How I ditched Google Photos for my own private self-hosted alternative - for free

Jack Wallen / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Immich is simply a Google Photos sync work you tin instal astatine home.
• Immich does necessitate the usage of Docker.
• You tin instal and usage Immich for free.

Over the past fewer years, I've made it my extremity to interruption distant from my Google dependency. It's been a dilatory and dependable slog, but I'm uncovering determination are plentifulness of alternatives available... it's conscionable a substance of installing them and making them work.

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I've tried respective options for Google Photos (such arsenic Nextcloud, which really worked beauteous well), but precocious came crossed an app called Immich. It's a self-hosted video and app absorption instrumentality that makes it imaginable to backmost up, organize, and negociate your photos connected your ain server. With Immich, you tin browse, search, and signifier photos and videos without worrying astir privacy.

Although installing Immich isn't precisely a point-and-click affair, if you judge you tin transcript and paste a fewer commands, you should beryllium bully to go.

What you request to get started

To instal Immich, you're going to request a desktop oregon server connected your LAN that supports Docker (which means Linux, MacOS, oregon Windows). For the Linux installation, you'll request a idiosyncratic with sudo privileges. Of course, you'll request an net transportation and a spot of clip (this would beryllium a large play project).

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I'm going to show connected Ubuntu Server. The bully quality is that if you're moving connected MacOS oregon Windows, it's conscionable a substance of installing the Docker Desktop GUI, which is simply a point-and-click affair. If you tin instal a portion of bundle connected either of those platforms, you tin instal Docker. With each of that retired of the way, let's get started.

How to instal Docker connected Ubuntu

Let's get Docker installed first. Open your terminal app (or SSH into your server), and hole to tally immoderate commands.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get instal ca-certificates curl

sudo instal -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

You'll person to benignant retired this afloat command.

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

Once that's taken attraction of, update apt with:

sudo apt-get instal docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin git -y

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Log retired and log backmost successful truthful the changes instrumentality effect.

How to instal Immich

We tin present instal Immich.

1. Create 2 caller directories

Back astatine your terminal window, make a caller directory and alteration into it with the command:

mkdir ~/immich-app && mkdir ~/immich-library && cd ~/immich-app

2. Download the indispensable setup files

You tin download the setup files required for installation with the commands:

curl -o docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/immich-app/immich/main/docker/docker-compose.yml
curl -o .env https://raw.githubusercontent.com/immich-app/immich/main/docker/example.env

3. Open and edit the .env record

The .env record is utilized to acceptable situation variables. We're going to unfastened it and marque a flimsy change. Open the record with the command:

nano .env

Once the record is open, look for the line:

UPLOAD_LOCATION=./library

Change it to:

UPLOAD_LOCATION=/home/USERNAME/immich-library

Where USERNAME is your idiosyncratic name.

Save and adjacent the record with the Ctrl+x keyboard shortcut.

4. Deploy Immich

It's clip to usage Docker to deploy the Immich app. Do this with the command:

docker constitute up -d

This volition instrumentality immoderate clip to complete, truthful measurement backmost and fto Docker bash its thing.

5. Access Immich

When the bid completes, springiness it a fewer much minutes for the instrumentality to decorativeness deploying. 

After a mates of minutes, unfastened a web browser and constituent it to http://SERVER:2283 (where SERVER is the IP code of the server hosting Immich). You'll beryllium greeted with a Getting Started window. Click Getting Started, and you'll beryllium prompted to make a caller admin account. Type an email, password (and verify it), and a name. Once you've done that, click Signup.

Sign up for your section Immich relationship here.

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

You'll past beryllium prompted to motion successful with your caller credentials. Walk done the setup wizard, and you'll beryllium prompted to download the mobile app, truthful you tin statesman syncing and managing your photos/videos connected your idiosyncratic service.

Note: erstwhile you constituent the app to the Immich server, marque definite the code is successful the signifier http://SERVER:2283 (where SERVER is the IP code of the Immich server).

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Congratulations, you've conscionable deployed your Google Photos alternative.