Immich: Your Own Google Photos

What You'll Build

Immich is the closest thing to Google Photos you can run yourself: the phone app backs up every photo and video automatically, and the web app has a timeline, map, face recognition, memories ("on this day"), shared albums, and AI search that understands "sunset at the beach".

Port: 2283 · RAM: 6 GB+ recommended (4 GB minimum) · Time: 30 minutes + upload time · Difficulty: Medium

What You Need

• Your home server from Foundations 1 (Docker installed, ~/stacks folder).
• Nginx Proxy Manager with your *.home.example.com certificate — required for this app.
• A drive with room for your library, e.g. /mnt/data/immich.

Step 1: Download the Official Files

Immich changes often, so always start from their current compose file rather than one copied from a blog:

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

Step 2: Edit the Settings (.env)

nano .env

Change these lines:

# Where photos and videos are stored (lots of space needed)
UPLOAD_LOCATION=/mnt/data/immich/library

# Where the database lives — keep this on your fast SSD, NOT a network share
DB_DATA_LOCATION=./postgres

# Uncomment and set your time zone
TZ=America/New_York

# Change this! Letters and numbers only (no symbols)
DB_PASSWORD=MakeThisALongRandomString123

# Create the library folder and start Immich
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/data/immich/library
docker compose up -d
docker compose ps       # all containers should be "running"/"healthy" after a minute

Step 3: First Login and Settings

1. Open http://192.168.1.50:2283 → Getting Started → create the admin account.
2. Administration → Users: create an account for each family member (each gets a private library).
3. Administration → Settings → Backup Settings: confirm automatic database backups are on. They're written into your upload location.
4. Add the proxy host photos.home.example.com → port 2283 (see the bottom of this page) — the phone app works best with HTTPS.

Step 4: Set Up Phone Backup

1. Install Immich from the App Store / Google Play (or F-Droid).
2. Server URL: https://photos.home.example.com → log in.
3. Tap the cloud icon → choose which albums to back up (e.g. Camera/Recents).
4. Turn on foreground and background backup. Give the app permission to run in the background (Android: disable battery optimisation for Immich).
5. The first backup can take hours for a big library. Leave the phone on Wi-Fi and charging overnight.

With Tailscale running on the phone, backups continue even when you're away from home.

Step 5: Import From Google Photos (Optional)

1. Request your library at takeout.google.com → deselect all → select Google Photos → export as .zip files.
2. Use the community tool immich-go (from GitHub) to upload the Takeout zips. It reads Google's separate JSON files so dates, albums, and locations are kept.
3. In Immich, create an API key (Account Settings → API Keys) for immich-go to use.

Features to Try

• Smart search: type "red car" or "birthday cake" in the search bar.
• People: Explore → People. Name faces and Immich groups the rest.
• Map: every geotagged photo on a world map.
• Shared albums and links: share with other Immich users, or create a public link (only reachable by others if you've made Immich public).
• External library: already have photos organised in folders (e.g. from digiKam)? Add them read-only as an external library instead of uploading.

Add It to Your Proxy, Dashboard, and Backups

• Nginx Proxy Manager: new proxy host photos.home.example.com → scheme http, 192.168.1.50, port 2283, Websockets on, your wildcard certificate, Force SSL. In the Advanced tab add client_max_body_size 0; so large videos upload.
• Homepage: add a tile in services.yaml (how).
• Uptime Kuma: add an HTTP monitor for the new address (how).
• Backups: ~/stacks/immich is already covered by the restic script. Also add /mnt/data/immich/library to the EXTRA list, and un-comment the immich_postgres dump line.

Updating Immich

cd ~/stacks/immich
# 1. Read the release notes on GitHub for breaking changes FIRST
# 2. Then:
docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

Troubleshooting

• Server is slow for hours after the first upload — normal. It's generating thumbnails, transcoding videos, and running face/AI detection. Watch progress in Administration → Jobs.
• Phone app can't connect — test the URL in the phone's browser first. Include https://. Don't add /api.
• Container keeps restarting after an update — you skipped a breaking change. Check the release notes and docker compose logs.
• Out of memory on a Pi or small box — disable Machine Learning in Administration → Settings, or run it on a more powerful computer.

What's Next?