PIM Multiuser is PIM for a household or a team. One computer runs it, and everyone signs in with their own account from a browser, a phone included. Each person’s notes, calendar, mail and documents are kept apart from everyone else’s, and the AI runs on that computer, never in someone else’s cloud.

Everyone gets the same apps as PIM Desktop: Notes, Diary, Worklog, Calendar, Author, Task, Plan, Project, Contacts, Finance, RSS, IM, Mail and Documents. Just for yourself on your own computer? PIM Desktop is simpler.

What it needs

  • A computer that stays on: a home server, a spare PC, a small box in the office, running Ubuntu 26.04 or later, or any other Linux with Docker or Podman. About 10 GB of memory runs PIM’s recommended AI model well; with less, it picks a smaller one.
  • Internet access once, while installing: it downloads the AI (about 8 GB). After that, PIM works on your own network.

Install

Copy the downloaded file to that computer, open its folder in a terminal and run:

sudo apt install ./pim-multiuser_*_amd64.deb

apt may note that the download is “performed unsandboxed as root”; that’s harmless. That one command sets everything up: the database (PostgreSQL), an encrypted connection with this server’s own certificate, the AI, and the service that keeps PIM running. When it finishes, it prints the address to open.

Any other Linux: containers

With Docker or Podman, PIM Multiuser runs in containers instead: the server, its database and the AI, set up the same way. Download pim-multiuser-compose.yaml, and in its folder name the ways people reach this computer (for its certificate), then start it:

printf 'PIM_SERVER_NAMES=my-server,my-server.local,192.168.1.20\n' > .env
docker compose -f pim-multiuser-compose.yaml up -d      # or: podman compose ...
docker compose -f pim-multiuser-compose.yaml logs init  # the address and the certificate fingerprint

The first start downloads the AI model in the background (logs -f ai-setup shows how far it is). Its first administrator’s password, for the sign-in below:

docker compose -f pim-multiuser-compose.yaml exec server cat /data/first-admin-password

To upgrade, download the newer compose file over this one and run up -d again; everyone’s data stays.

First sign-in

Open that address in a browser (https://<the computer's name or address>:8443/). The browser warns about the certificate once: it’s the server’s own, and the connection is still encrypted. Sign in as admin with the password the install made (in containers, see above):

sudo cat /var/lib/pim-multiuser/first-admin-password

The Setup page opens and asks for three things: a name for your household or team, your own password in place of that one, and the AI model, with the one that suits the computer marked. Then add the people who’ll use it on the Accounts page; everyone can change their own password on the Password page.

The PIM Client

Everyone can use PIM Multiuser from a browser. The PIM Client is the desktop program for it: the same apps, in PIM’s own window, on each person’s computer, whatever Linux it runs. It comes in the same download link. On Debian 12 or later, Ubuntu 24.04 or later, or a distribution based on them, install the .deb:

sudo apt install ./pim-client_*_amd64.deb

On any other Linux (Fedora, openSUSE, Arch, …), use the .tar.gz: unpack it in a folder you own and start it from there, no administrator needed:

mkdir -p ~/.local/opt && tar -xzf ./pim-client-*-linux-x64.tar.gz -C ~/.local/opt
~/.local/opt/pim-client/bin/pim-client

Start PIM Client and sign in with the server’s name or address (for example kappel-pc.local), your profile and your password. Your server made its own certificate, so the first time, the client shows that certificate’s fingerprint, a long line of letters and numbers. Compare it with the one on the server’s Accounts page (the install printed it too) and accept only if they match. The client then trusts exactly that server, doesn’t ask again, and warns you if its certificate ever changes.

Upgrading keeps everyone’s data. Removing PIM Multiuser, even with apt purge, never deletes the database: it holds everyone’s data, so the purge prints the commands to delete it yourself.

Enter your name and email and we’ll send you a link to the installers (PIM Multiuser and the PIM Client), plus occasional news about new releases (unsubscribe any time).

PIM is in pre-1.0 testing: these builds are free to download and run. See License & Terms for what that means now, and what changes at 1.0.

Trouble installing, or questions? Email support@pim.knoden.com.