[GNC] Online Quotes failures in flatpak

[rsbrux]

Essentially what I did, except in reverse and simpler:


 $ cp -a ~/.var/app/org.gnucash.GnuCash/data/gnucash ~/.local/share/gnucash

 

As you say, this migrated my reports just fine.

However, the copied GCM files don’t give the paths to the previously opened books/files, so GC didn’t know where to find them.

 

From: Tommy Trussell <tommy.trussell at gmail.com> 
Sent: Tuesday, July 8, 2025 5:19 AM
To: rsbrux <rsbrux at yahoo.com>
Cc: gnucash-user at gnucash.org
Subject: Re: [GNC] Online Quotes failures in flatpak

 

On Mon, Jul 7, 2025 at 4:55 AM rsbrux via gnucash-user <gnucash-user at gnucash.org <mailto:gnucash-user at gnucash.org> > wrote:

I managed to install the latest GC version using apt, and copied my
personal data from ~/.var/app/org.gnucash.GnuCash/data/gnucash to
~/.local/share/gnucash/. This migrated a lot  of my preferences, but I
was disappointed to find that the copied GCM metadata files do not
include the paths to the .gnucash data files, so the new installation
didn't know where to find my data.

 

Years ago, I delayed trying flatpak because I was concerned that I might need to switch back to a distro-built or self-built version. SO I copied the preferences AND symlinked them so I could run from either place without losing my saved reports, etc. (As it turns out, I have continued using the flatpak versions without switching. But the workaround still works!) Here's what my notes say:

 

 $ mv ~/.var/app/org.gnucash.GnuCash/data/gnucash ~/.var/app/org.gnucash.GnuCash/data/gnucash.orig


 $ ln -s ~/.local/share/gnucash ~/.var/app/org.gnucash.GnuCash/data/gnucash

 

I know the lines above will probably break in email, SO there are two lines above, with each $ indicating a single terminal command. The first line moves the flatpak's GnuCash preferences out of the way. The second line creates a symlink from the non-flatpak preferences directory to the flatpak's preferences location. 

 

SO after running these commands, the flatpak version saves its preferences in the same place as the ordinary distro version (on Debian, Ubuntu, Mint etc., anyway -- I can't vouch for other distros).

 

I don't know why the flatpak cannot store its preferences in the same place, but I was glad to discover this workaround seems to work without any permissions or sandbox issues.

 

-----
Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.