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Setup Using Docker Compose

With Docker Compose, you use a YAML file to configure all application services so you can easily start them with a single command. Before you proceed, make sure you have Docker installed on your system. It is available for Mac, Linux, and Windows.

Podman is also supported as a drop-in replacement for Docker on Red Hat-compatible Linux distributions such as CentOS, Fedora, AlmaLinux, and Rocky Linux.

Step 1: Configure

Download our docker-compose.yml example (right click and Save Link As... or use wget) to a folder of your choice, and change the configuration as needed:

wget https://dl.photoprism.app/docker/docker-compose.yml

Commands on Linux may have to be prefixed with sudo when not running as root. Note that this will point the home directory shortcut ~ to /root in the volumes: section of your docker-compose.yml. Kernel security modules such as AppArmor and SELinux have been reported to cause issues. Ensure that your server has at least 4 GB of swap configured so that indexing doesn't cause restarts when there are memory usage spikes.

Download our docker-compose.yml example (right click and Save Link As... or use wget) to a folder of your choice, and change the configuration as needed:

wget https://dl.photoprism.app/podman/docker-compose.yml

Alternatively, you can run these commands to install Podman and download the default configuration to /opt/photoprism:

mkdir -p /opt/photoprism
cd /opt/photoprism
curl -sSf https://dl.photoprism.app/podman/install.sh | bash

Please keep in mind to replace the docker and docker compose commands with podman and podman-compose when following the examples in our documentation.

Download our docker-compose.yml example for the Raspberry Pi 3 / 4 and other ARM64-based devices (right click and Save Link As... or use wget) to a folder of your choice, and change the configuration as needed:

wget https://dl.photoprism.app/docker/arm64/docker-compose.yml

Mostly the same installation instructions as for regular Linux servers apply. Commands may have to be prefixed with sudo when not running as root. Ensure your device meets the requirements and has at least 4 GB of swap configured before you continue.

Download our docker-compose.yml example for older ARMv7-based devices (right click and Save Link As... or use wget) to a folder of your choice, and change the configuration as needed:

wget https://dl.photoprism.app/docker/armv7/docker-compose.yml

Mostly the same installation instructions as for regular Linux servers apply. Commands may have to be prefixed with sudo when not running as root. Ensure your device meets the requirements and has at least 4 GB of swap configured before you continue.

Download our docker-compose.yml example for Windows (right click and Save Link As...) to a folder of your choice, and change the configuration as needed:

https://dl.photoprism.app/docker/windows/docker-compose.yml

Windows Pro users should disable the WSL 2 based engine in Docker Settings > General so that they can mount drives other than C:. 1 This will enable Hyper-V, which Microsoft doesn't offer to its Windows Home customers. Docker Desktop uses dynamic memory allocation with WSL 2. It is important to explicitly increase the Docker memory limit to 4 GB or more when using Hyper-V. The default of 2 GB can reduce indexing performance and cause unexpected restarts. Also, ensure that you configure at least 4 GB of swap space.

Download our docker-compose.yml example for macOS (right click and Save Link As...) to a folder of your choice, and change the configuration as needed:

https://dl.photoprism.app/docker/macos/docker-compose.yml

It is important to increase the Docker memory limit to 4 GB or more, as the default of 2 GB can reduce indexing performance and cause unexpected restarts. Also, ensure that you configure at least 4 GB of swap space.

When editing the configuration file, please note that related values must start at the same indentation level in YAML files and that tabs are not allowed for indentation. We recommend using 2 spaces.

Always change PHOTOPRISM_ADMIN_PASSWORD so that the app starts with a secure initial password. Never use easy-to-guess passwords or default values like insecure on publicly accessible servers. There is no default in case no password was provided. A minimum length of 8 characters is required.

Database

Our example includes a pre-configured MariaDB database server. If you remove it and provide no other database server credentials, SQLite database files will be created in the storage folder. Local SSD storage is best for databases of any kind.

Never store database files on an unreliable device such as a USB flash drive, SD card, or shared network folder. These may also have unexpected file size limitations, which is especially problematic for databases that do not split data into smaller files.

It is not possible to change the password via MARIADB_PASSWORD after the database has been started for the first time. Choosing a secure password is not essential if you don't expose the database to other apps and hosts. To enable automatic schema updates after upgrading to a new major version, set MARIADB_AUTO_UPGRADE to a non-empty value in your docker-compose.yml.

Volumes

Since the app is running inside a container, you have to explicitly mount the host folders you want to use. PhotoPrism won't be able to see folders that have not been mounted. That's an important security feature.

/photoprism/originals

The originals folder contains your original photo and video files.

~/Pictures will be mounted by default, where ~ is a shortcut for your home directory:

volumes:
  # "/host/folder:/photoprism/folder"  # example
  - "~/Pictures:/photoprism/originals"

You can mount any folder accessible from the host, including network shares. Additional directories can also be mounted as subfolders of /photoprism/originals (depending on overlay file system support):

volumes:
  - "/home/username/Pictures:/photoprism/originals"
  - "/example/friends:/photoprism/originals/friends"
  - "/mnt/photos:/photoprism/originals/media"

On Windows, prefix the host path with the drive letter and use / instead of \ as separator:

volumes:
  - "D:/Example/Pictures:/photoprism/originals"

If read-only mode is enabled, all features that require write permission to the originals folder are disabled, e.g. WebDAV, uploading and deleting files. Set PHOTOPRISM_READONLY to "true" in docker-compose.yml for this. You can mount a folder with the :ro flag to make Docker block write operations as well.

/photoprism/storage

SQLite, config, cache, thumbnail and sidecar files are saved in the storage folder:

  • a storage folder mount must always be configured in your docker-compose.yml file so that you do not lose these files after a restart or upgrade
  • never configure the storage folder to be inside the originals folder unless the name starts with a . to indicate that it is hidden
  • we recommend placing the storage folder on a local SSD drive for best performance
  • mounting symbolic links or using them inside the storage folder is currently not supported

Should you later want to move your instance to another host, the easiest and most time-saving way is to copy the entire storage folder along with your originals and database.

/photoprism/import

You can optionally mount an import folder from which files can be transferred to the originals folder in a structured way that avoids duplicates:

  • imported files receive a canonical filename and will be organized by year and month
  • never configure the import folder to be inside the originals folder, as this will cause a loop by importing already indexed files

You can safely skip this. Adding files via Web Upload and WebDAV remains possible, unless read-only mode is enabled or the features have been disabled.

Step 2: Start the server

Open a terminal and change to the folder in which the docker-compose.yml file has been saved.2 Run this command to start the application and database services in the background:

docker compose up -d

Note that our guides now use the new docker compose command by default. If your server does not yet support it, you can still use docker-compose.

Now open the Web UI by navigating to http://localhost:2342/. You should see a login screen. Sign in with the user admin and the initial password configured via PHOTOPRISM_ADMIN_PASSWORD. You may change it on the account settings page. Enabling public mode will disable authentication.

It can be helpful to keep Docker running in the foreground while debugging so that log messages are displayed directly. To do this, omit the -d parameter when restarting.

Should the server already be running, or you see no errors, you may have started it on a different host and/or port. There could also be an issue with your browser, ad blocker, or firewall settings.

It is not possible to change the password via PHOTOPRISM_ADMIN_PASSWORD after the app has been started for the first time. You may run docker compose exec photoprism photoprism passwd [username] in a terminal to change an existing password. You can also reset your database for a clean start.

The server port and other config options can be changed in docker-compose.yml at any time. Remember to restart the services for changes to take effect:

docker compose stop
docker compose up -d

Step 3: Index Your Library

Our First Steps 👣 tutorial guides you through the user interface and settings to ensure your library is indexed according to your individual preferences.

Easy, isn't it?

Back us on Patreon or GitHub Sponsors. Your continued support helps us provide regular updates and remain independent, so we can fulfill our mission and protect your privacy.

Membership Activation

To connect a new instance to your membership account, you will need to log in with the admin user that is automatically created during setup, and then follow the steps described in our activation guide.

View Activation Guide › View Membership FAQ ›

Troubleshooting

If your server runs out of memory, the index is frequently locked, or other system resources are running low:

Other issues? Our troubleshooting checklists help you quickly diagnose and solve them.

You are welcome to ask for help in our community chat. Sponsors receive direct technical support via email. Before submitting a support request, try to determine the cause of your problem.

Command-Line Interface

Introduction

photoprism help lists all commands and config options available in the current version:

docker compose exec photoprism photoprism help

Use the --help flag to see a detailed command description, for example:

docker compose exec photoprism photoprism backup --help

PhotoPrism's command-line interface is also well suited for job automation using a scheduler.

When using Docker Compose, you can prepend commands like docker compose exec [service] [command] to run them in a service container. Should this fail with no container found, make sure the service has been started, you have specified an existing service (usually photoprism) and you are in the folder where the docker-compose.yml file is located.

Opening a Terminal

To open a terminal session as the current user, you can do the following:

docker compose exec -u $UID photoprism bash

Changing the User ID

Specifying a user via -u $UID is possible for all commands you run with Docker Compose. In the following examples, it is omitted for brevity. The currently supported user ID ranges are 0, 33, 50-99, 500-600, and 900-1200. Note that commands will otherwise be executed as root.

We also recommend running the PhotoPrism service as a non-root user by setting either the user service property or the PHOTOPRISM_UID environment variable in the docker-compose.yml file. Don't forget to update file permissions and/or ownership with the chown command when you make changes.

Examples

Action Command
Start Services docker compose up -d
Stop Services docker compose stop
Download Updates docker compose pull
Uninstall docker compose rm -s -v
View Logs docker compose logs --tail=100 -f
Display Config Values docker compose exec photoprism photoprism show config
Show Migration Status docker compose exec photoprism photoprism migrations ls
Repeat Failed Migrations docker compose exec photoprism photoprism migrations run -f
Reset Database docker compose exec photoprism photoprism reset -y
Backup Database docker compose exec photoprism photoprism backup -a -i
Restore Database docker compose exec photoprism photoprism restore -a -i
Change Admin Password docker compose exec photoprism photoprism passwd [username]
Show User Management Commands docker compose exec photoprism photoprism users help
Reset Users docker compose exec photoprism photoprism users reset -y
Show Face Recognition Commands docker compose exec photoprism photoprism faces help
Index Faces docker compose exec photoprism photoprism faces index
Reset People & Faces docker compose exec photoprism photoprism faces reset -f
Transcode Videos to AVC docker compose exec photoprism photoprism convert
Regenerate Thumbnails docker compose exec photoprism photoprism thumbs -f
Update Index docker compose exec photoprism photoprism index --cleanup
Import Files docker compose exec photoprism photoprism import [path]

Complete Rescan

docker compose exec photoprism photoprism index -f rescans all originals, including already indexed and unchanged files. This may be necessary after major upgrades and after migrations of the database schema, especially if search results are missing or incorrect. Note you can also start a rescan from the user interface by navigating to Library > Index, checking "Complete Rescan" and then clicking "Start". Manually entered information such as labels, people, titles or descriptions will not be modified when indexing, even if you perform a "complete rescan".

  1. https://rominirani.com/docker-on-windows-mounting-host-directories-d96f3f056a2c ↩

  2. The default Docker Compose config filename is docker-compose.yml. For simplicity, it doesn't need to be specified when running docker compose or docker-compose in the same directory. Config files for other apps or instances should be placed in separate folders. ↩