Self-host Immich with Docker Compose

Selbstgehostetes Foto- und Video-Backup mit Gesichtserkennung und Suche.

immich

ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-machine-learning:release

postgres

ghcr.io/immich-app/postgres:14-vectorchord0.4.3-pgvectors0.2.0

postgres-postgres-conf-init

busybox

postgres-postgres-data-init

busybox

postgres-postgres-socket-init

busybox

redis

redis:7

redis-redis-data-init

busybox

This is still a work in progress.

The generated compose file and instructions may not be complete or correct for every app yet. Please report any issues you encounter to contact@bitflake.com.

The steps below take a few minutes end to end.

Docker compose setup and file
save the generated compose and env files.
Secret generation
create the random passwords Immich needs.
Start Immich with Docker Compose
bring the stack up and check it's healthy.

Requirements

You'll need these installed on the machine you're deploying to:

Docker

Packages Immich and everything it depends on into an isolated container, so it runs the same way on your machine as it does everywhere else.

Install guide

Docker Compose

Reads docker-compose.ymland starts everything in it together. Ships with Docker Desktop. On Linux servers it's usually a separate install.

Install guide

1. Docker compose setup and file

Create a folder for Immich and save the file below into it as docker-compose.yml. It describes every container the stack needs — Immichitself and any supporting services, such as its database — along with the ports, volumes and environment variables each one uses. You'll also need an empty .env file in the same folder; Docker Compose reads it automatically and uses it to fill in the ${VARIABLE}references you'll see in the file below.

docker-compose.yml

version: "3.9"
services:
  immich:
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server:release
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - 2283:2283
    environment:
      DB_DATABASE_NAME: immich
      DB_HOSTNAME: localhost
      DB_PASSWORD: ${RANDOM_IMMICH_PG_PASSWORD}
      DB_PORT: "5432"
      DB_USERNAME: postgres
      DB_VECTOR_EXTENSION: vectorchord
      IMMICH_MACHINE_LEARNING_URL: http://127.0.0.1:3003
      IMMICH_PORT: "2283"
      REDIS_HOSTNAME: redis
      REDIS_PASSWORD: ${RANDOM_REDIS_PASSWORD}
      REDIS_PORT: "6379"
    volumes:
      - upload:/usr/src/app/upload
      - tmp:/tmp
    depends_on:
      redis:
        condition: service_started
  ml:
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-machine-learning:release
    restart: unless-stopped
    network_mode: service:immich
    environment:
      IMMICH_HOST: 0.0.0.0
      IMMICH_PORT: "3003"
      MPLCONFIGDIR: /tmp/matplotlib
    volumes:
      - ml-cache:/cache
      - ml-tmp:/tmp
  postgres:
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/postgres:14-vectorchord0.4.3-pgvectors0.2.0
    restart: unless-stopped
    network_mode: service:immich
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: immich
      POSTGRES_INITDB_ARGS: --data-checksums
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${RANDOM_IMMICH_PG_PASSWORD}
      POSTGRES_USER: postgres
    volumes:
      - postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
      - postgres-socket:/var/run/postgresql
      - postgres-conf:/etc/postgresql
    depends_on:
      immich:
        condition: service_started
      postgres-postgres-conf-init:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
      postgres-postgres-data-init:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
      postgres-postgres-socket-init:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
  postgres-postgres-conf-init:
    image: busybox
    volumes:
      - postgres-conf:/etc/postgresql
    command:
      - chown
      - 999:999
      - /etc/postgresql
  postgres-postgres-data-init:
    image: busybox
    volumes:
      - postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    command:
      - chown
      - 999:999
      - /var/lib/postgresql/data
  postgres-postgres-socket-init:
    image: busybox
    volumes:
      - postgres-socket:/var/run/postgresql
    command:
      - chown
      - 999:999
      - /var/run/postgresql
  redis:
    image: redis:7
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      REDIS_PASSWORD: ${RANDOM_REDIS_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - redis-data:/data
    depends_on:
      redis-redis-data-init:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
    entrypoint:
      - sh
      - -c
    command:
      - redis-server --requirepass $$REDIS_PASSWORD
  redis-redis-data-init:
    image: busybox
    volumes:
      - redis-data:/data
    command:
      - chown
      - 999:999
      - /data
volumes:
  ml-cache: null
  ml-tmp: null
  postgres-conf: null
  postgres-data: null
  postgres-socket: null
  redis-data: null
  tmp: null
  upload: null

Volumes

Immich stores its data in named Docker volumes, so it survives container restarts and updates:

upload mounted at /usr/src/app/upload: Immich's media library: original uploaded photos and videos, generated thumbnails, and transcoded video.
tmp mounted at /tmp: System temporary directory used while importing and transcoding media.

2. Secret generation

Immich needs a few randomly generated secrets — for example, database passwords or an internal session key — before it can start. These are referenced from docker-compose.ymlabove but don't live in it, so they need to end up in your .env file. Pick one of the two options below.

Generating secrets…

3. Start Immich with Docker Compose

From the folder with docker-compose.yml and .env, run:

Terminal

Start Immich and all its supporting services in the background.

docker compose up -d

The -d flag runs the stack in the background so it keeps running after you close the terminal. Docker will pull the images the first time, which can take a minute or two.

To check on it afterwards: docker compose ps shows whether containers are healthy, and docker compose logs -f follows their logs if something looks wrong. Once it's running, open http://localhost:2283 in your browser.