Trouble setting up first user (Docker Compose)

[flborn]

Hi,

I really like the application and would like to host it locally.
I am using the provided docker compose file and am aware that I have to fill the SMTP server env variables.

However I tried with several email providers (gmail, gmx) and when I want to sign up an account I get the error message
"Something went wrong. Please, try again."

I tried again - didn't help :)

Also, there is no further error message whatsoever, so it's a bit tough for me to tell what exactly went wrong.

The configuration is as follows
- SMTP_HOST=mail.gmx.net
- SMTP_PORT=465
- SMTP_SECURE=true
- SMTP_USER=**********@gmx.at
- SMTP_PASSWORD=*****************

Am I missing something, or is there an option to create an user account without email verification?

[afaneca]

Hi @flborn,
You don't need SMTP configured to start using MyFin locally. SMTP is only used for the "forgot my password" flow, so you can ignore that for now, if you wish.

When you open MyFin on the browser, are you redirected to the setup flow or login page?

[flborn]

I'm redirected to the login page

[afaneca]

That seems to indicate that your frontend can't establish a connection to the backend (myfin-api). Make sure your api is up and running on a publicly accessible url and that you're setting VITE_MYFIN_BASE_API_URL environment variable to that same URL, as per this wiki page.

[flborn]

Now I get it, it's probably also what the other guy was writing.

The API container needs to be publicly available, not just within the docker network.
In my case it means, the port has to be exposed on the host machine (3001, or something else if it's not free - 9001 in my case) and there has to be a local dns entry for that container, in my case myfin-api.home pointing to the host.

Then VITE_MYFIN_BASE_API_URL=http://myfin-api.home:9001 will work.

[pixelthorn]

Sorry for replying to an old thread, but I am in the same boat, unable to create a user, but am unsure how to create a local dns entry for the api container (I have a reverse proxy set up but that is apparently not enough).

This should be in the setup guide!

[afaneca]

Hi @pixelthorn,
As discussed earlier in this thread, it's not enough to have the API container only accessible within Docker or via a reverse proxy inside your network. The key point is: the API needs to be publicly accessible, or at least reachable by any client that needs to use it, including mobile apps or browsers running on other devices.

That’s why simply setting up a local DNS or reverse proxy might not work if those clients can't reach the API. In most setups, that means exposing the API port on the host machine and making sure there's a valid hostname that resolves to the host from any client device.

This should be in the setup guide!

Thanks for pointing that out. I’ll make sure to improve that section in the setup guide as soon as possible.

[networked47]

Hi,

I've also struggled with this too. I got all to work without a proxy, but then some functions I want don't work. First I tried with traefik, didn't get it to work and went over to nginx. I've gotten so far as to get the front page to work when proxied, but as things don't go on I'm assuming that the api server doesn't respond or is not reachable.
I ended up trying all kinds of ways to use a DNS address, but in the end I ended up using the IP straight, also checking that I can access the IP and/or dns name from the browser I'm running from and I still can't get it to work.

[Uuugh]

So I'm sorry. But I am missing the answer to the initial login credentials.
I am currently accessing the frontend locally @ http://192.168.0.103:8181 where I am greeted with a login page.
Any attempt to register (I have gmail info for smtp) is answered with "Something went wrong. Please, try again."
If I attempt to login with made up login I get "Invalid credentials. Try again!" (As I'd expect.)

VITE_MYFIN_BASE_API_URL=https://192.168.0.103:3001
LOGGING="true" # THINK TWICE ABOUT ENABLING IN PROD
BYPASS_SESSION_CHECK="true" # DO NOT ENABLE IN PROD
ENABLE_USER_SIGNUP=true

The browser output for http://192.168.0.103:3001 is {"info":"MyFin API","version":"4.5.0"}
I opened the users table and the table has no users. What am I missing?

[afaneca]

Hi @Uuugh,

There are no default/initial login credentials.

On a fresh install, the first time you access the frontend you should be redirected into the onboarding flow, where you create the first user account and choose the initial settings. Since you are seeing the login page instead, it sounds like the frontend may not be communicating correctly with the backend during that initial setup check.

Looking at the info you provided, I noticed your frontend is configured with:

VITE_MYFIN_BASE_API_URL=https://192.168.0.103:3001

but you verified the API in the browser using:

http://192.168.0.103:3001

Unless you have SSL/TLS configured in front of the API, those should match. Since you are testing locally over HTTP, try changing it to:

VITE_MYFIN_BASE_API_URL=http://192.168.0.103:3001

Then recreate/restart the frontend container so the updated value is applied.

Also, I’d recommend setting this back to false:

BYPASS_SESSION_CHECK=false

That setting is not needed for the initial setup flow.

[Uuugh]

Hi @afaneca. I appreciate the reply.
I set BYPASS_SESSION_CHECK=false , pruned the stack, erased the db, and set VITE_MYFIN_BASE_API_URL=http://192.168.0.103:3001

I also found that I need to adjust the docker compose file. May I suggest the following docker-compose.yaml?

services:
  myfin_frontend:
    image: ghcr.io/afaneca/myfin:latest
    container_name: myfin_frontend
    depends_on:
      myfin_api:
        condition: service_healthy
    ports:
      - "8181:80"
    environment:
      - VITE_MYFIN_BASE_API_URL=${VITE_MYFIN_BASE_API_URL}
    restart: ${RESTART}
 
  myfin_api:
    image: ghcr.io/afaneca/myfin-api:latest
    container_name: myfin_api
    depends_on:
      myfin_db:
        condition: service_healthy
    ports:
      - "${PORT:-3001}:3001"
    environment:
      # Database Configuration
      - DB_NAME=${DB_NAME:-myfin}
      - DB_USER=${DB_USER:-myfin_user}
      - DB_PW=${DB_PW:-myfin_password}
      - DB_PORT=${DB_PORT:-3306}
      - DB_HOST=${DB_HOST:-myfin_db}
      - DATABASE_URL="mysql://${DB_USER}:${DB_PW}@${DB_HOST}:${DB_PORT}/${DB_NAME}?schema=public"
      # Email Configuration
      - SMTP_HOST=${SMTP_HOST}
      - SMTP_PORT=${SMTP_PORT}
      - SMTP_SECURE=${SMTP_SECURE}
      - SMTP_USER=${SMTP_USER}
      - SMTP_PASSWORD=${SMTP_PASSWORD}
      - SMTP_FROM=${SMTP_FROM}
      # Application Configuration
      - PORT=${PORT:-3001}
      - LOGGING=${LOGGING:-false}
      - BYPASS_SESSION_CHECK=${BYPASS_SESSION_CHECK:-false}
      - ENABLE_USER_SIGNUP=${ENABLE_USER_SIGNUP:-true}
      # Reverse proxy trust for Express
      # - TRUST_PROXY=1 trusts the first proxy hop (Traefik / Nginx proxy in front)
      # - Override with other values as needed (see README/.env.example)
      - TRUST_PROXY=1
    restart: ${RESTART}

  myfin_db:
    image: mysql:8.4
    container_name: myfin_db
    healthcheck:
      test: [ "CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "--silent" ]
    ports:
      - "${DB_PORT:-3306}:3306"
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DB_PW:-myfin_password}
      MYSQL_DATABASE: ${DB_NAME:-myfin}
      MYSQL_USER: ${DB_USER:-myfin_user}
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DB_PW:-myfin_password}
    volumes:
      - ${MNT_DOCKER}/myfin/mysql:/var/lib/mysql
    restart: ${RESTART}

networks: {}

.... although you may want to replace my volume at the end {MNT_DOCKER}/myfin/mysql:/var/lib/mysql with the original

volumes:
  db_data:

Thanks again!