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Part 5 – Immich

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Immich is a self-hosted photo and video backup solution with a Google Photos-like interface. It automatically backs up photos from your phone over Tailscale, organises them by date and location, and uses machine learning for face recognition and object search — all running locally on your own hardware.

What you get:

  • Automatic photo backup from iPhone, Android, and iPad
  • Face recognition and object search
  • Timeline view, albums, and sharing
  • Video support
  • iOS and Android apps

Prerequisites

  • ✅ Docker and the wcp-network network in place
  • ✅ Caddy running with immich.wcp configured
  • ✅ Plenty of storage space for photos

→ Follow Part 2 and Part 3 first.

Step 1 – Create the Immich folder 

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

Step 2 – Download the official compose file

Immich provides an official compose.yml that is kept up to date. Use it directly:

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

Step 3 – Configure the .env file 

nano .env

Key settings to update:

# Database password — change this
DB_PASSWORD=change-this-password

# Where photos are stored on the host
UPLOAD_LOCATION=/opt/immich-library

# Your timezone
TZ=Europe/Stockholm

Leave the rest as defaults for now.

Step 4 – Create the photo library directory 

sudo mkdir -p /opt/immich-library
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /opt/immich-library

Step 5 – Add to the wcp-network

Open docker-compose.yml and add the external network at the bottom:

nano docker-compose.yml

Add to the networks section at the bottom of the file:

networks:
  default:
    name: wcp-network
    external: true

Step 6 – Start Immich 

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f

The first start downloads machine learning models — this takes a few minutes. When logs stabilise, press CTRL+C.

Step 7 – Access Immich

Open your browser:

http://immich.wcp

Create your admin account on the first visit.

Step 8 – Install the mobile app

iOS: Search for Immich in the App Store.

Android: Available on Google Play or F-Droid.

In the app:

  1. Set the server URL to http://immich.wcp (connected via Tailscale)
  2. Log in with your account
  3. Enable automatic backup in the app settings

Photos will now back up automatically whenever your phone is connected to Tailscale.

Step 9 – GPU acceleration for machine learning (optional)

Immich’s face recognition and object detection can use the GPU for faster processing. Add this to the immich-machine-learning service in docker-compose.yml:

  immich-machine-learning:
    deploy:
      resources:
        reservations:
          devices:
            - driver: nvidia
              count: 1
              capabilities: [gpu]

Restart to apply:

docker compose up -d

Keeping Immich updated

Immich releases updates frequently. Update regularly:

cd /opt/docker/immich
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d
Immich is under active development and releases updates often. Check the Immich release notes before updating to be aware of any breaking changes.

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