Immich Docker Compose & Podman Guide - NjordDeploy Self-Hosted

Why this Configuration?

True Data Sovereignty: 100% GDPR-compliant on-premises deployment. You own your configuration and data without vendor lock-in.
Hardware Agnostic: Optimized and verified across low-power ARM64 SBCs (Raspberry Pi 5) and x86_64 hypervisors (Proxmox VE LXC & VM).
Engine Freedom: Tested and supported under standard Docker Engine and unprivileged rootless Podman.
Platform Verification: Tested on Proxmox LXC: docker (v3.2.0, 2026-09-14), podman (v3.2.0, 2026-09-14); Proxmox VM: docker (v3.2.0, 2026-09-14), podman (v3.2.0, 2026-09-14).

Quick Start (Standalone Docker Compose)

The snippet below is immediately ready to run in any standard Docker or Podman environment:

services:
  immich-server:
    container_name: njorddeploy-immich-server
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server:release
    volumes:
      - "./data/immich/library:/data"
      - "/etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro"
    environment:
      - "DB_HOSTNAME=immich-postgres"
      - "DB_USERNAME=postgres"
      - "DB_PASSWORD=ImmichDbPassword123"
      - "DB_DATABASE_NAME=immich"
      - "DB_PORT=5432"
      - "REDIS_HOSTNAME=immich-redis"
      - "REDIS_PORT=6379"
      - "TZ=Etc/UTC"
    ports:
      - "2283:2283"
    networks:
      - njorddeploy_net
    restart: always
    depends_on:
      - immich-postgres
      - immich-redis

  immich-machine-learning:
    container_name: njorddeploy-immich-machine-learning
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-machine-learning:release
    volumes:
      - "./data/immich/model-cache:/cache"
    environment:
      - "TZ=Etc/UTC"
    networks:
      - njorddeploy_net
    restart: always

  immich-postgres:
    container_name: njorddeploy-immich-postgres
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/postgres:14-vectorchord0.4.3-pgvectors0.2.0
    environment:
      - "POSTGRES_USER=postgres"
      - "POSTGRES_PASSWORD=ImmichDbPassword123"
      - "POSTGRES_DB=immich"
      - "POSTGRES_INITDB_ARGS=--data-checksums"
      - "PGDATA=/var/lib/postgresql/data"
    volumes:
      - "./data/immich/database:/var/lib/postgresql/data"
    shm_size: 128mb
    networks:
      - njorddeploy_net
    restart: always

  immich-redis:
    container_name: njorddeploy-immich-redis
    image: redis:6.2-alpine
    volumes:
      - "./data/immich/redis:/data"
    networks:
      - njorddeploy_net
    restart: always

networks:
  njorddeploy_net:

Start the service directly via the command line: docker compose up -d

Configuration & Environment Variables

Key configuration parameters and defaults derived from the NjordDeploy component template:

Variable	Default Value	Description
`IMMICH_WEB_PORT`	`2283`	The external port for accessing the Immich web interface.
`IMMICH_SECRET_KEY`	`dG9wU2VjcmV0S2V5Rm9ySW1taWNoQXBwQWJjMTIzNDU2Nzg5MA==`	A strong secret key for Immich. Keep this secure and do not change it after initial setup.
`IMMICH_JWT_SECRET`	`c2Vjb25kU2VjcmV0S2V5Rm9ySW1taWNoQXBwRGVmMTIzNDU2Nzg5MA==`	A strong JWT secret for Immich. Keep this secure and do not change it after initial setup.
`IMMICH_API_KEY`	`dGhpcmRTZWNyZXRLZXlGb3JJbW1pY2hBcHBHaGk1Njc4OTA1NDMyMQ==`	A strong API key for Immich. Keep this secure and do not change it after initial setup.
`DB_HOSTNAME`	`immich-postgres`	Hostname for the PostgreSQL database service.
`DB_USERNAME`	`postgres`	Username for the PostgreSQL database.
`DB_PASSWORD`	`ImmichDbPassword123`	Password for the PostgreSQL database user.
`DB_DATABASE`	`immich`	Name of the PostgreSQL database.
`DB_PORT`	`5432`	Port for the PostgreSQL database service.
`REDIS_HOSTNAME`	`immich-redis`	Hostname for the Redis service.
`REDIS_PORT`	`6379`	Port for the Redis service.
`TZ`	`Etc/UTC`	Specify the timezone for the Immich services (e.g., 'America/New_York', 'Europe/London').
`IMMICH_LOG_LEVEL`	`info`	Set the logging level for Immich services (e.g., 'debug', 'info', 'warn', 'error').
`IMMICH_MACHINE_LEARNING_ENABLED`	`true`	Set to 'true' to enable machine learning features (object detection, facial recognition). Set to 'false' to disable.
`IMMICH_MACHINE_LEARNING_URL`	`http://immich-machine-learning:3003`	Internal URL for the Immich machine learning service.
`TRAEFIK_HOST`	`immich.henkenyvonne.com`	The hostname to use for Traefik routing to Immich's web UI. E.g., 'immich.yourdomain.com'.

Ecosystem & Enterprise Integration

Reverse Proxy Ingress Ready: Pre-configured for Caddy, Traefik, or Nginx Proxy Manager with automatic Let's Encrypt TLS certificates.
Zero-Trust Mesh VPN: Seamless integration with WireGuard or Tailscale/Headscale mesh networks for secure remote administration.
Transactional State Backups: Ready for point-in-time database dumps and container-safe persistent volume freezing.

Effortless Management with NjordDeploy

Deploy, monitor, and update this service with a single click on your own hardware via the NjordDeploy Configurator.

Download NjordDeploy Suite Inspect GitHub Template Official Project Website All 128+ Services