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Docker Compose [Recommended]

Docker Compose is the recommended method to run Immich in production. Below are the steps to deploy Immich with Docker Compose.

Step 1 - Download the required files​

Download docker-compose.yml example.env.

From a directory of your choice (e.g. ./immich-app) run the following commands:

Get docker-compose.yml file
wget https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/docker-compose.yml
Get .env file
wget -O .env https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/example.env

Step 2 - Populate the .env file with custom values​

Example .env content
###################################################################################
# Database
###################################################################################

DB_HOSTNAME=immich_postgres
DB_USERNAME=postgres
DB_PASSWORD=postgres
DB_DATABASE_NAME=immich

# Optional Database settings:
# DB_PORT=5432

###################################################################################
# Redis
###################################################################################

REDIS_HOSTNAME=immich_redis

# Optional Redis settings:

# Note: these parameters are not automatically passed to the Redis Container
# to do so, please edit the docker-compose.yml file as well. Redis is not configured
# via environment variables, only redis.conf or the command line

# REDIS_PORT=6379
# REDIS_DBINDEX=0
# REDIS_PASSWORD=
# REDIS_SOCKET=

###################################################################################
# Upload File Config
###################################################################################

UPLOAD_LOCATION=absolute_location_on_your_machine_where_you_want_to_store_the_backup

###################################################################################
# Log message level - [simple|verbose]
###################################################################################

LOG_LEVEL=simple

###################################################################################
# Reverse Geocoding
####################################################################################

# DISABLE_REVERSE_GEOCODING=false

# Reverse geocoding is done locally which has a small impact on memory usage
# This memory usage can be altered by changing the REVERSE_GEOCODING_PRECISION variable
# This ranges from 0-3 with 3 being the most precise
# 3 - Cities > 500 population: ~200MB RAM
# 2 - Cities > 1000 population: ~150MB RAM
# 1 - Cities > 5000 population: ~80MB RAM
# 0 - Cities > 15000 population: ~40MB RAM

# REVERSE_GEOCODING_PRECISION=3

####################################################################################
# WEB - Optional
####################################################################################

# Custom message on the login page, should be written in HTML form.
# For example PUBLIC_LOGIN_PAGE_MESSAGE="This is a demo instance of Immich.<br><br>Email: <i>demo@demo.de</i><br>Password: <i>demo</i>"

PUBLIC_LOGIN_PAGE_MESSAGE="My Family Photos and Videos Backup Server"
  • Populate custom database information if necessary.
  • Populate UPLOAD_LOCATION with your preferred location for storing backup assets.

Step 3 - Start the containers​

Start the containers using docker compose command
docker-compose up -d # or `docker compose up -d` based on your docker-compose version
tip

For more information on how to use the application, please refer to the Post Installation guide.

Step 4 - Upgrading​

When a new version of Immich is released, the application can be upgraded with the following commands, run in the directory with the docker-compose.yml file:

Upgrade Immich
docker-compose pull && docker-compose up -d # Or `docker compose`
Automatic Updates

Immich is currently under heavy development, which means you can expect breaking changes and bugs. Therefore, we recommend reading the release notes prior to updating and to take special care when using automated tools like Watchtower.