1. What We Are Setting Up and Why: The Evolution of Self-Hosted Photo Storage

For a long time, Google Photos remained the unrivaled leader for storing mobile media archives. However, changes in free storage policies and growing user concerns about data privacy have led to an explosion in the popularity of self-hosted solutions. Immich is not just a script for viewing pictures; it is a complex microservice architecture written in TypeScript and Dart, aiming to replicate and exceed the user experience of commercial clouds.

Why choose Immich on your own VPS instead of ready-made cloud solutions?

• Data Control: You know exactly where your files are physically located. No moderation algorithms will block your account due to false positives.
• Performance Speed: When using a modern VPS with NVMe drives, indexing and search work faster than in overloaded clouds.
• No Subscriptions: You only pay for server resources, not for "renting" space at inflated rates.
• Functionality: Support for RAW formats, Live Photos, machine learning-based facial recognition, and convenient mobile apps for iOS and Android.

In this tutorial, we will go from a "bare" server to a working service with a configured domain and mobile application.

2. What VPS Configuration is Needed for Immich in 2026

Immich is a resource-intensive project. Unlike simple static sites, it actively uses Machine Learning (ML) to analyze images, classify faces, and generate previews. This imposes certain hardware requirements.

Special attention should be paid to RAM. The immich-machine-learning component can consume a significant amount of RAM during the initial indexing of a large library. If there is less than 4 GB of memory, Docker may start crashing processes (OOM Killer).

For comfortable operation and fast preview generation, it is best to choose a suitable VPS with SSD or NVMe drives, as the PostgreSQL database and search engine are sensitive to input-output latency (IOPS).

If your library exceeds 500 GB, consider connecting additional Block Storage or using a Dedicated server where you can install high-capacity HDDs in a RAID array for increased reliability.

3. Server Preparation: Security and Basic Utilities

Before installing Docker, it is necessary to get the server in order. We assume you have a fresh installation of Ubuntu 24.04 or 26.04.

First, let's update the package list and the system itself:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install the necessary system utilities that will be useful for diagnostics and operation:

sudo apt install -y curl wget git vim software-properties-common ufw fail2ban htop

Security configuration is a critical step. Let's set up the Firewall (UFW), allowing only SSH and ports for web traffic:

sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
sudo ufw --force enable

It is also recommended to create a separate user with sudo privileges to avoid working as root constantly:

adduser adminuser
usermod -aG sudo adminuser

After this, it is better to set up SSH key login and disable password login in the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file.

4. Installing Docker and Docker Compose

Immich is delivered as a set of Docker containers. This is an industry standard that avoids dependency conflicts. In 2026, we use the official Docker repository to get the latest versions.

Add the Docker GPG key:

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6. Fine-tuning: Environment Variables and Secrets

    
    


    
The .env file contains all key settings. Open it for editing:
    
nano .env

    
You need to change the following parameters:
    
# Path to your photos (be sure to specify the absolute path)
UPLOAD_LOCATION=/home/adminuser/immich-data/photos

# Immich version (recommended to leave as release)
IMMICH_VERSION=release

# Database secrets (generate your own strong passwords!)
DB_PASSWORD=your_strong_password_here
DB_USERNAME=postgres
DB_DATABASE_NAME=immich

# Redis settings
REDIS_HOSTNAME=redis

    
If you plan to use hardware acceleration for video encoding (for example, if your VPS supports Intel QuickSync or you have a GPU), you will need to pass through the corresponding devices (/dev/dri) in docker-compose.yml. For most standard VPS, we leave software encoding.

    
After configuration, let's start the containers:
    
docker compose up -d

    
Check the startup status:
    
docker compose ps
    
If all services are in the Up status, it means the backend is running and listening on port 2283. However, opening this port directly to the internet is unsafe and inconvenient (no HTTPS).

7. Setting up HTTPS via Caddy: Access from the Outside World

For secure access via a domain (e.g., photos.yourdomain.com), we will use Caddy. It is a modern web server that automatically obtains and renews SSL certificates from Let's Encrypt.

Install Caddy:

sudo apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https
curl -1G 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg
curl -1G 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install caddy

Create the Caddyfile configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

Add the following block there (replace the domain with your own):

photos.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:2283
    
    # Settings for uploading large files
    request_body {
        max_size 10GB
    }
}

Restart Caddy:

sudo systemctl restart caddy

Now, when you navigate to your domain, you will see the Immich welcome screen where you can create the first administrator.

8. Backups and Maintenance: How Not to Lose Your Family Archive

Self-hosting places the responsibility for data safety on you. In Immich, you need to back up three things: the PostgreSQL database, photo files (Uploads), and the .env file.

Database Backup

Create a simple script for a daily database dump:

mkdir -p ~/immich-backups
nano ~/immich-backups/backup.sh

Script text:

#!/bin/bash
DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
BACKUP_DIR="/home/adminuser/immich-backups"
docker exec -t immich_postgres pg_dumpall -c -U postgres > $BACKUP_DIR/immich_db_$DATE.sql
# Delete backups older than 30 days
find $BACKUP_DIR -type f -name "*.sql" -mtime +30 -delete

Make the script executable and add it to cron:

chmod +x ~/immich-backups/backup.sh
(crontab -l ; echo "0 3 * * * /home/adminuser/immich-backups/backup.sh") | crontab -

File Synchronization

For the photos themselves, it is recommended to use tools like Restic or Rclone to send them to cloud storage (S3, Backblaze B2). An Rclone command might look like this:

rclone sync /home/adminuser/immich-data/photos remote:immich-backup-bucket

Updating Immich

Immich is updated frequently. To update, run:

cd ~/immich-app
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Important: Always read the Release Notes on GitHub before updating, as manual actions (Breaking Changes) are sometimes required.

9. Troubleshooting + FAQ: Solving Common Issues

10. Conclusions and Next Steps

We have successfully deployed Immich on a VPS, ensuring security via Caddy and automating maintenance. Now your media library is under your full control, and the object and face recognition functionality works without the involvement of third-party corporations.

What to do next?

• Download the Immich mobile app from the App Store or Google Play and set up automatic photo backup from your phone.
• Explore the "External Libraries" section — it allows you to connect existing photo folders on the server to Immich without duplicating them.
• Set up multi-factor authentication (2FA) in the user profile for maximum protection of your archive.

Remember that Immich is actively developing. Regularly check for updates and make backups before each container update. Now your personal "Google Photos" is ready to go!