{Version}}, and ''beta'' branches installed at the same time.

;Note:The current versions contain Aqbanking {{AqB_Version}}.

'''Beta'''s (GnuCash {{BetaSeries}}) are previews and only released in the last months before the next main version, see [[Release Schedule]].
:;See also [https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.gnucash.GnuCash Flathub]

;For Stable Releases: {{Install_Flatpak_sh}}
;Default App Installation Locations
 <nowiki>
 --system (for all users, default)    /var/lib/flatpak
 --user                               ~/.local/share/flatpak</nowiki>
;:Tip: To get the most recent version, run each quarter year (see [[Release Schedule]]): <SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">
flatpak update
</Syntaxhighlight>
;For Unstable (i.e., beta) Releases: Do the process for stable releases, but ''register'', ''install'', and ''run'' as follows. {{Install_Flatpak_Unstable_sh}}

;Downgrading: It can't be done from the average package manager, but it can be done from the command line. It's a two-step command: <SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">
flatpak remote-info --log flathub org.gnucash.GnuCash # list all commits in the repo
flatpak update --commit=HASH --appstream flathub org.gnucash.GnuCash # checkout commit HASH in the repo
</Syntaxhighlight> The <code>appstream</code> argument isn't needed if you have only one repository configured for org.gnucash.GnuCash.

==<q>Nightly</q> Test Versions at ''gnucash.org''==
;Warning:Save your data before using test versions!
Often you can find test versions on the [{{BuildURL}}/builds/flatpak/ build-server]. They come in two flavours:
:;Stable: Version {{Version}} plus ''all recent'' bug fixes, but no new features:
::[{{URL:Build:FP}} {{URL:Build:FP}}]
:;Future: Only available after the implementation of a feature from [[Release Schedule#Goals for 6.0]]!
::Version {{Version}} plus new features, but bug fixes can be ''delayed'' a few days:
::[{{URL:Build:FP|future}} {{URL:Build:FP|future}}]
;Tip: The file names in these directories can be used in the example below after trimming the „<tt>gnucash-</tt>“ prefix and „<tt>.flatpakref</tt>“ suffix.

;Note:The current version contains Aqbanking {{AqB_Version_nightly_FP}}.

<SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">
sudo apt install flatpak  #install Flatpak
# register repositories:
sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists gnucash https://code.gnucash.org/builds/flatpak/gnucash-nightlies.flatpakrepo
sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak --arch=x86_64 remote-ls gnucash  # show all packages
# output should be:
# org.gnucash.GnuCash
# org.gnucash.GnuCash.Debug
# org.gnucash.GnuCash.Locale
sudo flatpak --arch=x86_64 install gnucash org.gnucash.GnuCash//maint-C3.8b-163-g0e6c9e219-D3.8b-15-g0479ece  # <-- change version here!
flatpak run org.gnucash.GnuCash  # start program
</Syntaxhighlight>
;Note: <tt>flatpak --arch=x86_64</tt> is only required, if you have a 64-bit processor with a 32-bit OS.

==Getting Older Releaseses==
There may be occasions where you would like to install an older version of GnuCash - an important bug in the most recent version prevents you from upgrading, you may want to do regression tests, ...
While flathub by default will install or upgrade to the most recent version, it also provides access to a number of older versions. Here is how you can downgrade to one such version from the command line:

# Install current gnucash<SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">$ flatpak install flathub org.gnucash.GnuCash</SyntaxHighlight>
# List all gnucash packages that are available in flathub<SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">$ flatpak remote-info --log flathub org.gnucash.GnuCash
        ID: org.gnucash.GnuCash
       Ref: app/org.gnucash.GnuCash/x86_64/stable
      Arch: x86_64
    Branch: stable
Collection: org.flathub.Stable
  Download: 110,5 MB
 Installed: 319,5 MB
   Runtime: org.gnome.Platform/x86_64/43
       Sdk: org.gnome.Sdk/x86_64/43

    Commit: 612379218b8be2d2dba316db580154efd4521d35f24f9500c3eafe4694dfe4ea
    Parent: c3d6b1ff9fb14beb33d26d11068c4f40fb9cf400c14f090b8f24f077205b173d
   Subject: Package gnucash 5.1 (16bb64cf)
      Date: 2023-05-04 15:46:25 +0000
   History: 

    Commit: c3d6b1ff9fb14beb33d26d11068c4f40fb9cf400c14f090b8f24f077205b173d
   Subject: Package gnucash 5.0-1 (6a579a23)
      Date: 2023-03-29 00:17:36 +0000

    Commit: 08e6ac442846255491fa72592cd8451e274efd7649e430d9f968adc6f0e723f3
   Subject: Package GnuCash 5.0 (c9b14ae9)
      Date: 2023-03-26 20:34:31 +0000

    Commit: 511cf18127561c55b5999121c6b301ca1e90d6cc988a00701257606df7fae86f
   Subject: Release GnuCash 4.14 (b2942403)
      Date: 2023-03-25 23:27:27 +0000

    Commit: eb1be08966b94073a6f219dcf8f61f42c88228d1d1f2aba15da990591bccf3c7
   Subject: Fix GnuCash tarball sha256 (bd9f8e1e)
      Date: 2022-12-18 22:30:44 +0000

    Commit: 7e2d8364088a32d0f6849893a43b41a5623886c2d5c7da3505c023ba0c86fa5f
   Subject: Fix GnuCash tarball sha256 (bd9f8e1e)
      Date: 2022-12-18 22:30:44 +0000

    Commit: 75419560fa6ece2e44ca421e261266cd2469c43970f67ad5d9498cb952274b84
   Subject: Fix Flathub build id. (98f80163)
      Date: 2022-10-23 00:28:02 +0000

    Commit: dc06bee16009e51bfe041891feb8ec36e282b732e87702a2ad914913ec2ea675
   Subject: Package gnucash 4.12-2 (5b8ae13f)
      Date: 2022-10-22 22:51:18 +0000

    Commit: 24135ed2a3a1ed806df526a632ad1d178039648e0c620478dd1bab50312c22e3
   Subject: Package gnucash 4.12-1. (b335bd5a)
      Date: 2022-10-16 14:19:27 +0000

    Commit: 98bea86b69a63cc6ed5a1854344d115a683d6cee7ca56b81e7210f2da2706d88
   Subject: Package gnucash 4.12. (fea1ed21)
      Date: 2022-09-25 18:36:54 +0000
</SyntaxHighlight>
# Take note of the commit hash (the long string of digits and letters) for the gnucash version you want to install. For example to install gnucash 4.14, the relevant commit hash would be 511cf18127561c55b5999121c6b301ca1e90d6cc988a00701257606df7fae86f
# Upgrade/Downgrade gnucash to the version you like<SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">$ flatpak update --commit <commit-hash> org.gnucash.GnuCash</SyntaxHighlight>For the example of upgrading to 4.14, this would become<br/><SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">$ flatpak update --commit 511cf18127561c55b5999121c6b301ca1e90d6cc988a00701257606df7fae86f org.gnucash.GnuCash</SyntaxHighlight>

==Selecting the GnuCash version to run==
To list the installed versions:
    flatpak info org.gnucash.GnuCash
To run an installed version other than the default:
    flatpak run --branch <version> org.gnucash.GnuCash
To change the default version:
    flatpak make-current org.gnucash.GnuCash <version>
As always you can use <code>--system</code> or <code>--user</code> to distinguish between system-wide and user-space installations.

=Configuration=
==Granting Access to Other Resources==
As each Flatpak app runs in a sandbox, you have to unlock additionally required resources like
;USB or Network Drive:
:;with fix mountpoint: {{Flatpak overwrite-fs.sh}}
:;with changing mountpoint: {{Flatpak overwrite-vfs.sh}}
::Now GnuCash Flatpak can see the share under <tt>Other Locations</tt> when it is mounted. <ref>From [{{URL:reddit}}r/pop_os/comments/1702jkd/ reddit: Flatpak app don't seemed to have access to network drives]</ref>
;Smartcard Reader: To use smart cards in [[AqBanking]]
:# on the host—your Linux PC—the demon <tt>pcscd</tt> must be running,
:# the related socket must become unlocked for your GnuCash-Flatpak once: {{Flatpak_PCSC_Socket.sh}}
<tt>sudo</tt> may be required depending on the rest of your installation. 
;See also: {{URL:FP-docs}}sandbox-permissions.html

==Changing the Locale==
Refer to [[Locale Settings]] to determine the settings required.

Refer to [[Configuration_Locations#System-wide|Configuration Locations - System-wide]] for instructions on how to change Flatpak environment variables using ''flatpak override''.

=Tips=
==Getting Console Output==
In case of trouble get the ''console output'': <Syntaxhighlight lang="sh>flatpak run org.gnucash.GnuCash</Syntaxhighlight>
or even better <Syntaxhighlight lang="sh>
flatpak run org.gnucash.GnuCash --logto stdout
</Syntaxhighlight>
The latter will print all logs to the console rather than to an inaccessible trace file.

==Using Command Line Tools==
To call ''command line'' tools like <tt>aqbanking-cli</tt>, the following opens a command shell inside the sandbox of GnuCash.{{Flatpak_Shell_sh}}
Inside you can call related shell commands for [[AqBanking|Online Banking]] like <tt>aqbanking-cli</tt>… or [[Online Quotes]] <tt>gnc-fq-*</tt> etc.  However, <tt>gnc-fq-update</tt> does not work.
;Example <q>Query Versions</q>: This is required on bug reporting. {{Flatpak Versions}}
;Example <q>Fetch Online Quotes</q>: The following enters the GnuCash sandbox and runs a <tt>gnucash-cli</tt> command in a single line (using the example of getting price quotes). This can be useful for automation, i.e. creating a modern [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemd systemd] timer or a classical [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cron cron] job to get price quotes on a regular basis. {{Flatpak_Quotes_sh}}
:;Attention:Notice the order of the arguments!

==Desktop Icon==
Assuming you want to create a desktop icon to open your second file <tt>test-2.gnucash</tt> from your <tt>Documents</tt> folder:<syntaxhighlight lang="ini">
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Exec=flatpak run org.gnucash.GnuCash Documents/test-2.gnucash
Name=GnuCash (flatpak) test-2
Comment=Accounting for my alter ego
Icon=~/.local/share/flatpak/app/org.gnucash.GnuCash/x86_64/stable/active/files/share/gnucash/pixmaps/gnucash-icon.ico
</syntaxhighlight> <ref>[{{ListURL}}/pipermail/gnucash-user/2022-March/100399.html User discussion in March 2022]</ref>, <ref>[{{URL:XDG-spec}}desktop-entry-spec/desktop-entry-spec-latest.html Desktop Entry Specification]</ref>
;Notes:
::;Terminal: Enable it while debugging to see concole output.
::;Exec, Name: Replace <tt>test-2.gnucash</tt> by your real filename.
::;Comment: Whatever makes sense for you.
::;Icon:
::# Replace <tt>~/.local/share</tt> by <tt>/var/lib</tt> if you installed with -<tt>-system</tt> option.
::# Replace <tt>x86_64</tt> by <tt>i386</tt> or whatever you used at installation with the <tt>--arch</tt> option.

==SQL Connection==
Use <tt>127.0.0.1</tt> instead of <tt>localhost</tt>. The latter will tell the mysql client to use unix file sockets. These are not permitted by default by the flatpak sandbox. You can [[#Granting Access to Other Resources|enable permissions]] for this on your gnucash flatpak, though I don't know offhand where the unix socket is located. You'll have to figure that out first (it will look like a file on your system somewhere) and then use the flatpak override commmand to tell it to allow access to that file for the <tt>org.gnucash.GnuCash</tt> package.

Using 127.0.0.1 on the other hand will force mysql to use a real network connection. Those are not restricted in the GnuCash flatpak.

More details: [https://github.com/flathub/org.gnucash.GnuCash/issues/17 FlatHub GnuCash issue 17]

==Maintenance==
===Overview===
If you forgot which parts were installed and in which mode, run {{Flatpak list con}} This user has a system and a user installation and did not clean up it on a regular base. There is
* a system wide stable version from flathub and
* a user specific from <tt>gnc-testing-repo</tt> which contains [{{URL:GH}}Gnucash/gnucash-on-flatpak#readme self built] versions.
;Note: You can learn more about the [{{URL:FP-docs}}available-runtimes.html#available-runtimes Available Runtimes], [{{URL:FP-docs}}sandbox-permissions-reference.html#sandbox-permissions-reference Sandbox Permissions Reference] …

===Update===
You should — also if no new GnuCash version was announced — sometimes run <syntaxhighlight lang="sh">
sudo flatpak update  # sudo is only required for systemwide installations
</syntaxhighlight> to look for updated components of your Flatpak environment. That might look like: {{Flatpak_update_sh}} It is primarly important, if you reported a '''problem''' about which the Gnucash-Developers said, its cause lies not in Gnucash but one of the by Flatpak installed Gnome libraries. But  also for  '''security reason'''s you should keep your environment up to date.

===Cleanup===
As there might now be some obsolate parts, you should run {{Flatpak Cleanup con}} The pinned modules are still in use by your apps.

==Crash: Stacktrace==
[https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/debugging.html Flatpak Debugging] has instructions for running gdb in a flatpak round out the gdb instructions in [[Stack_Trace]]. An alternative if you have <tt>systemd-coredump</tt> installed (it's there by default in Fedora 28 and later) you can use [https://www.figuiere.net/technotes/notes/tn001/|flathub-coredumpctl] to easily generate a stack trace (in gdb <code>where</code> and <code>bt</code> are synonyms).

==GTK Inspector==
{{Flatpak-gtk-inspector}}

==Other==
;[[De/Flatpak/Migrationsanleitung|Migration]] from normal package to ''flatpak'' (german)