Immich Default Install using Docker in a VM

Phase I: Installing Immich on Ubuntu (Before Setting Up External Storage)

🔹 Goal:

• Install Immich on an Ubuntu 24.04 VM running on Proxmox.
• Ensure Docker and Docker Compose are installed and working.
• Run Immich using Docker Compose with its default settings.
• Verify that the installation is successful by uploading and viewing a test photo.

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Step 1: Prepare the Ubuntu VM

1️⃣ Verify Ubuntu Version

bash

lsb_release -a

Expected Output:

Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS
Release: 24.04
Codename: noble

Why? Ensures we are working on the correct Ubuntu version.

git --version
curl --version
jq --version

ME - they are all installed.

2️⃣ Verify That Docker & Docker Compose Are Installed

bash

docker --version
docker compose version

✅ Expected Output (Example):

Docker version 28.0.0, build f9ced58
Docker Compose version v2.33.0

Why? Confirms that Docker & Docker Compose are installed correctly.

Step 2: Download Immich

1️⃣ Clone the Immich Repository

bash

git clone https://github.com/immich-app/immich.git
cd immich

✅ What this does:

• Downloads the latest version of Immich from GitHub.
• Moves into the Immich directory.

THE BASE DIRECTORY FOR IMMICH
- WHERE DOCKER COMPOSE UP/DOWN WILL BE RUN
-AND THE .ENV FILE IS AS WELL IS :
/HOME/MARK/IMMICH/DOCKER

This is different than in previous installations on Immich we have done. It is a different location because we cloned the git repository and this method made the Immich folder by default to match the git project name since one was not specified. And in the Immich folder is the docker folder by default

How the Folder Structure Was Created After cloning, your folder structure looked like this:

/home/mark/

│── immich/ <– Created by `git clone`|
│ │── docker/ <– Contains `docker-compose.yml` & `.env`
│ │── server/
│ │── web/
│ │── mobile/
│ │── README.md

This meant:

• All Docker setup files were inside /home/mark/immich/docker/.
• That’s why we needed to run all Docker commands (docker compose up -d, editing .env, etc.) from inside the docker/ folder.

2️⃣ Check Out the Latest Stable Release

Since main can have unstable changes, we switch to the latest stable release.

Find the latest release:

bash

git tag | grep -E '^v[0-9]+' | sort -V | tail -n1

✅ Example Output:

v1.126.1

Switch to the latest release:

bash

git checkout v1.126.1

git status confirms switch to 1.126.1

✅ Why? Ensures we use a stable, tested version instead of potentially unstable development code.

Step 3: Configure Environment Variables

1️⃣ Copy the Default .env File

bash

cp docker/example.env docker/.env

✅ What this does:

• Creates a .env file that Immich will use for configuration.

2️⃣ Open and Edit the .env File

nano docker/.env

Check These Key Settings:

• Database settings (Leave as default; Docker will handle this).
  (I changed the DB password here, so it is not the default - it is always a good practice)
• Storage Location (UPLOAD_LOCATION defaults to ./library for now). (default upload “storage” location)
• Port Configuration (Default: IMMICH_SERVER_PORT=2283).

Timezone (Optional, set to match your location)

TZ=America/New_York

✅ Save and exit:

• Press CTRL + X, then Y, then Enter.

NOTE: No changes were made to docker-compose.yml since everything was left on the default settings and the .env file filled in a few variables

Make sure docker is running:

docker info

Step 4: Start Immich Using Docker Compose

1️⃣ Move into the Docker Directory

bash
cd docker

2️⃣ Start Immich Containers

bash

docker compose up -d

✅ What this does:

• Pulls and starts all Immich containers (server, database, Redis, machine learning).
• Runs them in the background (-d).

3️⃣ Verify That All Containers Are Running

bash

docker ps -a

✅ Expected Output (Example):

CONTAINER ID IMAGE STATUS
a1b2c3d4e5f6 ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server:release Up
b2c3d4e5f6g7 ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-machine-learning Up
c3d4e5f6g7h8 tensorchord/pgvecto-rs:pg14-v0.2.0 Up
d4e5f6g7h8i9 redis:6.2-alpine Up

💡 If all containers are “Up,” Immich is running correctly!

1️⃣ Open Immich in a Web Browser

(http://immich-vm:2283) 

Expected Result: You should see the Admin Registration page.

2️⃣ Register the Admin Account

• Username: admin
• Password: (Set a secure password)
• Email: (Choose any admin email)
• First Name / Last Name: (Optional)
• Click “Register.”

Step 6: Upload a Test Photo

1️⃣ Log in to Immich

• Use the admin account created in Step 5.

2️⃣ Upload a Small Test Image

• Click “Upload”
• Select a test photo from your computer
• Verify that it appears in Immich

3️⃣ Verify That the File Was Saved to Disk

bash

ls -lah ~/immich/docker/library/upload/

If the file appears here, Immich is working! 🎉

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Problems Encountered & Fixes

Problem	Fix
Immich containers not starting	Checked logs with docker logs --tail=50 immich_server, found .env misconfiguration, fixed settings.
Web interface not loading	Checked if server was running (docker ps), found missing .env file, copied it.
Database connection issues	Restarted containers with docker compose down && docker compose up -d.
Uploads not working	Storage permissions issue (fixed in Phase II by setting correct ownership).

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Phase I Completed!

Immich was successfully installed and tested with a basic upload.
At this point, Immich was still using the default upload location (./library/upload/).
Phase II began when we switched to external storage (/mnt/immich-storage).