MSMoney in Linux - Full Installer

[N G]

msmoneysetup_Linux_64bit_FullInstall_28Mar2025.zip
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QerT2ylQzDK4an76atBpcdivF9Hy-nIa?usp=drive_link

From Install.sh

- added pdf printing install to Debian/Ubuntu/Mint and Fedora. Arch is tricky but not worried about it for now.
- dnf install -y changed to dnf -y install so Fedora doesn't ask to install for everything
- added line 0.0.0.0 g.msn.com to /etc/hosts if it's not there already. It's tolerant of spaces or tabs if it's already there.
- added gdown and pdf printing support for Arch (thanks again to Matt Long)

Reworked the README, removing all the unnecessary manual steps, and created a QUICK START GUIDE section which is also the new file QuickStartGuide. Need feedback on these two, maybe The QuickStartGuide is suitable for on Ameridan's website.

Attached is the new Quick Start Guide.

Nathan

[-Kevin N]

Hi Nathan,

One little correction in QuickStart and one suggestion.

Correction:

Step 6: Between the words Deluxe and Business, change the word ' of ' to ' or '.

Suggestion:

Step 7: Change ' Don't worry about changing anything... ' to ' Don't change anything... '

-Kevin N.

[N G]

Awesome, thanks! I'll make the changes.

Nathan

[N G]

msmoneysetup_Linux_64bit_FullInstall_29Mar2025.zip

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QerT2ylQzDK4an76atBpcdivF9Hy-nIa?usp=drive_link

Now with support for:

1) US Deluxe

2) US Home and Business

3) UK Deluxe

4) International English

5) French Deluxe

The non-US versions are a little different in their performance with comctl32.dll so I had to work around that. As far as I know everything is good though, similar to the US versions.

I never looked at other versions before (except the Japanese version) but it seems like the Intl Eng doesn't have the Financial Planner.

Another thing I learned is that the rooturl.xml files are different in the Intl English and at first it would hang on exit because Install.sh wasn't detecting and deleting them. I think those files are what caused most of the hangs in Money in the past. Once I adjusted the line that deletes all those files the Intl version started behaving. It's like Money isn't trying to contact those websites anymore. Which leads me to ask, is modifying the host file necessary anymore with those xml files "silenced"?

Now that I think about it, I haven't experienced the delay with running Money in a very long time.

So if anyone wants to test these, make sure you delete your preference files. MSMoney Plus is version 17 and the others are version 14 so the registry settings are different. If you only run Install.sh then it's ok. But if you run MSMoney.sh it will create or overwrite your mnyprefs.reg.

If this works out well, then it's time to bring MacOS up to speed.

Nathan

[Gerardus Doedee]

Re Quickstart Guide

"10. The install is complete. Double click MSMoney.sh on your Desktop, or run it from the terminal:"

Did you fix the issue where double-clicking the shortcut on the desktop doesn't start MS Money but opens the MsMoney.sh script file in a text editor instead?

(I haven't tested the latest installer yet. If you did fix it, great, if not, include some verbiage explaining that double-clicking doesn't always work, If this happens, run it from the terminal)

Just a suggestion

Gerardus

[Gerardus Doedee]

Re my above suggestion, the reference to "double-clicking MSMoney.sh on the desktop again" in step 9 would also have to be altered

Another suggestion: At the very top of the Quickstart Guide, list the supported flavors of Linux, ie: Debian,/Ubuntu/Mint, Fedora, Arch etc

Gerardus

[N G]

Hi Gerardus,

No, haven't done anything with double-clicking stuff yet, getting all the other flavors of Money to run was quite the challenge. lol I printed out Install.sh before working on it because I don't have a big enough screen! It's now 10 pages.

Good idea to put what versions of Linux and Money are supported at that top.

Let me see what I can do with the double-clicking stuff first, I'd really like to get somewhere with that. If I can't do something in a reliable way then we can adapt.

Nathan

[Gerardus Doedee]

Another suggestion (to "warn" people coming from Windows who are new to Linux)

If you're running MSMoney from the console, don't close the console window while Money is running. Properly exit MS Money first. The prompt will return in the console window. At that point, it's OK to close it

Gerardus

[N G]

Good idea.

I'm trying to balance :

Quick Start Guide - just the facts, do this, then do this, etc... Probably should be a page or less; my fear is it won't be read.

README (or whatever we end up calling it) - When things go wrong, things to look out for, how it works, etc.

This package has grown significantly more complicated than I thought it would so some kind of manual/guide would seem to be in order. I'll probably remove the list of changes at the top of the README. I probably need to prune the comments at the top of Install.sh as well.

The international versions have some extra steps needed the first time Money is run because the sample.mny file gets converted/upgraded. There's really becoming quite a few moving parts with this.

I'm open to organizing all this information in a way that makes sense to regular users and newcomers. Some fresh eyes would be good.

Nathan

[-Kevin N]

Hi Nathan,

Re:  FullInstall_29Mar2025

No problems to report.

Prompted for sudo password > Choose a number from 1 to 5 > Installed Dlx as expected > all settings retained.

-Kevin N

[N G]

Quick Start Guide, with the recent changes. Let me know if there's anything else.

Nathan

QUICK START GUIDE - WHAT TO DO

Supported versions of Linux:
Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, Arch

Supported versions of Money:
US Deluxe, US Home and Business, UK 2005, FR 2005, International English 2005


1. Download the latest msmoneysetup.zip from https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QerT2ylQzDK4an76atBpcdivF9Hy-nIa?usp=drive_link    (msmoneysetup_Linux_64bit_FullInstall_date.zip)

2. In your Downloads folder, right-click and extract the zip file.

3. Move the msmoneysetup folder to your home folder.

4. If you use MSMoneyQuotes, place it and symbolmap.csv in the msmoneyquotes folder.

5. Open a terminal window and type or copy and paste the following two lines into the terminal:

cd ~/msmoneysetup

./Install.sh

Note: Most of the Install should be automatic and only take a few minutes.

6. Type in your password when prompted. Select Deluxe or Home and Business when prompted.

7. Don't change anything when the Money installation program runs, just accept the defaults.

Note: If you cancel MSMoney's installation, the rest of this script will crash. Run Install.sh again and it will start over.

8. When msmoney.exe runs the first time, DON'T CLICK Next! Click File, Open, and select your mny file. For non-US versions, after clicking File, Open, if you open the sample.mny file it will be converted/upgraded. Click Next and Finish to complete this process.

Note: It's highly discouraged to keep your mny or mbf data files inside of msmoneyprefix.

9. Close Money by clicking File, Close.

Note: When closing Microsoft Money, it is advisable to first navigate to the Home or Banking pages before exiting. Closing Money directly without this step can cause Wine to hang, leaving the application stuck; clicking Home or Banking first has been a reliable workaround.

If this issue does occur, you can resolve it by pressing Ctrl+C in the terminal or double-clicking MSMoney.sh on the desktop again. Please note that this issue is still under testing and this workaround may no longer be necessary in the future.

Also, always close Money properly. Don't close the terminal window to close Money.

10. The install is complete. To run Money normally, run it from the terminal:

$ ~/msmoneysetup/MSMoney.sh

This time it will call MSMoneyQuotes as well (if you use it) and it will take a few moments to go out to the MSN server.

[N G]

Quick Start Guide, more tweaks.

----------

Supported versions of Linux:

Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, Arch

Supported versions of Money:
US Deluxe, US Home and Business, UK 2005, FR 2005, International English 2005


1. Download the latest msmoneysetup.zip from https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QerT2ylQzDK4an76atBpcdivF9Hy-nIa?usp=drive_link    (msmoneysetup_Linux_64bit_FullInstall_date.zip)

2. In your Downloads folder, right-click and extract the zip file.

3. Move the msmoneysetup folder to your home folder.

4. If you use MSMoneyQuotes, place it and symbolmap.csv in the msmoneyquotes folder.

5. Open a terminal window and type or copy and paste the following line into the terminal:

cd ~/msmoneysetup && ./Install.sh

Note: Most of the Install should be automatic and only take a few minutes.

6. Type in your password when prompted. Select your version of Money when prompted.

7. Don't change anything when the Money installation program runs, just accept the defaults.

Note: If you cancel the installation, the script will stop. To retry, simply run Install.sh again.

8. When msmoney.exe runs the first time, DON'T CLICK Next! Click File, Open, and select your mny file. For non-US versions, after clicking File, Open, if you open the sample.mny file it will be converted/upgraded. Click Next and Finish to complete this process.

Note: It's highly discouraged to keep your mny or mbf data files inside of msmoneyprefix.

9. Close Money by clicking File, Close.

Note: When closing Microsoft Money, it is advisable to first navigate to the Home or Banking pages before exiting. Closing Money directly without this step can cause Wine to hang, leaving the application stuck; clicking Home or Banking first has been a reliable workaround.

If this issue does occur, you can resolve it by pressing Ctrl+C in the terminal or double-clicking MSMoney.sh on the desktop again. Please note that this issue is still under testing and this workaround may no longer be necessary in the future.

Also, always close Money properly. Don't close the terminal window to close Money.

10. The install is complete. To run Money normally, run it from the terminal:

$ ~/msmoneysetup/MSMoney.sh

This time it will call MSMoneyQuotes as well (if you use it) and it will take a few moments to go out to the MSN server.

[Gerardus Doedee]

Item 9: take out the reference to the shortcut on the desktop:

"If this issue does occur, you can resolve it by pressing Ctrl+C in the terminal. Please note that this issue is still under testing and this workaround may no longer be necessary in the future."

By not mentioning a shortcut, you bypass the issue of this desktop shortcut not always working. I'd recommend removing the creation of the desktop shortcut from the install script also. Doing this will give you time to work on this shortcut issue as time permits. You can put it back in once the issue is resolved.

Gerardus

[N G]

Roger that.

Instead of the desktop shortcut I'm working to add it to the Start menu. It's working in Budgie-desktop and Cinnamon. I think anything gnome based of KDE should be good. I'll try XFCE next.

Thanks Gerardus.

Nathan

[N G]

I can make it run without showing a terminal window as well. It will still log everything in wine-money.error.log so I think this is good.

There used to be a category in the Start menu called Finance but it's not showing up for me. I can put it in Office but that one is already crowded. Right now it's in Other all by itself. When I post the next zip you guys can try it and see what you think.

Nathan

[N G]

msmoneysetup_Linux_64bit_FullInstall_30Mar2025.zip

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QerT2ylQzDK4an76atBpcdivF9Hy-nIa?usp=drive_link

No more shortcuts on the desktop, we're going for Start menu!

I tested the install in Cinnamon, XFCE4, Budgie (depends on GNOME). Did not try KDE/Plasma. Let me know how it goes.

I've updated QuickStartGuide.txt and FullGuide.txt but there are probably some inconsistencies due to the progress :)

Nathan

[Gerardus Doedee]

Nathan, dude!!! This increases the number of possible permutations tremendously. You're gonna need more testers!!!

I will test what I can and report back

Gerardus

[Gerardus Doedee]

Testing Linux_64bit_FullInstall_30Mar2025

OS: Fedora 41, VM updated via dnfdregora, LibreOffice installed, but nothing else

Desktop Environment: XFCE

Money version: DLX

Went thru install process -> success

MS Money start menu item properly created under "Other"

MS Money successfully starts and runs from the start menu item, however, a terminal window IS opened, showing the MSMoney processes. This terminal window closes automatically after a successful shutdown of MS Money. There is a couple seconds delay between the MSMoney window closing and the terminal window closing (which confused me at first) [This may have to do with the speed of my VM, or lack thereof]

Good progress, tho. We can start MSMoney from the start menu. It even shows the familiar icon!

All settings retained upon reinstall. No duplicate Start Menu item created.

Install logs for initial install and reinstall attached.

Cheers,

Gerardus

[Nathan Giard]

Hi Gerardus,

I can turn off the terminal window being displayed but decided to keep it while we’re testing. 

I noticed that sometimes when I close Money right away during install after selecting sample.mny it hangs when I click File -> Close, but if I click Banking first it exits properly every time. Having the terminal window is kinda like a security blanket for me so that I know it closes properly, especially after years of only using MSMoney.sh. Old habits…

Hopefully tomorrow I can get MacOS msmoneysetup up to speed. Just need the Google drive downloads and the app bundle so Money runs from Applications. All the wine specific stuff should just copy over. Not sure if there’s a pdf printer that we can install yet. 

Thanks for testing ! 

Nathan

On Mar 30, 2025, at 10:22 PM, Gerardus Doedee <gerardu...@gmail.com> wrote:



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<wine-install-Fedora-Reinstall.log>

<wine-install-Fedora-Initial.log>

[Nathan Giard]

I think the delay during install is the script restoring mnyprefs.reg, and when using the start menu icon the delay on exit will be wine saving mnyprefs.reg. 

Nathan

On Mar 30, 2025, at 10:22 PM, Gerardus Doedee <gerardu...@gmail.com> wrote:



--

[Nathan Giard]

Also, you’ll notice a new folder called desktop in msmoneysetup. That’s where the start menu icon comes from. ;)

On Mar 30, 2025, at 10:22 PM, Gerardus Doedee <gerardu...@gmail.com> wrote:



--

[Gerardus Doedee]

All good, Nathan

"I noticed that sometimes when I close Money right away during install after selecting sample.mny it hangs when I click File -> Close, but if I click Banking first it exits properly every time. Having the terminal window is kinda like a security blanket for me so that I know it closes properly, especially after years of only using MSMoney.sh. Old habits…"

I totally get it. Once you see your prompt being returned, you know MS Money exited properly. And yes, I did notice the desktop folder in msmoneysetup

Cheers,

Gerardus

[-Kevin N]

Hi Nathan,

I hope this doesn't throw a wrench into matters.

My Wine programs are, for the most part, all displayed in their own ' Wine ' Start menu folder.

The ' Other ' folder displays Moneydance, Soundy (a Soundtouch alternative) and Excel.  If I remember correctly, Excel was originally displayed in the ' Wine ' folder but I needed to reinstall it and it ended up in ' Other '.

BTW, the Money Plus link in ' Wine ' doesn't work.  The 'Command' field entry in 'Properties' of the link are as follows:

env WINEPREFIX="/home/kevin/msmoneyprefix" wine C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Start\ Menu\\Programs\\Microsoft\ Money\ Plus\\Money\ Plus.lnk

I'm wondering if the ' Wine ' folder was a result of using WineGUI instead of Winetricks when installing the programs but I really can't remember which of the two I used for what program.  It was only a few days after I got Word and Excel working when you offered to describe your method of running MS Money in Linux.  There was a lot of trial and error when I first started using Wine so I can't be sure where the ' Wine ' folder originated.

-Kevin N.

[Nathan Giard]

Hi Kevin

Do you have a Money entry in the Other folder, and does it work?

During my recent testing my install doesn’t create the Money link in Wine folder anymore. I was looking for it to understand how it works. Once I deleted the old Wine entry it never came back. I need to do more homework. 

Nathan 

On Mar 31, 2025, at 1:04 AM, -Kevin N <kmnu...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi Nathan,

I hope this doesn't throw a wrench into matters.

My Wine programs are, for the most part, all displayed in their own ' Wine ' Start menu folder.

The ' Other ' folder displays Moneydance, Soundy (a Soundtouch alternative) and Excel.  If I remember correctly, Excel was originally displayed in the ' Wine ' folder but I needed to reinstall it and it ended up in ' Other '.

BTW, the Money Plus link in ' Wine ' doesn't work.  The 'Command' field entry in 'Properties' of the link are as follows:

env WINEPREFIX="/home/kevin/msmoneyprefix" wine C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Start\ Menu\\Programs\\Microsoft\ Money\ Plus\\Money\ Plus.lnk

I'm wondering if the ' Wine ' folder was a result of using WineGUI instead of Winetricks when installing the programs but I really can't remember which of the two I used for what program.  It was only a few days after I got Word and Excel working when you offered to describe your method of running MS Money in Linux.  There was a lot of trial and error when I first started using Wine so I can't be sure where the ' Wine ' folder originated.

-Kevin N.

<Startmenu_Wine.png>

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/30b95c6b-bcf1-4808-8cf5-a11d7ac39df3n%40googlegroups.com.

<Startmenu_Wine.png>

[-Kevin N]

Hi Nathan,

No.  I have no other Money links in any other of the Start menu folders.

-Kevin N.

[Gerardus Doedee]

Haven't tested in Xubuntu yet. But in Xubuntu, at some point, I did see the MS Money link that you're referring to when you say: 

"BTW, the Money Plus link in ' Wine ' doesn't work.  The 'Command' field entry in 'Properties' of the link are as follows:

env WINEPREFIX="/home/kevin/msmoneyprefix" wine C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Start\ Menu\\Programs\\Microsoft\ Money\ Plus\\Money\ Plus.lnk"

That entry is the result of wine-in-Mint (in my case wine-in-Xubunty) trying to create a start menu for you. Like you said, that start menu item does not work.

Like I said, I haven't tested in Xubunty yet. Will do so and report back.

Gerardus

[Gerardus Doedee]

Testing Linux_64bit_FullInstall_30Mar2025

OS: Xubuntu 22 VM, updated via software updater, LibreOffice is auto-installed as part of base build, but nothing else

Desktop Environment: XFCE

Money version: DLX

Went thru install process -> success

MS Money start menu item properly created under "Other"

MS Money successfully starts and runs from the start menu item,

Note that this test is on a VM that does NOT have any other prefixes other than the msmoneyprefix.

Start Menu screen prints from before and after install attached. Behavior is as expected.

Haven't done a reinstall yet

@Kevin: I'm amazed that the "Other" submenu is listed in your start menu, And you're saying it's empty?

Gerardus

[-Kevin N]

Hi Gerardus,

I haven't yet run the 30Mar2025 build.

@Kevin: I'm amazed that the "Other" submenu is listed in your start menu, And you're saying it's empty?

No. it's not empty.  Per my previous post...

The ' Other ' folder displays Moneydance, Soundy (a Soundtouch alternative) and Excel.

I believe that the 'Other' folder was first created by installing Moneydance.

What does the 'Command' field in 'Properties' display for the 'working' Start menu link for MS Money?

-Kevin N.

[Nathan Giard]

@Kevin:

Ah ok 😉 I’ll wait for you to test the latest. I’ll test again in a cinnamon mint vm. 

Turns out the auto winemenubuilder doesn’t work with 1. 64bit prefixes or if 2. there’s a mismatch between the bit type between the windows executables and the prefix. Soooo, when we started using the 64bit prefix,  menubuilder broke for us. Winemenubuilder looks for lnk link files and tries to run them. Never worked for me in Money. 

I’ve learned a lot about wine from this project 😂 

Nathan

On Mar 31, 2025, at 8:19 AM, -Kevin N <kmnu...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi Gerardus,

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/3e2ee298-57f0-4be0-8b45-9f2f0845fa88n%40googlegroups.com.

[Nathan Giard]

Kevin,

Just saw this part, it has my command that tells it to run MSMoney.sh. 

Nathan

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/3e2ee298-57f0-4be0-8b45-9f2f0845fa88n%40googlegroups.com.

[Gerardus Doedee]

@Kevin:

"What does the 'Command' field in 'Properties' display for the 'working' Start menu link for MS Money?"

Like Nathan: it has the command that tells it to run MSMoney.sh.

I'm about to test with an Xubuntu VM that does already have a (32bit) prefix installed. Will report back.

Gerardus

[N G]

@Kevin,

Because of what Install.sh does now wine won't auto put Money into that Wine folder in the start menu anymore. If you go into your home folder, .local/share/applications/ you should see a wine folder and a bunch of  wine extension files. Go into Wine, and you should see Programs, and then all your previously installed windows apps. You only want to delete the folder that pertains to Money. Anytime you ran Install.sh since our 64bit time forward wine won't create anything there automatically for Money. You should probably delete that Money folder before you run the new Install.sh because it has a command to update the database that loads the start menu. Or you can log out and back in (I think).

Nathan

[-Kevin N]

Hi Nathan,

Re 30Mar2025

I deleted the 'Microsoft Money Plus' folder from /home/kevin/.local/share/applications/wine/Programs

I did an in-place update of 30Mar2025 > sudo > 1 to 5 > installed MSMoney as expected.

New MSMoney link in Start > Other.  Link works as expected.

Since this was an in-place update, the Desktop MSMoney.sh item remained.  
It's OK to keep it there. Right?

BTW, the following is the 'Command' in 'Properties' that I was asking about from the 'working' MSMoney Start menu link:
bash -c "/home/kevin/msmoneysetup/MSMoney.sh"

This is really a polished build
I don't know what else you could possibly add to make it any better.

-Kevin N.

[Nathan Giard]

Awesome news Kevin!

As for the desktop shortcut you can delete it. No more desktop shortcuts!!

I ran my copy of Money this morning from the Start menu in Linux for the first time ever….. this is so cool!!!!

I’m working on bringing all this to the Mac side, difficulties….

Hopefully soon.

Nathan

Sent from my iPad

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/7ddbcd4f-5e3a-43fa-a37a-9c047548cb57n%40googlegroups.com.

[Gerardus Doedee]

I agree with Kevin: At this point, I don't know what else you could possibly add to make it any better.

Testing 30Mar2025 in Xubuntu 22 that already has a 32bit prefix (XFCE)

Based on Nathan's info above regarding how and when winemenubuilder breaks, and how to clean up the menu entries, I deleted the 'Microsoft Money Plus' folder from /home/on63k3nd/.local/share/applications/wine/Programs.

This entry, now deleted, did point to a prior 32bit install: Exec=env WINEPREFIX="/home/on63k3nd/msmoneyprefix" wine C:\\\\ProgramData\\\\Microsoft\\\\Windows\\\\Start\\ Menu\\\\Programs\\\\Microsoft\\ Money\\ Plus\\\\Money\\ Plus.lnk

The only entries left in home/on63k3nd/.local/share/applications/wine/Programs at this point are for windows apps correctly running in the other 32bit prefix

Nothing new to report about the 30Mar2025 install. It finishes correctly, new start menu item under "other" works correctly.

"I ran my copy of Money this morning from the Start menu in Linux for the first time ever….. this is so cool!!!!"

YESS!!!

My point of view when I first started to get involved with this project was: "If you want to entice an average Money user to start running MS Money in Linux, you need to make it as easy as you possibly can. I think you just might be there.

You need more testers tho. Between Linux flavors, MS Money versions and Desktop Environments, I can't possibly test all the permutations.

Again, great work. Thank you so much.

Gerardus

[N G]

To both of you guys thank you and you're welcome ;D

The genie is out of the bottle, we can never go back!

Nathan

[Gerardus Doedee]

Within the next day or so, I will review the QuickStartGuide and the FullGuide and get back to you

Gerardus

[Ameridan (microsoftmoneyoffline.wordpress.com)]

I'll either update my article, or republish once settled.  I only have one PC, so unable to test unless I first install a VM, but I intend to keep Win 10 as long as possible.

[Nathan Giard]

@Gerardus:

@Ameridan:

Sounds good. 👍 

Set backs:

On a KDE system putting Money into the start menu didn’t work on a friend’s PC. I wasn’t there so no investigation. Money ran though…

Porting everything over to Mac so far has been a bear. The US versions run but not UK. 

Also, trying to create the app bundle so we can double click and run it from Applications has been trouble. I got it working a few minutes ago, but still no UK version yet. 

Complete victory is almost within reach….

Nathan

On Mar 31, 2025, at 10:02 PM, Ameridan (microsoftmoneyoffline.wordpress.com) <nxt...@gmail.com> wrote:

I'll either update my article, or republish once settled.  I only have one PC, so unable to test unless I first install a VM, but I intend to keep Win 10 as long as possible.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/d4b99789-15cd-4965-80de-0f7c58db5e9an%40googlegroups.com.

[N G]

KDE is mostly figured out. I really want to put MSMoney in a Finance folder in the start menu but Office is very easy. KDE doesn't understand Finance either so it put MSMoney in "Lost&Found" instead of Other... geez lol. The particular version of Debian/KDE I used doesn't install gdown the same way so I need to rework that part and standardize it across all Linux and Mac. This won't be bad.

Then that leaves me with the UK Money in MacOS problem...  ..almost there.

Nathan

[Gerardus Doedee]

I guess I can live with a couple more VMs. I'll create Kubuntu and Fedora 41 KDE VMs. Let me know when you're ready to test.

Gerardus

[Bill Hackney]

Hi Nathan

I've been tracking your progress with getting the non-US versions working.  As I'm not currently a Linux user, I'm waiting to see if you can crack getting UK Money working on MacOS.  That said, if you can't get it working on MacOS, I might have a go at installing Linux on one of my Windows PCs - having seen references to so many Linux distros on these threads, what distro would you advise a Linux newbie to install if they (only) wanted to run Money?

Just as regards UK Money, I think I'm correct that v.14 doesn't require the mnyob99.dll fix that the later US versions require, but others may be able to confirm that.  Not sure if that might be nixing your efforts to get it working on MacOS.

Kind regards

Bill

[N G]

Hi Bill,

It's just a matter of time. I was actually quite surprised when it had the error it did because I had the exact same error in Linux, and I thought I had already solved it! Hopefully I'll get it going soon. I haven't changed the mnyob99.dll in the international versions since Ameridan said he had already patched them. The Install.sh script only applies the modified dll to the US versions. ;)

As for trying out Linux, I would give you the same advice I gave Tom in his thread "Using MS Money under a new operating system." It's good to use Virtualbox as a dry run before you modify one of your Windows machines, or even your Mac. We should continue this conversation there if you'd like, then others who might want to try out Virtualbox can refer to your notes or questions. Linux Mint Cinnamon is very popular so I would recommend trying that. You can download Linux Mint with a few different Desktop Environments and try them out. XFCE, Mate, KDE, and Gnome are all pretty popular as well.

The good thing about Virtualbox is once you've had enough you can just uninstall it and delete your virtual hard disk (data file that pretends to be a hard drive). If you actually install Linux (either dual boot or clean install) and don't like it, it can be a bit inconvenient to put things back if you're not used to installing Windows, drivers, programs, etc. Even if you dual boot and retain Windows there are some potential pitfalls. I always thought most people coming from Windows would be going to a Mac.

Either way I hope to have things worked out in a few days.

Nathan

[N G]

msmoneysetup_Linux_64bit_FullInstall_02Apr2025.zip

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QerT2ylQzDK4an76atBpcdivF9Hy-nIa?usp=drive_link

(Deleted previous entry for wrong zip filename)

Bad news, good news, good news, bad news....

Bad news: Money was broken on Linux too! I've been trying to optimize and clean up the code and that's when the non-US versions stopped working. (This is actually good news because it means it isn't a MacOS specific problem).

Good news: Found the issue, I have a better understanding. In addition to printing out Install.sh, I had to make a flowchart to make sure I understand/remember what happens when.

Good news: that means it will work on MacOS too!

Bad news: the website that hosts a prerequisite for MacOS is down for a cloud migration.

https://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/download/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/FDo-GitLab-Migrate-Begins

So we're dead in the water for MacOS for now. Hopefully they come back up soon.

Good news: the Start Menu / Main Menu should be good on Linux. Click Start -> Finance -> MSMoney

Future good news: I have the MacOS app bundle working so we should have similar functionality  when the previous Bad News is complete.

Nathan

[Gerardus Doedee]

Testing Linux_64bit_FullInstall_02Apr2025

OS: Fedora 41 VM, updated via dnfdragora, LibreOffice manually installed, but nothing else

MS Money Version: DLX

Desktop Environment FXCE

Start install

Supply sudo pw

Pick dlx

Install finishes OK

Failure on starting Money from Start Menu, Other, MSMoney

Looked at the specifics of the shortcut: Command to execute:

bash -c "/home/giardn/msmoneysetup/MSMoney.sh

(I know how to fix this, but I thought you would want to know)...

Gerardus

[Gerardus Doedee]

Testing Linux_64bit_FullInstall_02Apr2025

Same Start Menu error on XUbuntu 22 VM

Gerardus

[Nathan Giard]

Thanks Gerardus, I’ll take a look at this. Somehow that got hard coded! 

I spent today cleaning up both Linux and MacOS Install.sh scripts. I’m trying to balance “one-off fixes” vs standardized code that works on every Linux. I’m in the middle of a fine-tooth comb check of everything. I’m trying to cleanup problems like in your Start Menu problem. Thanks again for testing.

Nathan

On Apr 3, 2025, at 9:07 PM, Gerardus Doedee <gerardu...@gmail.com> wrote:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/f771ba42-e852-4df7-b210-0a2c811d4213n%40googlegroups.com.

[Gerardus Doedee]

"I’m trying to balance “one-off fixes” vs standardized code that works on every Linux"

Between Linux and MacOS, I don't know how you keep things straight.

[Nathan Giard]

Gerardus,

The way I’m going to fix that error is in msmoneysetup/desktop/MSMoney.desktop (the desktop part of the filename might be hidden). Edit  that file, two lines:

Exec=bash -c “$HOME/msmoneysetup/MSMoney.sh”

Icon=“$HOME/msmoneysetup/desktop/mny.ico”

If you do that and save it, then run Install.sh again that should take care of it. The change will be in the next release.

Thanks again man,

Nathan

On Apr 3, 2025, at 8:04 PM, Gerardus Doedee <gerardu...@gmail.com> wrote:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/6954f795-7ddc-4159-be17-90821bf17bb6n%40googlegroups.com.

[Nathan Giard]

It has definitely been challenging 😥 🤣 

I’ve had to put methods in place to save me from myself 😂 Since Bill had partial success in MacOS SOMETHING must be working!

Nathan

On Apr 3, 2025, at 10:13 PM, Gerardus Doedee <gerardu...@gmail.com> wrote:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/b684babc-0a51-4b6a-95f0-81c186d360d9n%40googlegroups.com.

[Nathan Giard]

Gerardus,

Just learned that:

Icon=“$HOME/msmoneysetup/desktop/mny.ico

won’t work. Please change it to:

Icon=/home/username/msmoneysetup/desktop/mny.ico

and I’ll fix it in the script. 

Nathan

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 3, 2025, at 10:14 PM, Nathan Giard <gia...@gmail.com> wrote:

Gerardus,

[Gerardus Doedee]

Testing Linux_64bit_FullInstall_02Apr2025

OS: Fedora 41 KDE VM, updated via Discover, but nothing else

MS Money Version: DLX

Desktop Environment KDE Plasma

Start install

Supply sudo pw

Pick dlx

Install finishes OK

Failure on starting Money from Start Menu, Lost & Found, MSMoney

(Same as on Fedora 41 XFCE and XUbuntu 22 XFCE earlier today)

Copied .desktop file to desktop. Edited .desktop file on desktop to make it work for me

So far so good. Other than the Start Menu item, everything seems to be working.

Have not done a reinstall yet.

Install log attached

Cheers,

Gerardus

[N G]

Hi Gerardus,

That is a very clean install log! There are a couple of small bugs in the logging that I've already fixed and will be in the next msmoneysetup. I found this when working on the MacOS Install.sh

No installer found. Downloading USMoneyDlxSunset.exe... 

This will take a few moments. Downloading... 

 0%| | 0.00/35.7M [00:00<?, ?B/s] 

1%|▏ | 524k/35.7M [00:00<00:09, 3.73MB/s] 

7%|▋ | 2.62M/35.7M [00:00<00:02, 12.1MB/s] 

16%|█▌ | 5.77M/35.7M [00:00<00:01, 19.6MB/s] 

37%|███▋ | 13.1M/35.7M [00:00<00:00, 38.1MB/s] 

50%|████▉ | 17.8M/35.7M [00:00<00:00, 40.2MB/s] 

68%|██████▊ | 24.1M/35.7M [00:00<00:00, 46.7MB/s] 

85%|████████▌ | 30.4M/35.7M [00:00<00:00, 51.0MB/s] 

100%|██████████| 35.7M/35.7M [00:00<00:00, 41.3MB/s] 

Microsoft Money USMoneyDlxSunset.exe is missing.

That line as well as the Start Menu files will be fixed.

Thanks!

Nathan

[N G]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xn7bBk7_OTNQSgNkF9PiocSwU5y454_s/view?usp=drive_link

msmoneysetup_Linux_64bit_FullInstall_04Apr2025.zip

The previous noted two bugs should be good.

Nathan

[-Kevin N]

Hi Nathan,

I'm using Linux Mint.  Are these most recent builds geared more towards the other distros that you're working on?

I wasn't sure if you wanted me to test these builds or not.

Anyway, I did an in-place update using 04Apr2025.

Once again, it installed as expected.  All settings preserved.

I noticed at the end of the wine-install.log the following entry:

'/home/kevin/msmoneysetup/desktop/finance.directory' -> '/home/kevin/.local/share/desktop-directories/finance.directory'

If this was supposed to create a Finance folder on the Start menu, it did not.

However, the MS Money shortcut in Other does work as expected.

wine-install.log attached

-Kevin N.

[Nathan Giard]

Hi Kevin,

It’s up to you if you’d like to keep testing but since you’re the only one running Mint that I know of I’m happy if you did. ;)

I’m surprised you don’t have a Finance folder in your Start menu. I have Cinnamon and it worked for me. Hmmm I might be missing something.

I’m working on the Uninstall.sh for the Linux side and at first I was trying to remove everything that Install.sh adds to the system. But then I thought about you and your additional prefixes, and this Uninstall.sh might be bad for you. Uninstall.sh won’t delete your other prefixes but it will delete msmoneyprefix and uninstall wine and the other prerequisites. 

On the other hand, running Install.sh puts wine back on your system properly and automatically so if you ran Uninstall.sh followed by Install.sh you should be whole again.

Right now Uninstall.sh is automatic, but maybe I can make it ask:

“Do you want to uninstall wine?”

“Do you want to uninstall cabextract?”

“Do you want to uninstall winbind?” etc

Where it gets really sketchy is uninstalling all the 32bit dependency libraries and all the warnings that come with it. It’s ok but if you’re not used to seeing it, or if something goes wrong (I can’t control every aspect of someone else’s computer) I don’t want to BREAK anything.

Let me know your thoughts. 

Thanks,

Nathan

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/6a6b8cda-b383-4ae8-aa81-cafc6c895be9n%40googlegroups.com.

<wine-install.log>

[N G]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-pe85S0OY9Om2_go7evGbuv8JnRcH4fZ/view?usp=drive_link

msmoneysetup_Linux_64bit_FullInstall_04Apr2025.zip

In addition to the two small bugs this version has a first version Uninstall.sh. Uninstall.sh creates a log called wine-uninstall.log

Uninstall.sh:

- It scans the prefix for mny/mbf files and deletes msmoneyprefix

- Uninstalls wine and all the other prerequisites

- Removes the g.msn.com entry from /etc/hosts

- Removes gecko and mono files

- Removes the files for the Start Menu

Nathan

[Gerardus Doedee]

@Nathan:

I can test your uninstall script on my test VMs, but absolutely NOT on my main (Xubuntu 22) rig.

"- Uninstalls wine and all the other prerequisites"

This will ABSOLUTELY break my other prefixes.

Please include a warning about this in your documentation.

Cheers,

Gerardus

[Nathan Giard]

Understood. Test it in the VMs and let me know how it works though. Uninstall won’t touch any other prefixes, so once you reinstall wine they should work again. If after testing you think they are even too dangerous to include in msmoneysetup then maybe I can take them out.

Nathan

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/8e10354e-bf61-44f5-9330-dcf3cfe7a163n%40googlegroups.com.

[Gerardus Doedee]

Will do.

Testing will take some time, tho. I'm not retired yet and my boss expects me to put in 40hrs/wk at a minimum :) Off to do other stuff right now....

Gerardus

[Nathan Giard]

No worries, glad to have you along ;)

Nathan

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/530829ed-1b61-4684-af4f-d7f18fdb49fbn%40googlegroups.com.

[-Kevin N]

Hi Nathan,

That's for the Mac OS.  Correct?

-Kevin N.

On Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 7:47:28 AM UTC-4 gia...@gmail.com wrote:

msmoneysetup_MacOS_FullInstall_05Apr2025.zip

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E3GOEZkMGnT-X6wXQBV07OTT_TqxNO06/view?usp=drive_link

Found a problem with Arch and installing gdown, leading to not downloading Money installers.

Nathan

[Nathan Giard]

No that was Linux. Should only apply to Arch Linux. 

Sent from my iPhone

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/0638fedc-318d-488d-bace-e7f7be4c71a2n%40googlegroups.com.

[N G]

Oh thanks Kevin. Goofed up the name of the installer. I'll get this fixed.

[N G]

msmoneysetup_Linux_64bit_FullInstall_05Apr2025.zip

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E3GOEZkMGnT-X6wXQBV07OTT_TqxNO06/view?usp=drive_link

Found a problem with Arch and installing gdown, leading to not downloading Money installers.

As discussed previously, sometimes my wires get crossed between the two versions :D

Nathan

[N G]

msmoneysetup_Linux_64bit_FullInstall_07Apr2025.zip

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yrWy-TbUxth85e6gGaoNM5bYWHv5Uy7k/view?usp=drive_link

Finally got the Arch Linux install fixed.

More importantly, the Start Menu icons should be working. When you press Start/Menu, MSMoney should show up under both Office and Finance. Tested in Cinnamon and KDE. If this works correctly for everyone I might remove it from Office.

The Uninstall.sh needs a little work now.

Nathan

[-Kevin N]

Hi Nathan,

Re: 07Apr2025

Mint Cinnamon

Deleted msmoneysetup & msmoneyprefix

Full installation from scratch.

sudo > #1 - MSMoney Dlx

Installation executed & completed as expected.  

'Finance' folder created on the Start Menu with a working MSMoney shortcut.

The 'Office' folder on the Start Menu also contains a working MSMoney shortcut.

The 'Other' folder on the Start Menu no longer contains an MSMoney shortcut.

One suggestion and one question...

I would suggest that the Uninstall.sh script be placed in its own folder to help eliminate accidentally clicking on it or otherwise running unintentionally.

I confess that I haven't run it so I don't know if the proper safeguards are in place to prevent it from running without adequate user-intervention.

At the risk of seeming the wet blanket, I actually prefer the placement of the MSMoney shortcut in the Start Menu > Other folder.  My reasoning is that Moneydance also places its Start Menu shortcut in the 'Other' folder.  Having them both together is more convenient. 

Can you restore the option of placing the MSMoney shortcut into the 'Other' folder or can you refresh my memory of how to move one of the existing MSMoney shortcuts back to the 'Other' folder?

-Kevin N.

[N G]

Hi Kevin,

I can make a scripts folder and put both MSMoney.sh and Uninstall.sh in it. MSMoney.sh is run from the Main Menu now, and Uninstall.sh can be out of the way. I don't think it will run by clicking on it but that's ok. Actually, the footprint in Linux is so much smaller than on MacOS maybe Uninstall.sh is not necessary? I use it all the time when testing, it makes the cycle much faster.

For the Main Menu Finance folder, run this:

rm ~/.local/share/desktop-directories/finance.directory

If that doesn't work:

rm ~/.config/menus/applications-merged/finance.menu

I'm going to leave it in Install.sh but for you that's what you need. If you change your mind just run Install.sh again.

Nathan

[-Kevin N]

Hi Nathan,

I was able to remove the 'Finance' folder with the commands you provided (I think it was the second one).  Thank you for that.

I extracted 04Apr2025 > ran Install.sh in order to restore the MSMoney shortcut to the Start Menu > 'Other' folder.

I there something that I can 'comment out' of future versions of Install.sh so that it doesn't delete MSMoney from the Start Menu > 'Other' folder?

-Kevin N.

[N G]

Yes! At the bottom of Install.sh:

# Copy the desktop and directory files
mv -v $DESKTOP_FILE-temp $HOME/.local/share/applications/MSMoney.desktop 2>&1 | tee -a $LOGS
mv -v $DESKTOP_DIR-temp $HOME/.local/share/desktop-directories/finance.directory 2>&1 | tee -a $LOGS

#cp -v $DESKTOP_DIR $HOME/.local/share/desktop-directories 2>&1 | tee -a $LOGS

cp -v $WINESETUP/desktop/finance.menu $HOME/.config/menus/applications-merged/

update-desktop-database $HOME/.local/share/applications 2>&1 | tee -a $LOGS

kbuildsycoca5

Make it like this:

# Copy the desktop and directory files
mv -v $DESKTOP_FILE-temp $HOME/.local/share/applications/MSMoney.desktop 2>&1 | tee -a $LOGS
#mv -v $DESKTOP_DIR-temp $HOME/.local/share/desktop-directories/finance.directory 2>&1 | tee -a $LOGS

#cp -v $DESKTOP_DIR $HOME/.local/share/desktop-directories 2>&1 | tee -a $LOGS

#cp -v $WINESETUP/desktop/finance.menu $HOME/.config/menus/applications-merged/

update-desktop-database $HOME/.local/share/applications 2>&1 | tee -a $LOGS

kbuildsycoca5

One was already commented out, it won't be there in the future.

Nathan

[N G]

Kevin,

Another possibility is to edit the desktop file for Moneydance and have it put into the Finance folder as well. Then both your money programs will still be separate but together. Let me know if you're interested in this.

Nathan

[-Kevin N]

Hi Nathan,

I thought that you might suggest moving the Moneydance shortcut to Finance but the way I see it is that once you're finished tweaking the MSMoney script then that should likely be the last time it is installed or at least, installations won't be very frequent.  Moneydance still gets updated frequently.  I partake in their Alpha and Beta testing too so that requires frequent reinstallations.  So, I'm assuming that Moneydance will likely keep putting its shortcut in the 'Other' folder.  Correct?

I'll try commenting out the lines that you supplied in Install.sh in 07Apr2025 and see how that goes.

-Kevin N.

[-Kevin N]

Hi Nathan,

I ran 07Apr2025 as an in-place update with the lines in Install.sh commented out.  

The MSMoney shortcut was removed from 'Other' and put into 'Office'.
wine-install.log attached

[Nathan Giard]

Hi Kevin,

Ask my wife, every time I say “OK, with this fixed that should be it…” My record on this hasn’t been very good 😂 

Hopefully by the end of April everything will work, no bugs, and code optimized and clean. It took a little while to understand the rules on the Main menu but I think we’re good.

So:

1. Make a folder called scripts or uninstall and put Uninstall.sh in it.

2. Move MSMoney.sh to the desktop folder

3. Update Install.sh to know to look for MSMoney.sh in desktop

4. Documentation….

Maybe you could suggest the Moneydance guys move it to Finance? ;) You could give them my desktop files if they need help! 🤣 If they aren’t receptive, we could copy their moneydance.desktop file to your msmoneysetup/desktop folder, edit it, and then you could rerun Install.sh to put it all back if things change 😆 I’m kidding! But the more I learn, the more options we seem to have and the more ideas I get.

Nathan

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/63d21637-11ff-452c-be81-d468139d70e6n%40googlegroups.com.

[-Kevin N]

Hi Nathan,

I spoke with your wife :) she and I agreed that as far as Mint is concerned, the 30Mar2025 build was an RC build.

So, for now anyway, I'm going to stick with that version as the Start Menu setup suits my needs the best.

I love that your lust for knowledge keeps you tinkering with the scripts, always trying to make them better.  I've always said that 'if you stop learning, you stop living'.

-Kevin N.

[N G]

That sounds about as good as it gets! Thanks for that, now if only I could get the Mac version to behave as well as the Linux side.

Nathan

[Gerardus Doedee]

Testing Linux_64bit_FullInstall_07Apr2025

OS: Fedora 41 VM, updated via dnfdragora, LibreOffice manually installed but nothing else

(note: Samba-winbind, xdg-utils, wget, zenity came with OS (were pre-installed))

Desktop Environment: XFCE

Money version: DLX

Initial install

install.sh hangs on very last cmd:

kbuildsycoca5

Ctrl-C to break out of console session

MS Money shortcut found in 2 places: Office Folder and Finance Folder

Money runs fine from either shortcut

Reinstall

install.sh hangs on very last cmd:

kbuildsycoca5

Ctrl-C to break out of console session

MS Money shortcut found in 2 places: Office Folder and Finance Folder

Money runs fine from either shortcut

Uninstall

(Philosophical question: What is the exact object of uninstall: 

Remove MSMoney and its prereqs

-or-

Get the system back into the same state as it was before initial install)

Upon uninstall:

Both MS Money shortcuts are removed

Only 1 line logged in uninstall.log

Captured contents from uninstall console window

From console window log: OS - pre-installed components xdg-utils, zenity were uninstalled, pre-installed components samba-winbind, wget were left in place

Logs attached.

Let's discuss the uninstall.....

Gerardus

[Nathan Giard]

Hi Gerardus,

install.sh hangs on very last cmd:

kbuildsycoca5

Ctrl-C to break out of console session

That line is for KDE and should be fixed in the new version. It’s interesting since Debian/Ubuntu ignores it but Fedora does not. 

Uninstall

(Philosophical question: What is the exact object of uninstall: 

Remove MSMoney and its prereqs

-or-

Get the system back into the same state as it was before initial install)

I think I’ve been struggling with this too. It’s very hard to know what the user’s system was like before, and I don’t want to remove anything that the user still needs. 

I think because on the Mac everything that is needed for Money doesn’t already exist. So removing it all is no problem if that’s what is desired. Linux is different, much smaller footprint for the dependancies. I think the Uninstall is probably most useful for me for testing and maybe that’s it. Kevin is a good example. Even if he doesn’t use Money he still needs wine for other reasons. Maybe Uninstall for Linux just doesn’t work or is too hard to do. What do you guys think? This is good, I’ve wanted to have this conversation to see what the consensus is. 

If Uninstall.sh is still desired in some form the logging will be fixed.

Nathan

On Apr 9, 2025, at 12:47 AM, Gerardus Doedee <gerardu...@gmail.com> wrote:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/b7dc7770-45ef-49bc-bb7d-d824f068efc9n%40googlegroups.com.

<wine-install-Initial.log>

<wine-uninstall.log>

<wine-install-Reinstall.log>

<wine-uninstall-console-capture.log>

[N G]

msmoneysetup_Linux_64bit_FullInstall_10Apr2025.zip

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DLQvT9ITmKAUP0FEF9y0qJ887KpFP8v0/view?usp=drive_link

Not much changed, just cleaning up code in Install.sh, and fixed logging for Uninstall.sh.

For Uninstall.sh, more food for thought for the philosophical discussion:

Since most of the packages aren't very large except for wine maybe it should only remove what is Money specific? So winbind, cabextract, main menu shortcut? Or maybe none of those; just delete the prefix and the Main menu items?

I think for Debian/Ubuntu/Mint my concern is the winehq repo and the i386 architecture (32bit libraries).  If someone doesn't want wine anymore it's probably not great to just leave the i386 libraries and the winehq repo source installed.  I thought about not installing all the 32bit libraries in the first place but then that affects you guys' 32bit prefixes.

Maybe it's better to not have Uninstall.sh as a script but maybe a short list of instructions? A document called HOWTO_Uninstall? Then I can explain what Uninstall.sh does? Or maybe have Uninstall.sh ask if the user wants wine uninstalled?

Nathan

[Gerardus Doedee]

Don't have time to test right now.

My $.02 for today:

Overall thoughts on uninstall:

Don't break anything

Don't uninstall anything you didn't install (some other software pre-installed on the machine (God knows what) may depend on what you uninstalled)

"So winbind, cabextract, main menu shortcut? Or maybe none of those; just delete the prefix and the Main menu items?"

I'd prefer: None of those, just delete the prefix and the menu items (and maybe /msmoneysetup? [I need to think about deleting /msmoneysetup a little more before I say definitely])

"Maybe it's better to not have Uninstall.sh as a script but maybe a short list of instructions? A document called HOWTO_Uninstall? Then I can explain what Uninstall.sh does? Or maybe have Uninstall.sh ask if the user wants wine uninstalled?"

I'd prefer: Not have Uninstall.sh as a script but maybe a short list of instructions

That way, you're (almost) sure not to break anything. You will also not uninstall anything that came pre-installed on the machine.

Gerardus

[N G]

Thanks Gerardus, you and Kevin have done a lot with testing and it's very appreciated.

I'll just go with the guide then, breaking stuff goes against "do no harm." Since Uninstall.sh would run from inside msmoneysetup I can't delete it while something is still running from inside it. And if there were any backup mny files in there that would be bad.

Except for optimizing code and documentation I think I'm more or less done with the Linux side.

Nathan

[-Kevin N]

Hi Nathan,

Sorry about being late to the party re the uninstaller.  It seems you've already come to a conclusion.

I agree that "uninstall" should be provided as instructions rather than a script.  The script is too 'dangerous'.

Although, I can't imagine anyone wanting to uninstall once they see how well you've gotten MS Money to run on Linux.

-Kevin N.

[M B II]

Thanks from me also.   I installed the April 4th one and it has been working great.   msmoneysetup_Linux_64bit_FullInstall_04Apr2025

Linux Mint 22.1 cinnamon.

I'm 99% moved to Mint from windows, but one keepass plugin is thwarting me from wiping my windows drive.   (KeePassMasterSlaveSync).   Maybe I'll learn programming soon.     Thanks for all the efforts and sharing the wine method here for MSMoney.

[Dan Battagin]

So, I popped in here after not visiting for quite some time (and really just lurking before that). Very impressed with the work to get Money going on Linux and MacOS - super cool.

I'm curious, since I saw it runs on Debian and a few other distros. Will it run in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)?

Cheers,

Dan

[Nathan Giard]

Hi Dan,

I don’t run Windows so I’m not up to speed on WSL. That’s Linux support in Windows? That would be like running MSMoney on Linux on Windows? I don’t know but it sounds complicated 😆 If you have Windows then probably just run MSMoney natively would be my guess.

Nathan

On Apr 11, 2025, at 1:29 PM, Dan Battagin <danba...@gmail.com> wrote:

So, I popped in here after not visiting for quite some time (and really just lurking before that). Very impressed with the work to get Money going on Linux and MacOS - super cool.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/08934fc5-ea9b-47cf-ab2c-5e4d9d0440ben%40googlegroups.com.

[Nathan Giard]

Hi MB,

Glad it’s working for you, and welcome!

Nathan

On Apr 11, 2025, at 10:17 AM, M B II <mabro...@gmail.com> wrote:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/f00177e5-906a-41c9-b1e9-e88484ab414an%40googlegroups.com.

[N G]

This is what I've come up with for a Linux Uninstall Guide, let me know if there are any tweaks.

Nathan

Microsoft Money Uninstall Guide (Linux)
=============================================

Last updated: 12 April 2025
Author: NGiard

This guide walks you through completely removing Microsoft Money, its Wine prefix, dependencies, and desktop menu entries. Adjust and perform the steps that won't negatively affect your system.


------------------------------------------------------------
Operating System Support
------------------------------------------------------------

This guide supports:
  - Debian/Ubuntu/Mint
  - Fedora
  - Arch Linux
  - (MacOS users: use Uninstall.sh in the MacOS version of msmoneysetup)


------------------------------------------------------------
Step 1: Backup Microsoft Money Files
------------------------------------------------------------

Before deleting your Wine prefix, back up any .mny or .mbf data files (except sample.mny)
to the backup directory if necessary:

  mkdir -p ~/msmoneysetup/mnybackups/$(date +%d-%m-%Y-%R)
  find ~/msmoneyprefix \( -iname "*.mny" -o -iname "*.mbf" \) \
    ! -iname "sample.mny" ! -iname "sample.mbf" -type f \
    -exec cp -v {} ~/msmoneysetup/mnybackups/$(date +%d-%m-%Y-%R)/ \;


------------------------------------------------------------
Step 2: Delete the Wine Prefix
------------------------------------------------------------

  rm -rf ~/msmoneyprefix

This removes Microsoft Money's isolated Wine environment. Alternatively, go into your home folder in your file manager and delete msmoneyprefix.


------------------------------------------------------------
Step 3: Remove Microsoft Money Dependencies
------------------------------------------------------------

3.1 Remove Python tools:
  pipx uninstall-all

3.2 Remove Wine and related tools. Adjust the command as required:

Debian/Ubuntu:
  sudo apt-get -y remove winehq-stable wine-stable wine-stable-amd64 wine-stable-i386 cabextract winbind printer-driver-cups-pdf pipx

Fedora:
  sudo dnf -y remove wine samba-winbind cabextract cups-pdf wine-printer pipx

Arch Linux:
  sudo pacman -Rsn --noconfirm wine-staging cabextract cups-pdf lib32-libcups pipx


------------------------------------------------------------
Step 4: Clean Up Configuration Files
------------------------------------------------------------

4.1 Restore /etc/hosts:
  sudo sed -i.bak '/^\s*0\.0\.0\.0\s\+g\.msn\.com\s*$/d' /etc/hosts

This removes the line that has 0.0.0.0 g.msn.com.

4.2 Remove Mono and Gecko Caches:
  rm -rf ~/.cache/wine/*
  sudo rm -rf /usr/share/wine/gecko /usr/share/wine/mono


------------------------------------------------------------
Step 5: Remove Start Menu Entries
------------------------------------------------------------

Not every file will be present on every system.

  rm -v ~/.local/share/applications/MSMoney.desktop
  rm -v ~/.local/share/applications/msmoney.desktop  
  rm -v ~/.local/share/desktop-directories/finance.directory
  rm -v ~/.local/share/desktop-directories/msmoney.directory
  rm -v ~/.config/menus/applications-merged/finance.menu
  rm -v ~/.config/menus/applications-merged/msmoney.menu  


------------------------------------------------------------
Step 6: Delete the msmoneysetup Folder
------------------------------------------------------------

  rm -rf ~/msmoneysetup

This removes the folder that sets up MS Money. Alternatively, go into your home folder and delete msmoneysetup.


------------------------------------------------------------
Done!
------------------------------------------------------------

Microsoft Money and its related components have been completely removed from your system.

[-Kevin N]

Hi Nathan,

Welp, that certainly looks like it should cover the uninstall.  

However, I'm going to have to yield to Gerardus to test it.  

I'm not 'adventurous' enough to try it out on my full-functioning, multi-wine-prefix system.

I'm sure you understand.

I just want to say though that MS Money is working flawlessly in Mint.  

It imports .ofx files from pocketsense and .qif files from other financial institutions both as expected.

It reconciles with Moneydance to the penny.

As of yet, I'll probably not be able to completely abandon Windows.  However, your script certainly brings me closer to realizing that possibility.

-Kevin N.

[N G]

All good Kevin, totally understand.

This is just FYSA on prefixes for anyone following along. Even if you uninstall all the dependencies the prefixes aren't touched. I used to backup my prefixes before msmoneysetup came along (sorry if I keep mentioning this), but now it's so trivial to reinstall the wine environment and rebuild the prefix I don't worry about it anymore. Not trying to push, just providing info.

I don't think the guide needs to be tested as long as it's clear on what to do. I'm keeping the Uninstall.sh in a hidden .uninstall folder for now. I use it for testing but with time I can probably dump it.

Speaking of hidden folders, I was wondering if msmoneyprefix should be .msmoneyprefix ? Wine prefixes are usually hidden, and I'm pretty confident in how this whole thing is working for everyone that it doesn't NEED to be visible. I'm even removing much of the superfluous logging function in Install.sh too.

I have another question about your Start menu. When I open the Start menu and start typing "msm" MSMoney filters from the list of programs and I can press Enter. Does it work like that for you as well? If so maybe I can remove Finance from the menu. My friend who runs Arch mentioned that he doesn't like when programs start dumping stuff into the menu like that, and he's very particular about keeping things tidy as well. If I don't give MSMoney a category it falls into Other. The other option was Office (Finance is a subset of Office).

I'll be posting another zip file in a day or two that checks for multiple Money exe's. If more than one money installer ends up in moneyinstaller Install.sh will fail. This could happen if the user copies one, cancels the installation, accidentally runs Install.sh concurrently, or some other problem.

Nathan

[N G]

Here's the latest set of guides, hopefully easier to read.

Nathan

[N G]

The three guides with more proofreading, getting close to a finished product.

For Ameridan, the QuickStartGuide is probably good for your website. I'll post the Mac versions too.

Nathan

[Gerardus Doedee]

Unfortunately, because of other commitments I won't be able to do any testing until the end of the month (or much commenting, for that matter).  I will report back at that time

Cheers,

Gerardus

[N G]

No worries Gerardus, all good.

I'm feeling pretty good with where things are at. Like I said I'm going to post another zip file soon with checks for multiple exe's, make the msmoneyprefix hidden, and remove the Finance folder form the Start menu. No more major changes though. Probably some minor tweaks to the guides as well.

Thanks again for all the help guys.

Nathan