Immich with Docker Compose

Immich is a self-hosted photo and video backup app — a Google Photos replacement. It uses multiple containers and requires a compose file pulled from the official repo rather than written from scratch.

Setup

mkdir immich && cd immich
wget https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/docker-compose.yml
wget https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/example.env -O .env

Edit .env:

# Required: path where photos are stored on the host
UPLOAD_LOCATION=/mnt/nas/photos/immich

# Optional: separate path for external library (existing photo collection)
EXTERNAL_PATH=/mnt/nas/photos/library

# DB password — change before first start
DB_PASSWORD=changeme

docker compose up -d

Access at http://<host>:2283. First user to register becomes admin.

Containers

External library

Immich can index an existing photo directory without moving files. In the web UI: Administration → External Libraries → Add. Point it at the path you set in EXTERNAL_PATH.

Backups

Back up the Postgres database, not just the upload directory:

docker exec immich_postgres pg_dumpall -U postgres > immich-db-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

The upload directory (UPLOAD_LOCATION) should also be in your backup rotation.

Updates

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Immich releases frequently. Check the release notes before upgrading — breaking changes are documented.