How to Install Ghostfolio (Investment Tracker) on Debian 12

Ghostfolio (Investment Tracker) on Debian 12 (Docker + Nginx + SSL)

Ghostfolio is an open-source, self-hosted investment portfolio tracker and wealth management platform. It enables individuals and investors to track stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, and other financial assets from a single interface — while retaining complete privacy and control over their financial data. With its intuitive dashboard, real-time market data integration, and visual analytics, Ghostfolio helps users make data-driven investment decisions without relying on third-party SaaS platforms.

Running Ghostfolio on Debian 12 (Bookworm) offers a stable, secure, and long-term supported environment for self-hosting your financial dashboard. With Docker Compose, Nginx, and SSL encryption, Debian 12 provides the ideal foundation for a production-ready, privacy-focused investment management system.

Architecture Overview

Layer	Component	Role
OS	Debian 12 (Bookworm)	Stable, LTS foundation for web application hosting
Container Runtime	Docker Engine + Compose	Orchestrates Ghostfolio and its dependencies
Application	Ghostfolio (Node.js + NestJS)	Core investment tracking and analytics engine
Database	PostgreSQL 15/16	Stores user portfolios, transactions, and price history
Reverse Proxy	Nginx	Handles HTTPS termination, routing, and compression
TLS	Let’s Encrypt / PKI	Provides SSL encryption for secure web access

Why Use Ghostfolio?

All-in-one investment tracker – manage stocks, ETFs, crypto, and more.
Privacy-first architecture – fully self-hosted, no external data sharing.
Automated portfolio analytics – performance, diversification, and asset allocation.
API-driven design – supports integrations with price feeds and market APIs.
Modern UI – built with Angular and NestJS for smooth performance.
Multi-user support – ideal for individuals, families, or small financial teams.
Free and open-source – no subscription fees or data lock-in.

Ghostfolio vs Other Investment Trackers

Feature/Capability	Ghostfolio (Self-hosted)	Sharesight	CoinStats	Kubera
Hosting	Self-hosted / Cloud	Cloud only	Cloud only	Cloud only
Asset Types	Stocks, ETFs, crypto	Stocks/ETFs only	Crypto only	Multi-asset
Privacy	100% local control	Cloud-based	Cloud-based	Cloud-based
Cost	Free, open-source	Subscription	Subscription	Subscription
Data Ownership	Full	Vendor-owned	Vendor-owned	Vendor-owned
Multi-user support	✅ Yes	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes

Ghostfolio provides a powerful and ethical alternative to commercial portfolio trackers, enabling financial independence and total data control — essential for privacy-conscious investors.

Security & Best Practices

Deploy behind Nginx with HTTPS via Let’s Encrypt or your own certificate authority.
Store PostgreSQL credentials and API keys in environment variables or Docker secrets.
Limit database and app ports to the internal Docker network.
Enable UFW and allow only ports 80 and 443.
Automate SSL renewals with Certbot or Traefik ACME.
Keep Docker, Ghostfolio, and Debian packages updated regularly.
Schedule PostgreSQL backups and verify recovery procedures.
Use fail2ban or Nginx rate limiting to protect login endpoints.
Set strong passwords and two-factor authentication (2FA) if available.

Typical Use Cases

Personal wealth tracking – manage investments across multiple brokers and markets.
Crypto + stock investors – monitor diversified portfolios in one dashboard.
Family portfolio management – track collective finances securely.
Financial advisors – build private tools for client portfolio analysis.
Developers & data enthusiasts – integrate Ghostfolio with APIs for automation.

Deploying Ghostfolio on Debian 12 with Docker, Nginx, and SSL gives you a powerful, private, and modern investment tracking solution — combining financial intelligence with the transparency and freedom of open-source software.

Create Your Cloud Server on Shape.Host

Before installing Ghostfolio, deploy a Debian 12 VPS.

Visit https://shape.host and log in.

Click Create → Instance.

Select the nearest data center.

Shape.host instance form with the data center location selector highlighted.

Choose Debian 12 (64-bit) as the operating system.

Select a plan. Minimum recommended:

2 vCPUs

4 GB RAM

20 GB NVMe SSD

Shape.host instance form with the operating system image selector highlighted.

Click Create Instance.

Wait 20–40 seconds for provisioning.

Shape.host instance form with the Create Instance button highlighted.

Copy the server’s public IP.

This VPS will host your Ghostfolio installation.

Shape.host Resources dashboard with the server IP address highlighted.

Step 1: Connect to Your Server via SSH

On Linux / macOS:

ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP

On Windows (PowerShell or Windows Terminal):

ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP

Accept the fingerprint, and you will be logged in as root.

Step 2: Update System Packages

apt update

Ensures your package index is fresh.

Terminal showing APT package management commands and output.

Step 3: Install Required Dependencies

apt install ca-certificates curl gnupg software-properties-common lsb-release

These tools allow downloading and verifying Docker packages securely.

Step 4: Create Docker Key Directory

install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings

Docker’s GPG key will be stored here.

Step 5: Add Docker GPG Key

curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

Step 6: Fix File Permissions

chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

Step 7: Add Docker Repository

echo   "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] \
  https://download.docker.com/linux/debian \
  $(lsb_release -cs) stable"   > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list

This enables Docker installation from official sources.

Step 8: Update Again

apt update

Loads the new Docker repository.

Step 9: Install Docker Engine + Docker Compose

apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

Installs everything required to run Docker applications.

Step 10: Enable Docker

systemctl enable docker

Step 11: Start Docker

systemctl start docker

Terminal showing systemd service management commands or output.

Step 12: Add User to Docker Group

usermod -aG docker $USER

Allows using Docker without root (after logout/login).

Step 13: Create Ghostfolio Directory

mkdir -p /opt/ghostfolio

Step 14: Enter Directory

cd /opt/ghostfolio

Terminal showing Linux user account management commands.

Step 15: Generate Required Keys and Secrets

Your history shows four keys generated:

openssl rand -hex 32
openssl rand -hex 32
openssl rand -hex 32
openssl rand -hex 16

You will use these values for:

JWT secret
Access token salt
Refresh token salt
Optional additional salts

Copy and store them securely.

Terminal showing an OpenSSL random-value generation command.

Step 16: Create docker-compose.yml

nano docker-compose.yml

Paste your exact configuration:

version: "3.8"

services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:15
    container_name: ghostfolio_postgres
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: ghostfolio
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: YOUR_DB_PASSWORD
      POSTGRES_DB: ghostfolio
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    restart: unless-stopped

  redis:
    image: redis:7
    container_name: ghostfolio_redis
    restart: unless-stopped

  ghostfolio:
    image: ghostfolio/ghostfolio:latest
    container_name: ghostfolio_app
    depends_on:
      - postgres
      - redis
    ports:
      - "3333:3333"
    environment:
      NODE_ENV: production
      JWT_SECRET_KEY: YOUR_JWT_SECRET
      ACCESS_TOKEN_SALT: YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN_SALT
      REFRESH_TOKEN_SALT: YOUR_REFRESH_TOKEN_SALT
      DATABASE_URL: postgres://ghostfolio:YOUR_DB_PASSWORD@postgres:5432/ghostfolio
      REDIS_URL: redis://redis:6379
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  pgdata:

Save and exit (CTRL+O, ENTER, CTRL+X).

Terminal showing application configuration fields.

Step 17: Start Ghostfolio

docker compose up -d

Starts PostgreSQL, Redis, and Ghostfolio.

Terminal showing container image download progress.

Step 18: View Logs

docker logs ghostfolio_app --tail 50

Use this to check for startup errors.

Step 19: Test Ghostfolio from Browser

Before configuring Nginx, verify the app is running:

http://YOUR.SERVER.IP:3333

If everything is correct, you should see the Ghostfolio interface.

Step 20: Install Nginx and Certbot

apt install nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Step 21: Enable and Start Nginx

systemctl enable nginx
systemctl start nginx

Step 22: Create Nginx Reverse Proxy

nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/ghostfolio.conf

Paste:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your.domain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3333;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }
}

Terminal showing web server configuration text.

Step 23: Enable the Site

ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/ghostfolio.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Step 24: Test Nginx

nginx -t

Step 25: Reload Nginx

systemctl reload nginx

Step 26: Secure Your Domain with HTTPS

certbot --nginx -d debian-tutorials.shape.host

Certbot automatically configures SSL with Nginx.

Terminal showing Certbot certificate commands and messages.

Step 27: Access Your Secure Ghostfolio Installation

https://your.domain.com

Ghostfolio is now fully installed, running securely over HTTPS.

Ghostfolio website introducing its personal finance and portfolio tracking application.

Shape.Host – High-Performance Hosting for Modern Applications

Deploying Ghostfolio, NocoDB, HedgeDoc, Paperless-ngx, Appwrite, and similar apps requires fast and reliable infrastructure.
Shape.Host provides:

NVMe-based Cloud VPS
Instant deployment
Clean OS presets
Excellent uptime
Scalable resources

Visit https://shape.host to host your next project with confidence.