How to Install Immich on Ubuntu 24.04

Estimated reading: 5 minutes 284 views

Introduction

Immich is a modern self-hosted photo and video management platform that provides automatic mobile backups, facial recognition, AI-powered search, albums, sharing, timeline browsing, and a clean web interface.

In this guide, we will deploy Immich on a fresh Ubuntu 24.04 server using Docker Engine and Docker Compose from Docker’s official repository. Instead of using a domain name and SSL certificate, this deployment will use the server’s public IP address directly, making it ideal for testing environments, home labs, and private servers.

After completing this tutorial, Immich will be accessible at:

http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:2283

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:

A fresh Ubuntu 24.04 server
Root or sudo access
A public IPv4 address
At least 2 vCPU
At least 4 GB RAM
At least 50 GB of available storage

1. Verify the Operating System

Before installing any software, verify that the server is running Ubuntu 24.04.

cat /etc/os-release

Expected output:

PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 24.04 LTS"

If the server is running a different operating system version, upgrade or reinstall the operating system before continuing.

2. Install Docker Engine and Docker Compose

Immich is deployed using Docker Compose. The recommended installation method is to install Docker directly from Docker’s official Ubuntu repository rather than using Ubuntu’s packaged Docker version.

Start by updating the package index and installing the required dependencies:

apt-get update
apt-get -y install ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release

Remove any existing Docker packages to avoid conflicts:

apt-get remove -y docker.io docker-compose docker-compose-v2 docker-doc podman-docker containerd runc || true

Create the Docker keyring directory:

install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings

Download Docker’s official GPG key:

curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

Allow all users to read the key:

chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

Add Docker’s official repository:

cat >/etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.sources <<'EOF'
Types: deb
URIs: https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu
Suites: noble
Components: stable
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
EOF

Refresh package information:

apt-get update

Install Docker Engine and Docker Compose:

apt-get -y install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

Enable Docker so it starts automatically after every reboot:

systemctl enable --now docker

Verify that Docker is working correctly:

docker run --rm hello-world

Display the installed Docker version:

docker --version

Display the installed Docker Compose version:

docker compose version

If all commands complete successfully, Docker is ready for use.

3. Download the Immich Compose Bundle and Prepare the Environment

Next, create the Immich working directory and download the official deployment files.

Generate a secure database password:

DB_PASSWORD=$(python3 -c "import secrets, string; alphabet = string.ascii_letters + string.digits; print(''.join(secrets.choice(alphabet) for _ in range(24)))")

Create the Immich directory:

mkdir -p /opt/immich
cd /opt/immich

Download the official Compose file:

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

Download the example environment file:

wget -O .env https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/example.env

Create storage directories for media uploads and PostgreSQL data:

mkdir -p /opt/immich/library /opt/immich/postgres

Configure the environment file:

sed -i 's|^UPLOAD_LOCATION=.*|UPLOAD_LOCATION=/opt/immich/library|' .env
sed -i 's|^DB_DATA_LOCATION=.*|DB_DATA_LOCATION=/opt/immich/postgres|' .env
sed -i 's|^# TZ=.*|TZ=Etc/UTC|' .env
sed -i 's|^IMMICH_VERSION=.*|IMMICH_VERSION=v2.5.6|' .env
sed -i "s|^DB_PASSWORD=.*|DB_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}|" .env

This configuration stores uploaded media in /opt/immich/library and PostgreSQL data in /opt/immich/postgres.

Pinning the Immich version ensures a predictable deployment and prevents unexpected changes from future releases.

4. Start the Immich Stack

Pull the required container images:

cd /opt/immich
docker compose pull

Depending on your network speed, the download may take several minutes.

Once the images have been downloaded, start the stack:

docker compose up -d

Verify the container status:

docker compose ps

You should see the following services running:

immich_server
immich_machine_learning
database
redis

All containers should display an Up or Healthy status.

5. Validate the Installation

Confirm that Docker, Compose, and Immich are running correctly.

Check the installed versions:

docker --version
docker compose version

Verify the environment configuration:

cd /opt/immich
grep -E '^(IMMICH_VERSION|UPLOAD_LOCATION|DB_DATA_LOCATION|TZ)=' .env

Check running containers:

docker compose ps

Display downloaded images:

docker compose images

Test the local Immich endpoint:

curl -I http://127.0.0.1:2283/

Test the public endpoint:

curl -I http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:2283/

Expected output:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

A successful HTTP response confirms that Immich is operational and accessible.

6. Open Immich and Create the First Administrator Account

Open your browser and navigate to:

http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:2283

Immich will display the first-user setup page.

Create your administrator account by entering:

Email address
Password
First name
Last name

The first account automatically receives administrator privileges.

7. Install the Mobile Application

Immich provides official applications for Android and iOS devices.

After installing the application:

Open Immich.
Enter:

http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:2283

Log in using the administrator account.
Enable automatic backups.

Your photos and videos will begin uploading to the server automatically.

Useful Commands

View logs:

docker compose logs -f

Restart Immich:

docker compose restart

Stop Immich:

docker compose down

Start Immich:

docker compose up -d

Update Immich:

cd /opt/immich
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Conclusion

Immich provides a powerful self-hosted alternative to cloud photo storage services while keeping your media entirely under your control.

In this guide, we installed Docker Engine from Docker’s official repository, deployed Immich using the official Compose bundle, configured persistent storage, and validated the deployment using a public IP address.

Your Immich server is now ready to back up, organize, and manage your photo and video collection.